Mercyful Fate / King Diamond Discography

Joe wrote:

Phoenix Reign Drummer wrote:

Nice! The gold discs are cool. I have all the remasters but not all of them are the gold discs. I guess they were really limited. Wish I would have known.

Is there a difference in sound between the gold discs and the regular remasters? There has been one sitting at my local music store for awhile now. Is it worth the double dip?

I have no idea. I got mine at a flea market. I saw a copy of Abigail in a pile of other cd's, so I grabbed it. Never owned a copy, so I would have purchased it no matter what version (original or remaster) it was for the $2 or $3 bucks the guy wanted. The gold finish and bonus tracks were icing on the cake as far as I was concerned.

Joe wrote:

Phoenix Reign Drummer wrote:

Nice! The gold discs are cool. I have all the remasters but not all of them are the gold discs. I guess they were really limited. Wish I would have known.

Is there a difference in sound between the gold discs and the regular remasters? There has been one sitting at my local music store for awhile now. Is it worth the double dip?

How much was it? and Which album is it? I've been looking for "Them" and "Conspiracy" in gold. Theres really no difference except that they are...... Gooooooold haha. I just own the others ones in gold and those other ones aren't but they are the remastered ones. The only other difference is the spine is slightly different from the gold ones. If you can find those 2 in Gold I'll trade you for the ones I have.

Phoenix Reign Drummer wrote:

Joe wrote:

Phoenix Reign Drummer wrote:

Nice! The gold discs are cool. I have all the remasters but not all of them are the gold discs. I guess they were really limited. Wish I would have known.

Is there a difference in sound between the gold discs and the regular remasters? There has been one sitting at my local music store for awhile now. Is it worth the double dip?

How much was it? and Which album is it? I've been looking for "Them" and "Conspiracy" in gold. Theres really no difference except that they are...... Gooooooold haha. I just own the others ones in gold and those other ones aren't but they are the remastered ones. The only other difference is the spine is slightly different from the gold ones. If you can find those 2 in Gold I'll trade you for the ones I have.

"Abigail" was the disc I saw at the store close to me. I don't remember the price. There is actually a chain of these stores out here and I frequent most of them, so I'll keep an eye out for those two.

Joe wrote:

Phoenix Reign Drummer wrote:

Joe wrote:

Phoenix Reign Drummer wrote:

Nice! The gold discs are cool. I have all the remasters but not all of them are the gold discs. I guess they were really limited. Wish I would have known.

Is there a difference in sound between the gold discs and the regular remasters? There has been one sitting at my local music store for awhile now. Is it worth the double dip?

How much was it? and Which album is it? I've been looking for "Them" and "Conspiracy" in gold. Theres really no difference except that they are...... Gooooooold haha. I just own the others ones in gold and those other ones aren't but they are the remastered ones. The only other difference is the spine is slightly different from the gold ones. If you can find those 2 in Gold I'll trade you for the ones I have.

"Abigail" was the disc I saw at the store close to me. I don't remember the price. There is actually a chain of these stores out here and I frequent most of them, so I'll keep an eye out for those two.

Awesome man thanks! I got that conspiracy cd on ebay thinking it was the gold one and it wasn't. So I figure if I want them I have to see them in person. Let me know if you come across anything.

Next up is 1988's "Them". The first of a 2 part concept a album. Touring guitarist Michael Moon was replaced by Pete Blakk on guitar and Timi Hansen, who started to work on the album, was replaced by Hal Patino on bass. "Them" is about Kings crazy grandmother who comes back home from a Mental Asylum. While at the house the grandmother drinks tea with "Them", who are basically evil spirits and then the fun begins. Grandma wakes King so she can tell him the story about the house, "Amon". The grandmother cuts kings moms hand so she would have blood for her tea. "Them" The voices from the house, begin to affect king. Missy, Kings sister, tries to convince King to help their mother who is unconscious under "Their" power, but King is under the spell of "Them". He refuses to call for help and cuts the phone lines.

At Tea, Missy interrupts and expresses concern about her mother and breaks the teapot. "They", In response to the breaking of "Their" teapot, chop Missy into pieces with an axe and throw the remains into the fireplace. Eventually King snaps out of his spell and goes outside to piece together what has happened.

King decides to attack his grandmother. He noticed that "Their" power is weakened outside of the house, where he lures his grandmother outside and kills her.

