The voice was actually part of the initial attraction for me.
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Wednesday, 13 August 2014 19:40 (nine years ago) link
yeah i don't get the issue, KD's voice is the essence of Metal imo
― The aim of Rooney is spot correct (Daphnis Celesta), Wednesday, 13 August 2014 19:42 (nine years ago) link
i mean I can see where the witchy Bee Gees falsetto might be offputting to some (not me of course), but even then people forget that was only part of his bag of tricks. His low vocals were unique and bellowy and served as a great compliment.
― Neanderthal, Wednesday, 13 August 2014 19:47 (nine years ago) link
they have this spooky vibe that's more party in the graveyard than burning down churches. guess i had to lighten up a little to appreciate it.― Spectrum, Wednesday, August 13, 2014 4:33 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― ODB's missing grammy (bernard snowy), Wednesday, 13 August 2014 20:55 (nine years ago) link
yeah I think the key to Mercyful Fate is realizing that it's meant to be fun
― SEEMS TO ME (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 13 August 2014 21:01 (nine years ago) link
*mixed-gender D&D (xp)
― ODB's missing grammy (bernard snowy), Wednesday, 13 August 2014 21:05 (nine years ago) link
His low vocals were unique and bellowy and served as a great compliment.
Hell yes! I love "A Corpse Without Soul" for the interplay between the two styles:
Now I was walking down among the gravesI heard a CRYYYYYYYYYYMy SHADOWWW WAS GONNNEEEEEmptiness in my body, I felt so aloneSMAAAAALLLLL black wings on my naked BAAAAAAACKKKK
Now guess what I saw on one of the stonesI saw my SSOOUUUULLLL, in a MAAAAGICALLL HAZZEEIt was all dressed upIt was a corpse in a wedding dressSMAAAALLLLLL black wings on my naked BAAAAACCKKKK-AAGH!
The little extra-high shriek at the very end is so great.
― oblique blasphemies (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Thursday, 14 August 2014 02:24 (nine years ago) link
80s mercyful fate & king diamond = some of my favorite shit ever, maybe not a template for metal but certainly an ideal. KD's vocals, lyrics and style are a big part of that, though it did take me quite a while to come around. at the time, i couldn't relate at all, so i can understand why JF might recoil on initial exposure. you just gotta come, come to the sabbath, johnny...
― Adding ease. Adding wonder. Adding (contenderizer), Thursday, 14 August 2014 04:38 (nine years ago) link
going to put on Melissa in honour of this thread and ROCK OUT
― Barry Gordy (Neil S), Thursday, 14 August 2014 07:48 (nine years ago) link
Don't Break the Oath is the absolute best.
― jmm, Monday, 8 September 2014 00:37 (nine years ago) link
listening to Oath on headphones for once and boy were Timi Hansen's bass contributions underrated. everybody goes on about Shermann/Denner (rightfully so) but Timi's pretty monstrous on this album himself
― Hammer Smashed Bagels, Wednesday, 1 April 2015 04:47 (nine years ago) link
Is there any drawbacks to those Mercyful Fate double packs? They're far cheaper than most of the other options for sure. Not sure why I didn't get the double pack when I went for Don't Break The Oath.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Thursday, 2 April 2015 10:56 (nine years ago) link
The main two problems with those Two From the Vault deals are 1) no rhyme, reason, or indication as to which mastering you get -- and MF/KD have had some remastering catastrophes over the years, esp. Don't Break the Oath and Abigail; and 2) somewhat related, a lack of complete liner notes. In all cases you do still get a full page of the booklet devoted to the original album cover, but that's about it.
I just deleted two paragraphs of my whining about remasterings haha. Since I'm not at the Hoffman Forums, I'll leave it this: YMMV.
― Devilock, Thursday, 2 April 2015 12:23 (nine years ago) link
I do have several of those TFTV deals, I should add, just not the MF ones. King Diamond, yes, among a few death metal classics.
― Devilock, Thursday, 2 April 2015 12:25 (nine years ago) link
Thanks. I'm going for the double packs.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Thursday, 2 April 2015 17:50 (nine years ago) link
Don't know why King Diamond individual albums are so cheap but not the first run of Mercyful Fate except Don't Break The Oath.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Thursday, 2 April 2015 17:54 (nine years ago) link
One good thing about the DBTO TFTV is that it comes with Return of the Vampire, the demo comp. Those early versions of the songs are so good, and "Burning the Cross," which never made it onto an album proper, is maybe my favorite Fate song. It's ridiculous that that song isn't up there with their other classics.
