Several demos and live shows survive from 1981, including their infamous first concert "Sabbath of all witches" held in early/mid 1981.
In early 1982, the band contributed to the Ebony Records sampler Metallic Storm. Later on in the year, Mercyful Fate recorded its first official release, Mercyful Fate, on vinyl for the Dutch label Rave On. The release included heavy and evil material that would later inspire the black metal genre (although Venom and Bathory are as equally considered as the forefathers of black metal).
Following the EP, the band released Melissa in 1983 and Don't Break the Oath in 1984, which are now considered by many to be classics in both the power metal and black metal genres. Following the tour (which saw them play in the United States for the first time) in support of Don't Break the Oath, Diamond split ways with Mercyful Fate in April 1985 as a result of frustration over creative differences with Hank Shermann. With him, Diamond brought band mates Hansen and Denner to found a new band under his own name. Diamond's new venture continued the tradition of Mercyful Fate, but with a more progressive, conceptual twist to it. In response, Hank Shermann formed the band Fate, which pursued a more AOR direction.
Reunion
In July 1992, the band reformed and signed a contract with Brian Slagel's Metal Blade Records. All the original members without Kim Ruzz (replaced by Morten Nielsen) reformed and released In the Shadows in 1993. The album featured a re-recording of "Return of the Vampire", with Metallica drummer and Mercyful Fate enthusiast Lars Ulrich playing on the track. In the years since, the band has released four other albums, with the last being 9. Similar to the band's first run, members have left and been replaced; Michael Denner left and was replaced by Mike Wead, Drummer Nielsen was later replaced by Snowy Shaw who was then replaced by Bjarne Holm, Bassist Timi Hansen left quickly and was replaced by Sharlee D'Angelo. Following the release of 9 (1999), King Diamond put Mercyful Fate on hold and continued his solo career. Shermann, Denner, Holm and (King Diamond Bass player) Hal Patino formed Force of Evil, which incorporates many of the themes of the original Mercyful Fate.
In a March, 2008 interview, King Diamond stated that Mercyful Fate is currently "hibernating", but had never split up. Though he does not know when the band will become active again, he said "It's definitely not finished, at least in my book.". With the Re-union in 1993, the same lineup returned for the album and European tour, with the exception of Drummer Kim Ruzz, who was replaced by Snowy Shaw. Bassist Timi Hansen also left after the European leg of the tour, and was replaced by Sharlee D'Angelo.
The Lineup remained the same for "Time" and "Into the Unknown". Snowy Shaw was then replaced by Bjarne Holm on drums.
Unfortunatley, Michael Denner had also parted ways with the band at this point, to stay with his wife and family. His replacement was Mike Wead, who recorded with the band for "Dead Again" As well as "9" and has proven to be a sufficient replacement for Michael Denner.
Melissa
"Melissa" is the name of a skull King Diamond used to carry on stage, and also a fictional deceased witch that appears in three songs. Before the recordings of the album Melissa, King Diamond had acquired a human skeleton that he named "Melissa". He used the femur bones to make his trademark microphone handle. The skull was apparently stolen during a show in the Netherlands.
The skull was inspiration behind the album Melissa, and the title track of the album is very different from the rest of the album, as it is much slower than the other songs (which are speedier and more aggressive). The lyrics tell of a male protagonist (usually identified as King Diamond himself by fans) who lost the love of his life, who was a witch who was burnt at the stake by a Catholic priest. The story builds itself up around the emotions of the protagonist, who first feels sadness and uncertainty, hope for her to still be alive, and then rage over his loss. He swears revenge on the priest who burnt her, proclaiming that he must die in the name of hell. The song ends with a whisper that hints Melissa's spirit is still with the protagonist.
The second song Melissa appears on is on the album Don't Break the Oath in the song "Come to the Sabbath", once again at the climax of the album. The lyrics tell about a Satanic coven holding a sabbath, in which the protagonist emerges to perform a ritual to "put an evil curse on the priest who took the life of Melissa". Though she is not the focus of the lyrics this time, because of her mention the song is known as a "Melissa song". Additionally, one of the main characters on the King Diamond's album Them was named "Missy", which is a common diminutive of Melissa.
The final song Melissa appears in is on Mercyful Fate's reunion album In the Shadows on the song "Is That You, Melissa?". The lyrics tell of the protagonist once again in sorrow about the loss of his love. He begins to hear her voice and goes to the coven to have them perform a ritual to speak with her ghost. The coven objects, saying that it is against the rules. The protagonist is visited by Melissa's spirit who shares a kiss with the protagonist. The subject of the song is argued by some; one side says the lyrics are not a continuation of the Melissa story but a tribute by the band to their past, while the other side sees it as the end of the Melissa story. It is widely accepted that she is the girl on the album cover of "In the Shadows" facing the old oak tree. After In the Shadows, Melissa has not been mentioned any more in both lyrics and artwork.
On August 1, 2019, it was announced that Mercyful Fate would be performing an unspecified number of concerts throughout Europe in the summer of 2020. The band's line-up consists of King Diamond on vocals, Hank Shermann on guitar, Bjarne T. Holm on drums, Mike Wead on guitar and Joey Vera on bass, the latter of whom was filling in for Timi Hansen, who was battling cancer; Vera then became their full-time bass player after Hansen died on November 4, 2019, shortly after his 61st birthday. Aside from previously released material, the band was also going to perform new songs over the course of the summer.
In a May 2020 interview with Heavy magazine, Shermann said that he had "written six or seven songs" for the band's new album. On June 2, 2022, Mercyful Fate performed their first live show since 1999 in Hanover as part of a European tour, where they debuted a brand new song titled "The Jackal of Salzburg"
IN 2022, Becky Baldwin, a British musician who has previously played with Fury, Triaxisand Control The Storm. filled in for regular bassist Joey Vera, who had scheduling conflicts with his longtime band Armored Saint.
