Mercyful Fate
Mercyful Fate was formed in early 1981 in Copenhagen, Denmark, by vocalist King Diamond and guitar player Hank Shermann. Guitarist Michael Denner, Bassist Timi Hansen and drummer Kim Ruzz soon joined to complete the band line-up. The following years Mercyful Fate released eight studio albums and toured Europe, US and South America many times. Mercyful Fate were a sinister spectacle of sight and sound. Diamond opened concerts with invocations to Lucifer, lit a hanging cross on fire, brandished an actual skull onstage (he named her Melissa which is also the title of their first studio album), and adorned the stage with occult iconography. During Mercyful Fate’s second-ever show, Diamond theatrically summoned Satan to join the celebration. When headliners, Girlschool, took the stage, their guitarist and vocalist Kim McAuliffe was electrocuted by the mic. Diamond credits the demons he invited into the room for the shocking episode! After spending years touring, performing and putting out albums, the band took a hiatus after their 1999 American tour however in August 2019 Mercyful Fate revealed that they would play a series of shows in the summer of 2020 with Shermann, Mike Wead, drummer Bjarne T. Holm and ArmoredSaint and Fates Warning bassist Joey Vera. Like every band that planned to tour in 2019, Mercyful Fate cancelled their plans due to COVID-19. But now, the time has come.
With night truly setting in now, everyone is ready to catch Mercyful Fate perform tonight. With the stage hidden behind a curtain emblazoned with the band’s logo, the suspense is rising across the arena. Once the curtain drops, an elaborate set can be seen on the stage which is only lit with a huge LED inverted cross. As the lights lift, King Diamond is stood at the top of the set wearing a ram skull mask in front of a large satanic pentagram. The rest of the band enter and the show is ready to begin as they start playing ‘The Oath’. Diamond makes full use of the stage as he comes all the down to the front before heading back up to the top. His vocal range is incredible as he moves from the highest notes and into lower tones with what seems like such ease. When not singing, he can be seen air guitaring his bone mic stand along with Hank Shermans immense guitar riffs and solos. By the third song, Diamonds mask comes off and is replaced with a crown over a damaged black veil as he announces they will be playing an epic 9-minute new song, ‘The Jackal of Salzburg’ in true Mercyful Fate fashion. He’s very charismatic as a frontman and jokes with crowd and band throughout the set creating some great crowd interaction and setting up the next song with fantastic timing. The rest of the band are on fire tonight too as they tear through the songs with amazing skill. The standout of course is Sherman with his super shredding solos. Mike Wead has his own incredible solos too though during ‘A Dangerous Meeting’ and ‘Doomed by the Living Dead’ showcasing the pure talent the whole band has. Heading into the absolute classic ‘Melissa’ Diamond makes a quick costume change and keeps the show moving. The whole set to be honest has been absolutely outstanding and so far, they have been one of my favourite bands of the weekend so far.
As the set heads towards the end, there’s a pause before ‘Satan’s Fall’, and the crowd seem to be having such a good time rocking out with the band that they cheer for their return. Once the guys do return, Diamond comes out with a huge staff that has an inverted cross on the top. He jokes that there’s time for a ballad before the heavy riffs kick in. With one final offering of ‘To One Far Away’ it’s a fantastic end to another great day. As the song finishes Diamond announces he would like to bring out his young 5-year-old to see the size of the crowd which they love and erupt into cheers for him. With the music now over, the band seem as reluctant to leave as the crowd as they linger on stage to say goodbye and thank the crowd.
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