Mercyful Fate
A Copenhagen heavy metal band formed in 1981 by King Diamond and Hank Shermann, whose Melissa (1983) and Don't Break the Oath (1984) shaped first-wave black metal and whose "Evil" opens Melissa.
Copenhagen and the first records
Mercyful Fate formed in Copenhagen in the spring of 1981, when King Diamond and Hank Shermann, after the end of their band Brats, started a new group with the bassist Timi Hansen and the drummer Kim Ruzz and, from 1982, the guitarist Michael Denner. The lyrics draw on the occult and LaVeyan Satanism, often with an ironic use of Christian themes. Their first release was the EP Mercyful Fate, also known as Nuns Have No Fun, issued on Rave-On Records on November 8, 1982 and recorded in September at Stone Studio in Roosendaal, the Netherlands; "Evil" is not on it.
Melissa (October 1983) was the first album on Roadrunner. Don't Break the Oath (September 7, 1984), recorded in May 1984 at Easy Sound in Copenhagen, was produced by Henrik Lund and has "A Dangerous Meeting", "The Oath" and "Come to the Sabbath"; AllMusic gave it 4.5 stars. They split in April 1985 over musical differences: Shermann wanted a more commercial sound and King Diamond refused. King Diamond formed his own band, and Shermann formed Fate, later Lavina with Denner.
Reunion
Four of the five original members reunited in 1992 and signed to Metal Blade, making In the Shadows (June 22, 1993), Time (October 25, 1994), Into the Unknown (August 20, 1996), Dead Again (June 9, 1998) and 9 (June 15, 1999), before a hiatus in 1999. Compilations include The Beginning (1987) and Return of the Vampire (1992). Metallica's medley on Garage Inc. (1998) brought them new attention, and King Diamond has said that his first royalties bought a Corvette. They re-recorded "Evil" and "Curse of the Pharaohs" for Guitar Hero: Metallica in 2008.
A full-time reunion was announced on August 1, 2019, with Shermann, King Diamond, Mike Wead, Bjarne T. Holm and the bassist Joey Vera, and the first concert in 23 years was on June 2, 2022 in Hannover as support to Volbeat, debuting a new song, "The Jackal of Salzburg". Their influence is wide: Jeff Kitts of Guitar World wrote that with Venom they set the parameters for black metal in the early eighties, and Lars Ulrich called them a very, very big inspiration for Metallica's sound. They received the Pioneer Prize in Copenhagen in 2017. Timi Hansen died on November 4, 2019.
Albums
- Melissa 1983 · Roadrunner
Their debut album and Roadrunner's first: seven songs, all music by Shermann and all lyrics by King Diamond.
Songs
- Evil Melissa · 1983
The opener of Melissa, music by Shermann and words by King Diamond, re-recorded for Guitar Hero: Metallica in 2009.
Sources
- Mercyful Fate, Wikipedia
- Mercyful Fate (EP), Wikipedia
- Don't Break the Oath, Wikipedia
- Mercyful Fate debuts brand new song at first concert in 23 years, Blabbermouth (2022-06-03)