Continuing on with my little random series(I really should pick a game series to do this with one day, Castlevania, maybe?) to celebrate seeing King Diamond live, I decided to do a back to back ranking of both Mercyful Fate's and King Diamond's discogs, starting with Mercyful Fate.
Once again, we have acts like Sodom, Satyricon and a few others where I really enjoy their entire discographies, so there are no "Bad" albums in either of these, which makes it, once again, challenging. I stand by the fact I feel like it's harder to rank albums when they're all good, than when there are extremely obvious stand-outs or ones that don't work.
Out of the two, I DO slightly prefer Mercyful Fate as a whole, but I do love the King's solo endeavors as well. I think MF just has a little bit more of a sound that hits me just a tiny bit more. But it's close.
Mercyful Fate's most recent album was out in 1999, 26 years ago, but they ARE working on new material! So I'll get to see where that lands. As per usual, I'll be doing the full-lengths. I feel a little bad sometimes leaving out EPs and such(especially because some bands have EPs that I consider my favorites, like Keep of Kalessin with Reclaim or even In the Sign of Evil with Sodom), but I think it makes for a more clear and concise list to do so. Mercyful Fate only has seven full-lengths, so without further ado:
7. Dead Again(1998)
6. Into the Unknown(1996)
Into the Unknown certainly has some gems on it. Fifteen Men(and a bottle of rum) is a pretty awesome evil pirate tribute, which is not something you'd expect from Mercyful Fate(but it's nice to see a more Bad Guy Pirate Song), and being a Lovecraft junkie I have to appreciate Kutulu. This is another one of those "Huh, I haven't put this on for awhile" albums. But for a classic, dark heavy metal album in the 90s, this still sounds great. Mercyful Fate didn't try to turn industrial, or go way into the left field in order to battle grunge or anything, they just stayed Mercyful Fate, and it works.
5. 9(1999)
Their latest album(yeah, 26 years ago and counting, but once again praise satan that they're making more music!) I would say ranks sixth for me. An album that I'd continue to suggest to anyone -- being a band where owning their whole discography I would say is a nice idea -- 9 has some great songs and riffs on it. Last Rites and Insane are great tracks, and Buried Alive is like old-school levels of good with its riffs and is probably my fav track on the album and a song I'd actually rank up there with some of my favorite Mercyful Fate songs. King Diamond sounds as great as ever. This is another case of 'Well, something has to be down here', and I just find myself putting it on a little less than the ones further down the list/depending on my mood. They didn't try to change their sound too much like a lot of classic and thrash bands in the 90s, and in their case, I feel like it was for the best(as much as I can like when bands progress.)
4. In the Shadows(1993)
More horror-themed than Satanic-themed(much like King Diamond's self-titled work, though it's not a concept album like the King is known to do, though there is no lack of mention of witches and the like). In the Shadows might, after some thought, come in third. Their first album in almost ten years after Don't Break the Oath, it's a fine offering with Shermann's riffs being as catchy as always. Classics like The Bell Witch, Egypt, and the callback to the old days with Is that you, Melissa? make this an album I do find myself putting on a bit when I'm not running their 80s discography. Just overall a great album(but, for the hundredth time, all Mercyful Fate albums are great.
3. Time(1994)
Time is a pretty incredible album that I think delves back more into the old-school Mercyful Fate more than ever. Maybe my brain sort of clicks with certain styles in certain bands, and while I'm always a fan of bands progressing through time(heh), and evolving, sometimes bands that keep going with their tried and true methods can work out and I think Mercyful Fate is one of them. Despite coming out in 1994(a time where a lot of those older bands went far into experimentation mode, for better or worse), it totally sounds like it could've been part of that 80s discography. Maybe that's why it kinda goes here for me? I like MF when they're on with the satanic themes too, I admit. Nightmare Be Thy Name, Angel of Light, Witches Dance right in a row hit hard and there are some super-killer riffs on this album. The Mad Arab of course appeals to the big Lovecraft fan in me, much like the sequel on Into the Unknown.
2. Melissa(1983)
Melissa could be number 1 I think sometimes, and for a lot of folks I know it is; but it's very close in any case. How can one listen to the sounds of the legendary Evil(IMO one of their best songs), Black Funeral, or the epic Satan's Fall and NOT put this album at least close to the top? Melissa was one hell of a debut full-length(they did have their self-titled EP, later affectionately nicknamed' Nuns Have No Fun'.) Like, easily one of those upper echelon debut albums; while some bands' debuts left something to be desired and their real stride wouldn't be hit until their second or third album(see Judas Priest for a great example of this), Mercyful Fate hit the ground running straight to Hell with a big evil grin. All I can really say is to go out and immediately listen to this without stopping to pass Go or anything like that, if you're at all a fan of dark heavy metal.
1. Don't Break the Oath(1984)
GodDAMN 1984 was a great year. Bathory's S/T album, Ride the Lightning, Morbid Tales, Apocalyptic Raids, At War With Satan...and Mercyful Fate's timeless sophomore effort, Don't Break the Oath.
I think DBtO or Melissa could be interchangeable, depending on my mood, to be honest, but somehow I felt like this one just hit a tiny bit harder, or hits a tiny bit harder for me more often. Like, very tiny. Almost microscopic. Don't Break the Oath had the evil sound of Melissa, but they really went off musically on some of these tracks. A Dangerous Meeting, Nightmare, The Oath, Come to the Sabbath...all incredibly dark and wicked sounding offerings. I think one thing that sticks out to me almost more than Melissa is the extra slightly darker tone which ended up into that formation of black metal(okay, all Mercyful Fate did, but this album's sound was kinda transformative, I think.) Just like Melissa, go out immediately and listen to this album. Not much else to say but "What the fuck are you waiting for."
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And that's the list! I'm not sure where I'd put the self-titled EP, but probably around Time, hovering right in that area right before or after it depending on my mood that day. Mercyful Fate is pretty incredibly influential, and really you can't go wrong with listening to any of their albums; that said, if I had to pick three, go with the first three at the start. Then branch out(since others may well find more stuff on the other albums they like even more than I do.)
Looking forward to doing my King Diamond ranking as well; he too has an incredibly strong discography.
Anyway, 'til next time, readers!
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