Michael Denner

Michael Denner — born in Denmark in 1958 — was the guitarist of Mercyful Fate's classic line-up, and the other half of one of the most influential guitar pairings in European metal. His relationship with Hank Shermann is one of strict complementarity. While Shermann writes the structures and carries the main riffs, Denner answers: he harmonises in thirds, alternates solos and crosses lines in counterpoint. In the instrumental passages of Melissa (1983) and Don't Break the Oath (1984) the two trade places so intertwined that it is hard to say where one ends and the other begins. His style is more melodic and bluesy than his partner's, which gives the tracks a human counterweight against the occult atmosphere of the lyrics. That combination — structural aggression from one, lyricism from the other — became a model for European melodic metal. He left with Shermann when the band dissolved in 1985, and the two went together to King Diamond, playing on Fatal Portrait (1986) and Abigail (1987) before Denner left the group. He took part in Mercyful Fate's 1990s reunion and kept a career in his own projects within the Danish scene.