Mercyful Fate vs. King Diamond

Do you prefer Mercyful Fate or King Diamond, and why?

Mercyful Fate's early stuff is quintessential to the rising Danish heavy metal scene. Melissa and Don't Break the Oath are both strong full-lengths. The post-reunion albums range from very good to simply average. Hank Shermann can play a mean solo!

King Diamond released five great albums, but the others are also worth checking out. The Puppet Master is probably the best one from all their post-The Eye material.

It's hard to decide between the two, but I think I'm going with Mercyful Fate.

Both great!

I'd say that King Diamond (the person) is awesome in general

But to answer your question, I find myself listening to Mercyful Fate more - I own Melissa and Don't Break the Oath - I see them as being in the top ten of the greatest heavy metal records ever recorded

I always preferred MF. There's just something about KD's vox and that Shermann/Denner guitar sound that creates the audio equivalent of pure Satan.

Probably MF if forced to pick.

I also really dig Hank's post MF band called Fate.

Why does he have 2 bands - never heard of anyone doing that before ?

ZombieHavoc wrote:

Probably MF if forced to pick.

I also really dig Hank's post MF band called Fate.

I flat out refused to listen to that record purely based on how they looked!

I tend to listen to King Diamond the most, but Melissa and Don't Break the Oath are out-an-out classics. I hate the lyrics on both of them, so they aren't frequent players for me, but man the music and King's vocals are just downright bone chilling.

Mercyful Fate for me. Their is a nicer balance between the music and King's vocals for me. I can only take him in small doses.

MF for me

Glower wrote:

Why does he have 2 bands - never heard of anyone doing that before ?

MF broke up in 1984 so King continued under his "own" name after that. When MF reunited in the early 90s he kept his own solo band going alongside his MF activities.

Mercyful Fate for me. I generally dislike concept albums, but I do enjoy King Diamond's. I probably like MF more because I heard them first, but there's not that much difference between the two.

I am unable to properly answer this one. I only own 5 cds for KD and none of MF's albums.

but I am not a huge fan of king's voice.. as a matter of fact I last played one of his albums, namely abigail, over two years ago.

I'm quite surprised at the choices here.

Both are great bands but I thought that King Diamond's much less satanic lyrical stance on his solo stuff would have swung it for you.

I prefer Mercyful Fate most days but music's not really a competition and it depends on my mood. I also wish that he would revisit the Black Rose material and record it properly.

Boris2008 wrote:

ZombieHavoc wrote:

Probably MF if forced to pick.

I also really dig Hank's post MF band called Fate.

I flat out refused to listen to that record purely based on how they looked!

Heh, when a band looks like that, I'm pretty much guaranteed to check them out. But here, you get what you expect from their looks. If their look turns you off, the music probably will too.

I like both a lot but at their best (Melissa, In the Shadows) I prefer MERCYFUL FATE. Better riffs.

But LaRoque's solos are the best in all of metaldom.

ultmetal wrote:

I tend to listen to King Diamond the most, but Melissa and Don't Break the Oath are out-an-out classics. I hate the lyrics on both of them, so they aren't frequent players for me, but man the music and King's vocals are just downright bone chilling.

King Diamond's lyrics are actually more inspired by Satanism than Mercyful Fate.

Here's an article that confirms this:

Quote :

Actually, King Diamond is much more Satanic than Mercyful Fate ever was because the stories and life philosophy on King Diamond albums are from LaVey’s ‘Satanic Bible’. Mercyful is more about legends like the headless riders, stories of Egypt, questioning religious beliefs, but then there’s an album like [King Diamond's] ‘House Of God’, which goes deeper into how no-one has proof of the existence of any God. If there was proof of one God, we’d all believe in that one God. That’s why we have so many different religions and people shouldn’t judge others for not believing the same thing they believe.

The new King Diamond stage set-up looks more like you’d think Mercyful would’ve looked like if we had the money at the time. There’s a gigantic stage set up with a baphomet symbol, hanging upside-down crosses, a huge backdrop and a two-metre tall walkway with stairways. It looks like the inside of a Satanic church.

I personally don't care what King Diamond chooses to sing about, as neither of the two bands' themes disturb me one bit. I'd never turn down a band over their political or religious views.

Yea I can't choose one ofverthe other. I like both for different reasons. Maybe I could give King Diamond a little more of a push because theres one Mercyful Fate album I honestly don't really care for at all and that is Dead Again. As far as King Diamonds albums I could just pick any one and be happy. Of course Melissa and Don't Break The Oath might beat out most of Kings solo albums.......UGH!! Brain....Hurts.....Can't...Do....This... NOOOOOOOoooooooooo!

Fat Freddy wrote:

I always preferred MF. There's just something about KD's vox and that Shermann/Denner guitar sound that creates the audio equivalent of pure Satan.

This. I like both though.

King Diamond (band) albums always struck me as ghost stories more than anything else...

I'll go with Mercyful Fate was well. Melissa had the best snare sound EVER recorded until they remastered the album! Sherman/Denner is a great combination just like Smith/Murray or Tipton/Downing. I do agree with Temple though, LaRoque has the best solos in all metaldom!

There isn't a Mercyful Album I don't like. On the other hand, I love the 1st 3 KD albums but lost interest in him until The Spider's Lullabye album was released. Just can't get into Conspiracy or The Eye. I like everything after though!

I have to go with King Diamond. However, I love Mercyful Fate!! Melissa is epic!

King Diamond for me. His solo albums are some of my favorites and from Fatal Portrait all the way through The Graveyard is more killer than filler (up to "Them" practically flawless). This doesn't really have anything to do with the lyrics though later that was a factor. I was just late to metal and introduced to King far before MF. I didn't hear them til Time, which is my favorite MF album (again due to the music, not the lyrics, though that became a factor later). A lot of MF fans consider Time to be inferior to the previous ones, but since I didn't hear those til much later (once I got over my bias against the lyrics) it was already etched in my mind and I just enjoy it more.

Temple of Blood wrote:

But LaRoque's solos are the best in all of metaldom.

Hard to argue with that. He is probably my favorite guitarist after Criss Oliva.

Mercyful Fate. I just prefer the overall "vibe" of their first two albums to the King Diamond solo stuff.