― Devilock, Thursday, 2 April 2015 19:30 (nine years ago) link
yknow what's a little frustrating, there is just no singing along with this dude
― j., Monday, March 17, 2014 7:04 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
lol man you ain't lived until you've squealed "Grandmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" at a King Diamond show with thousands of other fans
― Neanderthal, Saturday, 25 June 2016 13:41 (seven years ago) link
that said, the new Denner/Shermann release is really solid. I pretty much tune out the vocalist cos he's decent but as many may say, he doesn't really fit what they're going for, too power metally.
but this is some of the most inspired, melodic heavy metal riffing I've heard in eons, esp from Denner/Shermann, who had really kinda tapped out of ideas in MF by the late 90s.
― Neanderthal, Saturday, 25 June 2016 13:42 (seven years ago) link
now if they can just kick out this vocalist and have auditions for another, I hear this guy Kim Bendix Petersen might be a good replacement.
― Neanderthal, Saturday, 25 June 2016 13:43 (seven years ago) link
did anybody else get into these guys solely due to seeing them on Beavis and Butthead btw
― Neanderthal, Saturday, 25 June 2016 13:44 (seven years ago) link
If like me you're either disinterested in or disappointed by any of the bands that get tagged with Mercyful Fate comparisons, you might want to look to Norway's Magister Templi. I think one reason I never checked them out was the Candlemass comparison, and I definitely hear that, but there's something in their music that takes me right back to hearing Fate for the first time, little guitar runs here and there, ghostly clanging cymbals, song shifts that catch you by surprise, a production that actually sounds alive. I just burned through several songs on their bandcamp and have bumped their two albums to the top of my ACQUIRE NOW list. (The vox are nothing like King's, though.)
They're on Cruz del Sur.
http://magistertempli.bandcamp.com/
And
― Devilock, Tuesday, 5 July 2016 20:53 (seven years ago) link
When I saw the "Family Ghost" video in 1987 I knew then and there I was seeing and hearing one of the the most insanely talented heavy metal bands in history. I still believe that. What a lineup, what innovation and flamboyance they brought to the genre.
― A. Begrand, Tuesday, 5 July 2016 21:19 (seven years ago) link
I had weird, malformed metal tastes in the early-going, but the first time I heard MF I was like "THIS, THIS, MORE OF THIS!". Just sounded so sinister, yet ear-catching, badass and occult. the 30 seconds I got to hear of whatever song it was were a delight.
the only reason I didn't start listening to them right away was I was still a Fundie and the Satanic lyrics put me off. the day I left that life behind I went and bought Melissa.
"Evil" is probably still my favorite metal song of all time.
it's weird that I didn't immediately love King Diamond as much, and yet nowadays probably listen to them more than MF, mostly because they have a bigger catalog.
― Neanderthal, Wednesday, 6 July 2016 00:58 (seven years ago) link
WANT
http://67.media.tumblr.com/5e3472ddf7c5483c0c326994a64e11ca/tumblr_nt3qyvOdgn1uqx9h3o1_1280.jpg
― report your crimes to my burning ghost cock (bizarro gazzara), Wednesday, 20 July 2016 20:57 (seven years ago) link
Dont bweak it
http://i66.tinypic.com/s3kqko.jpg
― waht, I am true black metal worrior (Neanderthal), Monday, 13 March 2017 01:36 (seven years ago) link
That's awesome. I'm wearing my Don't Break The Oath shirt tonight to a show.
― BlackIronPrison, Monday, 13 March 2017 01:41 (seven years ago) link
I have the title in the album font on my left forearm, high five Neanderthal
― though the tempest rages, (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Monday, 13 March 2017 01:55 (seven years ago) link
That album was one of the first of many i bought with financial aid that was meant for college
― waht, I am true black metal worrior (Neanderthal), Monday, 13 March 2017 02:05 (seven years ago) link
damn great tat neanderthal
― the raindrops and drop tops of lived, earned experience (BradNelson), Monday, 13 March 2017 02:06 (seven years ago) link
^^ excellent work
― a but (brimstead), Monday, 13 March 2017 02:36 (seven years ago) link
thx guys. it hurt a lot more than my other 4, but been wanting that one for eons.
so, Mercyful Fate POX time? here's mine...
1) Evil (probably the only band where my #1 song has p much never changed)2) A Dangerous Meeting3) The Bell Witch4) The Oath5) Nightmare Be Thy Name (this is a late addition - I love Time more than I used to now)6) Black Funeral7) Satan's Fall8) Nightmare9) Melissa10) Torture (1629) (this is one from Dead Again, which while not a great album...this is a killer opening track)
― waht, I am true black metal worrior (Neanderthal), Monday, 13 March 2017 03:43 (seven years ago) link
Oh god.