King is questioned by the police, while the voices are still haunting him. He was later incarcerated in an asylum. Years later he is released and returns home. He gets a phone call, and answers to find out his grandmother is on the other line and she is very much alive.... TO BE CONTINUED!
What a crazy story this album turned out to be. I was gullable when I was younger and actually thought this whole story was true LOL! I guess I would just believe about anything at that time.

This album wasn't as good as "Abigail" was. The production being the most noteable. Its completely flat, something that I thought would have been fixed on the remaster, but obviously not. If you can get past the production and focus on the songs there are a lot of great tunes on this one. "Welcome Home", "The Invisible Guests", "BYE BYE Missy", and "Twilight Symphony" hell, I even like the instrumental "Them". One thing I never understood was why the last track "Phone Call" was taken off of the cassette version. I always thought it was another song until I got the cd and I was a little bummed it was actually a phone call haha.

In all its a pretty good album. Just needed a better mix.


1. "Out From the Asylum"
2. "Welcome Home"
3. "The Invisible Guests"
4. "Tea"
5. "Mother's Getting Weaker"
6. "Bye, Bye Missy"
7. "A Broken Spell"
8. "The Accusation Chair"
9. ""Them"" (Instrumental)
10. "Twilight Symphony"
11. "Coming Home"
12. "Phone Call"

Not one of my fave KDs but it does hold a special place in Metal history, IMO, because it made Grandmas METAL.

"GRANDMAAAAAAAAAA -- WELCOME HOOOOOOOOOOME!"

1989's "Conspiracy" album was the continuation of the previous album "Them". This time around King returns to the house to reclaim his place as heir. King makes a deal with "Them" to return control of the house in exchange to see Missy again. Missy returns from the grave to help King uncover mysteries from "Them". Kings mother and doctor conspire to get rid of him permanently in order to get the house for themselves.

"Conspiracy" would be the last album for Mikkey Dee. He already le
ft during the recording of the album, but agreed to finish it as a studio musician. Mikkey Dee would go onto work with Don Dokken, World War Three and later would end up with Motorhead where he is currently today. For the tour a new drummer was found in Snowy Shaw.

This album to me is a huge improvement from "Them" sound wise, and song wise. My favorite King Diamond song "At the Graves" is the opening track. Its almost 9 minutes long, but with all the twists and turns that it takes it doesn't feel that long. I wish they would perform this song live. A video for the song "Sleepless Nights" was done and I believe did pretty well on MTV. I would give this album a 10 out of 10.

Funny story, when I got this album I was about maybe 13 or so. I wasn't too sure about where I stood on religion and if I should believe in GOD or not. just the thought of GOD scared me. So my moms friend who was very religious would talk to me about GOD and the music I was listening to. She didn't say anything bad about it, but it wasn't anything she would listen to. From all the religious talk, one night I was listening to this very album and all of a sudden something maybe some lyrics or whatever it was about it bothered me so much I ripped the cassette out of the player and just completely destroyed it. I was crying and flipping out at how "Evil" the music was. HAHA

A few weeks later I realised how friggin' stupid I was to think that, that I went back out and bought a new copy on cd. I'm glad I finally realised that its not music that determins the path of your life but its yourself. From that day on though I realized just how much power King has within his lyrics and music. If someone could really scare the crap out of me that much, then I guess he's doing a good job. I've been an insane fan ever since.


1. "At the Graves"
2. "Sleepless Nights"
3. "Lies"
4. "A Visit From the Dead"
5. "The Wedding Dream"
6. ""Amon" Belongs to "Them""
7. "Something Weird" (Instrumental)
8. "Victimized"
9. "Let It Be Done"
10. "Cremation" (Instrumental)

*Crickets* Hello? Hello? Is this thing on?

Don't have this one - I haven;t heard it in years!!!!!! At this point I had grown a little tired of The King (unfortunately)

Them - you pretty much nailed it with your review. The production is HORRID, I remember thinking it was defective the first time I heard it. Plus this was also the album where King's "schtick" started to bug me. I mean, no matter how well you write it...you can't write a fuckin' metal song about TEA. Sorry King, unintentional humor abounds. Primarily because of the production I've not heard this album since the year it came out.

Conspiracy - Another album I haven't heard since around 1991 or so, but I do remember really loving this record when it came out. The production was far improved and thankfully it was a little more song based, with less gimmicks.

The only other King CD I purchased was the Mercyful Fate reunion disc "In The Shadows". Conspiracy was the last King solo album I ever heard.

Them is another great King Diamond album. I always liked the first 3 songs (minus the intro Out From The Asylum) especially.Phone Call is a silly little thing that doesn't need to be on there.


