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In these albums, every sound that you hear is used to tell the story. King Diamond’s music is a great example of how technology reinforces and blends with the narrative. For example, the unique use of King Diamond’s vocal ranges is reminiscent of the use of color and font in the book House of Leaves such that every character is assigned a unique “voice” based on their part in the story. This is just like the separate fonts for each narrator in House of Leaves. “They” whisper in a dark and scratchy tone that you would only expect to hear from a corpse. The grandma's voice is no more bearable. Really, they all sound as if the narrator was legitimately imitating other people’s voices. The narrator actually uses a much wider variety of vocal ranges than any of the other characters. His voice is the most prominent in the story and to use only one range would be boring. Just as any normal person tells a story, he twists and mangles his voice to represent other people and to convey emotions through more than just words. You get a much better feel for King’s sense of horror, surprise, and even anger than you ever would through simple text. It helps the narrative come alive. It is rare that an artist will use separate vocals to convey different characters, just as it is rare that authors use separate fonts for different narrators in House of Leaves. It creates multiple layers to the story so that it becomes more than just “some narrative.” These vocals add depth and meaning. To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if Danielewsky was a fan of King Diamond. They both use a dark style and similar means to get their messages across.
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