Mercyful Fate: Classic or Dud?

otm

See? Pure joy. I can't dump all over that.

but you so want to

the fact that you want to but you don't think you should is bummertown usa

dumping shouldn't even cross your mind

you are in metal heaven

I hated King's voice back when Oath came out. Hated it. Riff-wise, though, those records (and Abigail & Them as well) were so tantalizingly up my alley as a kid. Flamboyant, theatrical, all that, but that voice was always the sticking point. It wasn't until the late-'90s that I finally, finally came around. I don't know what won me over, I just bought into King's awesomeness completely.

The voice was actually part of the initial attraction for me.

yeah i don't get the issue, KD's voice is the essence of Metal imo

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.

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

yeah I think the key to Mercyful Fate is realizing that it's meant to be fun

*mixed-gender D&D (xp)

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 graves
I heard a CRYYYYYYYYYY
My SHADOWWW WAS GONNNEEEE
Emptiness in my body, I felt so alone
SMAAAAALLLLL black wings on my naked BAAAAAAACKKKK

Now guess what I saw on one of the stones
I saw my SSOOUUUULLLL, in a MAAAAGICALLL HAZZEE
It was all dressed up
It was a corpse in a wedding dress
SMAAAALLLLLL black wings on my naked BAAAAACCKKKK-AAGH!

The little extra-high shriek at the very end is so great.

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...

going to put on Melissa in honour of this thread and ROCK OUT

Don't Break the Oath is the absolute best.

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

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.

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.

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.

Thanks. I'm going for the double packs.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

did anybody else get into these guys solely due to seeing them on Beavis and Butthead btw

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

did anybody else get into these guys solely due to seeing them on Beavis and Butthead btw

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.

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.

WANT

http://67.media.tumblr.com/5e3472ddf7c5483c0c326994a64e11ca/tumblr_nt3qyvOdgn1uqx9h3o1_1280.jpg

Dont bweak it

http://i66.tinypic.com/s3kqko.jpg

That's awesome. I'm wearing my Don't Break The Oath shirt tonight to a show.

I have the title in the album font on my left forearm, high five Neanderthal

That album was one of the first of many i bought with financial aid that was meant for college

damn great tat neanderthal

^^ excellent work

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 Meeting
3) The Bell Witch
4) The Oath
5) Nightmare Be Thy Name (this is a late addition - I love Time more than I used to now)
6) Black Funeral
7) Satan's Fall
8) Nightmare
9) Melissa
10) Torture (1629) (this is one from Dead Again, which while not a great album...this is a killer opening track)

Oh god.

Evil
Nuns Have No Fun
Devil Eyes
Melissa
Time
Desecration of Souls
Nightmare
Curse of the Pharoahs
Is That You, Melissa?
Into the Coven

In the Shadows tonight. god I still love this one. helluva comeback album.

Evil*
Nightmare
A Corpse Without Soul
Into the Coven
Time
A Dangerous Meeting
Devil Eyes
Melissa
The Oath
Return of the Vampire

* wanted to put something else at #1, but…

I should have had Corpse Without Soul in mine. So many moments in that song.

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.)

it will always be "princess" to me and I have always thought this

Amen.

princess of hell otm

nothing but respect for MY princess

ALL HAIL SATAN

🙌 and do the 🤘

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

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.