Mercyful Fate / King Diamond Discography

Ok, so its been a while since I've done one of these Discography things. Looks like I'm up to doing Mercyful Fate. I was thinking of doing a joint Discography of Mercyful and King Diamond, but maybe they should be seperate. In a way it would be easier to do them at once. I would do it in the order where MF broke up and King Diamond started, but I don't want things to get confusing. Either way if I should do the joint thing then just let me know and thats what i'll do.

Hopefully I can do this one some Justice. I'm a horrible writer haha.

Mercyful Fate was formed in 1981 by members of the bands Brats, Black Rose and Danger Zone. The Line Up at the time was Hank Sherman and Miachel Denner on guitars, King Diamond on vocals, and Timi Grabber on bass. They wouldn't have a stable drummer until later on.

In 1982 Mercyful Fate recorded their first EP simply called "Mercyful Fate" or as some call it "Nun's Have No Fun". This EP also features Kim Ruzz on drums who would be their drummer until the break up. The EP was only released as a Vinyl and is a pretty rare collectors item. It would later be re-released as part of a compilation album called "The Beginning".


1."A Corpse Without Soul"
2."Nuns Have No Fun"
3."Doomed by the Living Dead"
4."Devil Eyes"

I don't own the original album but I do have "The Beginning" so thankfully I was able to hear these songs without shelling out the big bucks. I have to say that I really like these 4 songs. "A Corpse Without Soul" Is one of my all time favorite MF songs. I really like how the song starts off with that guitar solo and when King comes in, his screams are just haunting and evil sounding. The last scream he hits at the end, where he says "Satan Has Taken His Toll"... that must have hurt. I never heard him hit that note again, and you can tell he just put everything into that.

The EP was recorded within 2 days and I think it sounds great for what they were able to do with what little time they had. When I first heard these songs I really didn't care for "Nuns Have No Fun" Or "Devil Eyes" because of the stupid drum beats but eventually it grew on me and the lyrics on "Nuns" are actually pretty funny, if you don't take them so seriously.

Corpse Without Soul-

Pretty cool interview with King talking about the lyrical content of their songs

Hmmm, besides that link I've never heard any of those songs. Looks like I need to get The Beginning !

I remember this one from back in the day..... Someone had taped it for me off their album. Interesting listen, especially Corpse Without A Soul, but not nearly as good as what is to come next

Phoenix if you want to combine Mercyful Fate and King Diamond's solo career that is your call and your thread, you did an excellent job on the Helloween thread and I am sure you will do a great job on this thread.

BTW I do not own 'In the Beginning' and will have to listen to those links when I get home

Coooooool... MF thread.

As for the EP, I am only familiar with the tracks via their inclusion on THE BEGINNING, and I haven't dusted that one off in ages so I should probably do so.

In fact, I had never even SEEN an actual copy of that EP till years ago (early 90s probably) when my brother and I went to a record store and saw one pinned up on the wall with all the collectors' item vinyl stuff. The price tag on it was $40. We kinda went "Whoa, that would be awesome to have," but unfortunately neither of us had enough $$ on us at the time, nor any credit cards either. My brother went back to that store about a week later with $$ in hand cuz he wanted to pick it up but of course, by then it was gone. Shoot.

'A Corpse Without Soul' and 'Doomed By The Living Dead' both also appear on the compilation album A Dangerous Meeting which features the songs of both Mercyful Fate and King Diamond.



For the longest time, this was the only MF/King album I owned. I found it used and picked it up at the time because I wanted to hear the original versions of the songs that Metallica covered on their Garage, Inc. album.

I almost bought this once..... Then I heard it... The only tune I remotely dug was "A Corpse Without Soul" Of course, I went with "The Begining" and lived happily ever after.

Ah yes MG you are correct sir!

An ok Manny your right. I think I will just include King too.

Hahaha, love the avatar dude!!!!!!

Did it because of the thread

On just a side note, the interview you posted with King Diamond explaining/defending his band's position was done by Daniel Richler. Whose father was author Mordecai Richler who wrote among many books Jacob Two Two and The Apprenticeship Of Duddey Kravitz (which starred Richard Dreyfus in the 1974 movie adaption ). Totally useless information. Please continue with the discography...

Ok moving along....1983 would be the year Mercyful Fate would record their first full length album entitled "Melissa". "Melissa" was also the first album released by Roadrunner Records. The album got great reviews and became a huge hit. The production on this one was much stronger than on the EP. They had 2 weeks to record and mix the album. Kind of funny thinking about how things were back then. Maybe if more bands nowadays would record with those time constraits we could get some better albums.

Anyway..., The album was named after a Skull and some bones that King had acquired through someone. These bones were also used as stage props and King made his microphone handle with the femur bones. During one of the shows, unfortunetly someone had stolen the skull. Before it was stolen though it made its way onto the album cover. King also wrote a song called "Melissa" about the bones and what he thought happened to her. He wrote about how someone lost the love of their life ("Melissa") who was a witch and she was burnt at the stake by a Catholic Priest. The person declares revenge on the priest, and proclaims he must die in the name of Hell.

I'm actually listening to this cd now as I'm writing this and I'm up to Satans Fall at the moment and I'm realizing how much I actually really enjoy this album. Kings vocals are a required taste for some people, but for me some reason he just clicks with me. Yea its a little differen't but you get more than just an average vocalist with him. The different emotions he does with his vocals really make a for a interesting listen and you can almost feel like your part of the stories.

