Mercyful Fate

Mercyful Fate formed in Copenhagen in the spring of 1981, when vocalist King Diamond and guitarist Hank Shermann left the punk-leaning outfit Brats to pursue something heavier and darker. Completed by second guitarist Michael Denner, bassist Timi Hansen and drummer Kim Ruzz, the band paired intricate twin-guitar arrangements and progressive song structures with explicitly occult and Satanic lyrics — delivered through King Diamond's unmistakable shift between a low snarl and a piercing falsetto, and framed by his corpse-paint stage persona. After a 1982 self-titled EP, they signed to the fledgling Roadrunner Records. The two albums that followed became foundational documents of extreme metal. Melissa (1983) — Roadrunner's first-ever album release — and Don't Break the Oath (1984) fused the melodic ambition of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal with genuinely menacing occult theatrics, and are routinely credited, alongside Venom and Bathory, with defining the first wave of black metal. Their influence radiated into thrash and death metal as well: Metallica recorded a medley of Mercyful Fate songs, and King Diamond's imagery and vocal approach shaped generations of frontmen. Melissa also drew mainstream ire when "Into the Coven" landed on the PMRC's "Filthy Fifteen" list. Creative tension between King Diamond, who wanted to preserve the occult concept, and Shermann, who was pulling toward more commercial hard rock, split the band in April 1985. King Diamond took Hansen and Denner with him into his eponymous solo band, which went on to a long and successful run of concept albums. Mercyful Fate reformed in 1992 and signed with Metal Blade Records, returning with In the Shadows (1993), featuring most of the classic lineup. A productive second era followed — Time (1994), Into the Unknown (1996), Dead Again (1998) and 9 (1999) — with Mike Wead and drummer Bjarne T. Holm becoming fixtures. The band went on indefinite hiatus after 1999 as King Diamond refocused on his solo work and later recovered from major heart surgery. On 1 August 2019 the band announced a permanent reunion. Timi Hansen was set to return but withdrew due to cancer and died that November; Joey Vera, and from January 2024 Becky Baldwin, have handled bass. Mercyful Fate played their first shows in over two decades in June 2022, touring Europe, the United States and Mexico, debuting the new song "The Jackal of Salzburg", with a first studio album since 1999 in progress.