EvilNuns Have No FunDevil Eyes Melissa TimeDesecration of SoulsNightmareCurse of the PharoahsIs That You, Melissa?Into the Coven
― jmm, Monday, 13 March 2017 16:13 (seven years ago) link
In the Shadows tonight. god I still love this one. helluva comeback album.
― waht, I am true black metal worrior (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 15 March 2017 04:02 (seven years ago) link
Evil*NightmareA Corpse Without Soul Into the CovenTimeA Dangerous MeetingDevil EyesMelissaThe OathReturn of the Vampire
* wanted to put something else at #1, but…
― Not raving but drooling (contenderizer), Wednesday, 15 March 2017 06:28 (seven years ago) link
I should have had Corpse Without Soul in mine. So many moments in that song.
― jmm, Wednesday, 15 March 2017 14:01 (seven years ago) link
Can we all agree that "Welcome Princess of Hell" is a better title than "Welcome Princes of Hell," the correct one?
(Also, Neanderthal, that fucking tattoo is amazing.)
― Comment elles torment (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Tuesday, 18 April 2017 10:45 (seven years ago) link
it will always be "princess" to me and I have always thought this
― People like Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr, and (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Tuesday, 18 April 2017 13:58 (seven years ago) link
Amen.
― Comment elles torment (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Wednesday, 19 April 2017 02:18 (seven years ago) link
princess of hell otm
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Sunday, 8 July 2018 13:53 (five years ago) link
nothing but respect for MY princess
― J. Sam, Sunday, 8 July 2018 17:23 (five years ago) link
ALL HAIL SATAN
― fuck the NRA (Neanderthal), Monday, 20 August 2018 01:28 (five years ago) link
🙌 and do the 🤘
― Devilock, Monday, 20 August 2018 07:44 (five years ago) link
The Lost in Vegas dudes tackled "Melissa" on the weekend: blown away by the music, tried to figure out what to do with the voice
― The inexorable rise of identity condiments (Sund4r), Monday, 20 August 2018 11:49 (five years ago) link
if they don't announce a US tour for the MF reunion next year, I may fly overseas to catch it.
still bums me the fuck out that whatever issue exists between King and Denner can't be resolved, cos the Denner/Shermann albums ripped, but 2/5ths of Fate is better than 0/5ths of Fate, I guess....plus it's not like Wead is bad.
they also claim to have written new material.
― When I am afraid, I put my toast in you (Neanderthal), Sunday, 15 September 2019 23:46 (four years ago) link
RIP Timi Hansen :(
― Jordan Pickford LOLverdrive (Neanderthal), Monday, 4 November 2019 21:08 (four years ago) link
Very sad. Hansen anchored two of the most ridiculously talented metal bands of our generation, Fate and King Diamond's band circa 1987.
― A. Begrand, Monday, 4 November 2019 21:35 (four years ago) link
King just posted a very touching tribute message to him on FB.
― Jordan Pickford LOLverdrive (Neanderthal), Monday, 4 November 2019 22:13 (four years ago) link
I went from loving Dead Again to hating it and haven't played it since 1999.
Threw it on today.... it's actually quite good! Not really any all-time classics on it, but mega consistent.
"Banshee" is my fav
― Red Nerussi (Neanderthal), Monday, 8 March 2021 22:07 (three years ago) link
cannot stop listening to them lately. I remember loving the last album, 9, when it came out, then later souring on it when I felt it was too 'modernized trend hopping" MF. I listened to it again last night and I don't think that's fair.
there's a LITTLE bit of that in "Sold My Soul", and the song structures are mega-simplified, but they'd even done that on Time with much success. there's definitely some really good material on there, like "Last Rites", "Burn in Hell", "Church of St Anne". some forgettable, but it's listenable!
Into the Unknown is the one I barely know whatsoever. It was actually the album that delayed my MF-dom by 3 years, because I had gotten excited by the MF music I heard them play on Beavis and Butthead....only to hear the opening track be a Satanic invocation ("our father, who art in Hell!"), and me being a Fundamentalist, that snapped the door shut.
I don't think a niche thread is worth it, but what's everybody's POV for Mercyful Fate?
Mine is...
"Evil""Bell Witch""A Dangerous Meeting""The Oath""Nightmare Be Thy Name"
Don't Break the Oath MOSTLY works as a continuous album for me, but those two tracks mentioned are ones I can listen standalone.
I do love Melissa a lot but I wanted to be inclusive of other albums.
― "Salvation Army FUCK!" (Neanderthal), Saturday, 20 March 2021 14:53 (three years ago) link