There honestly isn't one bad song on this album. There was a time when I wasn't too crazy about the song "At the sound of the demon bell" but after just hearing it again now I think I'm over that and I think its great! I really can't say enough about how great this album is. My only gripe is that maybe its a little too short and could have used a few more songs, but then again its almost perfect the way it is, straight to the point and making you want to listen to it over again.

During the recordings the record company wanted them to do a cover song of something. They picked Led Zeppelins Immigrant Song. Thankfully they eventually decided against it. I think that would have really killed the momentum of the album. There was also another song recorded for the album but only made it as a B-side and that was "Black Masses". It was the first song recorded in the "Melissa" sessions but the sound wasn't there like the other songs were so it was reduced to a b-side. I like the song but I'm actually glad it wasn't included with the album because it doesn't hold up with rest of the songs on the album.
One last thing, I swear! haha.... When King recorded his vocals for the album (and I believe he still does this to this day) he would bring in a little alter and some red lights to give a spooky atmostphere, so that he could get a feeling with the music and the lyrics.



"Melissa"
1. Evil
2. Curse of the Pharaohs
3. Into the Coven
4. At the Sound of the Demon Bell
5. Black Funeral
6. Satan's Fall
7. Melissa

This was the first song I ever heard of Mercyful Fate way back in Junior High and I was hooked ever since.

Curse Of The Pharaohs- [flash(425,350)] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBChVwjmOSo [/flash]

Man, Melissa and Curse of the Pharaohs are 2 great songs (actually the rest ain't bad either !), I didn't buy this one til way later than most of their discography (the gold disc remaster thru Columbia House/BMG). The lyrics can bother some people but they were never a problem for me.

Awesome, awesome classic album!!!!!!!! The first MF song I ever heard was Evil. I was hooked and had to hear the rest! Evil has riffs that just grab you from the get go. Every song on this one is awesome.

I wore this album out... I just listened to it recently too, first time in quite a bit.

I've been listening to Melissa a lot lately.

I think it's one of the best debut albums ever done. They sound better on this one than many bands do by their third or fourth albums.

I didn't like this album up until a few years ago. At the time KD's vocals bugged me, but, I always thought that the music was KILLER. Now I totally dig this album.... It's funny how time changes your pespective on things.

The first time I heard King Diamond's vocal performance I hated it but then I couldn't stop listening to the album, and now it is one of my favorite debut albums and til this day the album sounds great.

The lyrics never bothered me because I did not take them seriously I saw them as a musical version of a Stephen King or H.P. Lovecraft, almost like horror metal, thankfully no one named any sub genre of metal that, but you get the general idea.

When I first heard MELISSA circa '84 it was just about the spookiest damn thing I'd ever heard. King Diamond's vocals were like broadcasts from the netherworld. The band sounded like '70s Judas Priest if they'd been possessed by Satan. To a kid just getting into all this so-called "underground evil metal," my reaction of course was "F**KING AWWWWESOME!"

It's aged well. Total class all around.

Does anyone have the original version of this? Supposedly on the original the song "Melissa" has a part somewhere, where there are no lyrics, but when it was re issued the lyrics were put in. I could probably just look myself I think I have the original as well as the remaster but I'm already in bed haha. If its not the cd version, the vinyl version might be different.

A classic record and one that I played ALOT in my teenage years. I had to find some samples online to refresh my memory, because I haven't heard the entire album in probably 20 years.

One of the first things that struck me...was how much sections of Evil and At The Sound Of The Demon Bell sound like Thin Lizzy. In fact, the dual lead guitar stuff reminds me more of the Lizzy style of playing than Priest.

Most of the riffs are more in the Priest vein, but there's always been something "special" about the sound of this band, hard to put into words...it just sounds majestic. I had a similar reaction as Freddy...it scared the smurf poo out of me and I LOVED IT!

I never thought about leads being similar to Thin Lizzy but now that I think of it, that it is very true. Maybe that is what makes these recordings sound so special and the band sounded so different from other bands that came out of the underground at that time.

Phoenix Reign Drummer wrote:

Does anyone have the original version of this? Supposedly on the original the song "Melissa" has a part somewhere, where there are no lyrics, but when it was re issued the lyrics were put in. I could probably just look myself I think I have the original as well as the remaster but I'm already in bed haha. If its not the cd version, the vinyl version might be different.

I belive my copy is an original version, although I have no idea what you're talking about. I'd have to listen to it and even then, I couldn't be sure without hearing the re-issue.

I picked up this disc and Don't Break The Oath last summer at a flea market for $3 bucks apiece. King's vocal's are certainly an aquired taste and I personally can only take them for so long before they get on my nerves. This album however doesn't seem to bother me much and I enjoy it quite a bit. I can see how back in '83, this type of music, lyrically and structurally, was unheard of. Good stuff.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Phoenix Reign Drummer wrote:

Does anyone have the original version of this? Supposedly on the original the song "Melissa" has a part somewhere, where there are no lyrics, but when it was re issued the lyrics were put in. I could probably just look myself I think I have the original as well as the remaster but I'm already in bed haha. If its not the cd version, the vinyl version might be different.

I belive my copy is an original version, although I have no idea what you're talking about. I'd have to listen to it and even then, I couldn't be sure without hearing the re-issue.

I picked up this disc and Don't Break The Oath last summer at a flea market for $3 bucks apiece. King's vocal's are certainly an aquired taste and I personally can only take them for so long before they get on my nerves. This album however doesn't seem to bother me much and I enjoy it quite a bit. I can see how back in '83, this type of music, lyrically and structurally, was unheard of. Good stuff.

Yea I read it somewhere. Maybe if you could make me an MP3 of it and send it toooo openurlife@aol.com ? Then I could tell