Mercyful Fate

Mercyful Fate is a Danish heavy metal band from Copenhagen, formed in 1981 by vocalist King Diamond and guitarist Hank Shermann. Influenced by progressive rock and hard rock, and with lyrics dealing with LaVeyan Satanism (often with ironic or sardonic use of Christian themes) and the occult, Mercyful Fate was part of the first wave of black metal in the early to mid-1980s, along with Venom and Bathory. The band is also cited as a formative influence to the then-nascent genres of thrash metal and death metal, as well as the Norwegian black metal scene. Since its inception in 1981, Mercyful Fate has released seven studio albums, two extended plays, and four compilation albums. After several line-up changes and self-made demos, they released their self-titled EP in 1982, with the line-up of King Diamond (vocals), Hank Shermann (lead and rhythm guitars), Michael Denner (rhythm and lead guitars), Timi Hansen (bass), and Kim Ruzz (drums). With this line-up, the group recorded its first two studio albums: 1983's Melissa and 1984's Don't Break the Oath. In spite of their reputation as one of the most acclaimed bands of the European heavy metal scene of the 1980s, Mercyful Fate was the subject...