Shadows
Mercyful Fate Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And the moon bears witness to the graves
In the shadows we are alive
In the shadows, The Light
Can you see the ghosts above our heads?
We are all in there with the dead
In the shadows we are alive
In the shadows, The Light
In the darkness there is no holding back
There is no gold in black
Deep in the night
Everything is clear
Clearer than daylight
In the land of mystery we share
You can come along if you dare
In the shadows we are alive
In the shadows, The Light
We are hiding in the shadows on your wall
We are watching as you kiss your little doll
When the darkness leaves the night
We cannot see The Light no more
No more
We are always in the shadows by your door
But when the darkness leaves the night
We cannot see The Light no more
No more
There is no holding back
There is no gold in black
Deep in the night
Everything is clear
Clearer than daylight
The lyrics to Mercyful Fate's song Shadows creates an image of life in the shadows contrasting with life in the light. The first two lines describe a morbid setting as darkness consumes the day and the moon looks down on graves. However, in the shadows, the singer asserts that they feel alive and can see "The Light." The following lines depict a surreal world where ghosts haunt above and share space with the dead. The darkness represents a world of clarity, where everything is clearer than it is during the day.
The 'land of mystery' referenced in the song can be interpreted as a place of metaphorical death or the underworld. The singer invites the listener to join them, to enter the land of mystery if they dare. The chorus reaffirms that people in the shadows are alive, and again mentions "The Light." In the final section, the song becomes particularly chilling, as it describes the singer(s) always watching in the shadows, observing people's actions. The chorus returns once more, with a twist; during daylight, they can no longer see "The Light." The final lines about everything being clear during the night, specifically the lack of holding back and the absence of gold, hint at a sort of purgatory in which the singer(s) exist.
Line by Line Meaning
When the darkness eats away the day
As night creeps in, the darkness gradually overcomes the brightness of the day
And the moon bears witness to the graves
In the night, the moon oversees and reveals the existence of the graves of the dead
In the shadows we are alive
We find meaning and feel alive in the darkness and secrecy of our hidden existence
In the shadows, The Light
Even though we hide in the shadows, we are still seeking and hoping to find enlightenment
Can you see the ghosts above our heads?
We sense and feel the presence of spirits and deceased souls surrounding and haunting us
We are all in there with the dead
Despite being alive, we are still connected and intertwined with the existence and fate of those who have already passed away
In the darkness there is no holding back
In the absence of light, we feel liberated and unrestrained by our fears and doubts
There is no gold in black
The dark and gloomy times do not offer any treasures or good fortunes
Deep in the night
As time passes by and the night gets darker
Everything is clear
Our thoughts and feelings become amplified and more lucid in the silence of the night
Clearer than daylight
The clarity and depth of our insights and emotions surpasses that of what we can experience during the day
In the land of mystery we share
Together, we explore and embrace the unknown and enigmatic parts of life
You can come along if you dare
We invite you to join us in our journey despite the risks and dangers that lie ahead
We are hiding in the shadows on your wall
We are surreptitiously observing and following your every move from afar
We are watching as you kiss your little doll
We witness and scrutinize even the most intimate moments of your life
When the darkness leaves the night
As dawn approaches and daylight emerges
We cannot see The Light no more
We lose sight and sense of the enlightenment and clarity that we were seeking in the darkness
No more
It is now too late and we have missed our chance
We are always in the shadows by your door
We linger and persistently haunt you, always present but out of sight
But when the darkness leaves the night
However, when the night fades away and light takes over
We cannot see The Light no more
Our existence in the shadows comes at the cost of losing sight of the enlightenment and rewards of life
No more
The fleeting moment of seeking and feeling alive is now over
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: KIM BENDIX PETERSEN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Ben - Moderator
on A Dangerous Meeting
Hi Chris, There were 2 interviews in particular which suggested this. (Unfortunately both the references below have since been taken down so the links below are broken)
Firstly in an interview with Loudwire, King Diamond discussed the inspiration behind "A Dangerous Meeting" and stated, "It's a song about a meeting that happened in Denmark, where I'm from, with some people who were into the darker side of things. They had a lot of things with them that I didn't want to have anything to do with. They had skulls, and there was a snake there, and all kinds of stuff that really freaked me out."
Loudwire - "King Diamond Talks Paranormal, Mysterious Fires + New Album 'The Institute'" (February 6, 2020)
https://loudwire.com/king-diamond-the-institute-album-interview/
Secondly in an interview with Metal Hammer, King Diamond stated that the lyrics to "A Dangerous Meeting" were based on his personal experiences, saying, "I have seen things that are unexplainable, and there's no way that science can prove some of the things that I have seen. It's just unexplainable. It's a very, very small percentage of the population that gets to see these things, and it's been with me since I was a child."
Metal Hammer - "King Diamond: The Real Story Behind 'Abigail'" (October 24, 2017)
https://www.loudersound.com/features/king-diamond-the-real-story-behind-abigail
Let me know if I've misunderstood what you've said or if you still think the above information is misleading.
Chris
on A Dangerous Meeting
I'd like to request a fact check on the above information.
"The lyrics to "A Dangerous Meeting" are based on King Diamond's experiences with the occult and paranormal."
King Diamond has actually said that the songs he wrote for Mercyful Fate are myths and legends, and that if anything the stuff he's written is more based on folktales and myths and that King Diamond the band is more based on personal experiences with the occult (though there are exceptions like Nightmare)