Conspiracy also follows the trend for King. My faves are At The Graves,The Wedding Dream and Victimized. You know, I said it before but the story means next to nothing to me. In fact, PRD's synopsis of it is the first I ever really paid attention to it.

LMAO! Should I even continue with the thread? I think all his albums have something to offer. Yea the whole thing about his grandmother and the tea was a little "out there" but to me its no different than a movie its just put to music and the music just happens to be catchy and the stories are interesting, some times corney but they always make me think in some way or another some of this stuff could happen whether it be some kind of ghostly happening or just someone crazy enough to think whats happening is real.

He is definetly running out of things to write about though and sometimes I wish he would just stop thinking that he always has to do a concept album and just write what he feels, but if he goes and does that then those people that expect concept album after concept album from him will complain. I enjoy all his work, but I really doubt he has many albums left in him.

Phoenix Reign Drummer wrote:

LMAO! Should I even continue with the thread? I think all his albums have something to offer. Yea the whole thing about his grandmother and the tea was a little "out there" but to me its no different than a movie its just put to music and the music just happens to be catchy and the stories are interesting, some times corney but they always make me think in some way or another some of this stuff could happen whether it be some kind of ghostly happening or just someone crazy enough to think whats happening is real.

He is definetly running out of things to write about though and sometimes I wish he would just stop thinking that he always has to do a concept album and just write what he feels, but if he goes and does that then those people that expect concept album after concept album from him will complain. I enjoy all his work, but I really doubt he has many albums left in him.

Keep it going man!!!!!! Keep the faith!

Them and Conspiracy are pretty solid albums, but I don't like 'em nearly as much as Fatal Portrait and Abigail.

"The Eye" released in 1990 would be the last King Diamond album for a short break. It is also the first album to not feature Mikkey Dee on drums. Snowy Shaw was credited for playing drums but did not play a single note. It was recorded using a drum machine. This is also the last studio album for King Diamond to be released on Road Runner Records.

"The Eye" like all previous King Diamond albums is a concept album, but this time around the story is mostly true and even the names within the story are real. The main story told in "The Eye" took place during the French Inquisition from 1450 - 1670. The only thing that wasn't true was the story about "The Eye", a necklace that would kill the person who looked into it.

This was my first King Diamond album. I was told about this through a friend in school. He belonged to one of those cd clubs so he just got it in the mail not knowing what it was. He said his mom threw it out on him because of the content in the music. I figured it would be right up my alley, so I went and searched for it. I think I ended up finding the cassette in K-Mart. I was excited to find it and couldn't wait to get home and listen to this thing that was "so bad and evil". When I started listening to it I really didn't like it. The drums were fake, the guys voice was wierd and it just wasn't like anything else I liked or heard at that time. I really didn't like it at all but I kept listening to it to see if what was written in the lyrics was really that bad. At the time a lot of the things were questionable to me and I wasn't sure where I stood with religion and what listening to songs about the devil and burning witches would do to me haha. Eventually I grew out of that thinking and realized its just music, but besides that it still took a long time to really grab onto King Diamond and especially this album "The Eye".

It wasn't until I started to pick up the other releases to see what else he could do and then the love for his music grew on me and I got to see what he was about and realized he isn't really a satanist but just using that as a form of entertainment sort of like horror movies. It wouldn't be until years later I would eventually end up really liking "The Eye". I finally got passed the drum machine and just took the album for what it was and I honestly think its one of his best besides Abigail.

The opening track "The Eye Of The Witch" is a great song with a catchy chorus and great melodies within the music. "The Trial" has some really greay guitar solos. "Burn" was probably my least favorite song off this album but again that one has grown on me too after hearing it done live. "Two Little Girls" even though its just King and a keyboard in the background, which by the way is played by Roberto Falcao who played on all King Diamond releases all the way through til "The Eye" but would later leave the band. "Into The Convent" is probably my favorite track. I really like the voice changes he does throughout it and the guitar solos. "Father Picard" is tied as my favorite with "Into The Convent". I like the story and the music. "Behind the Walls" for some reason I really like the keyboards in this one. It just sets the mood for the whole song and gives it a sort of creepy feeling but yet the song is kind of up beat. "The Meetings" The chorus is catchy in this one as well. I like the drums too. "Insanity" is an instrumental and a very imotional one too. It doesn't really need any words to make you feel what these people that this album was written about were going through you can just feel it in the music. "1642 Imprisonment" is a decent song I don't dislike but it isn't one of my favorites and finally "The Curse" I like how the song starts out with the drums creeping in. Its a great ending for the album and pretty much wraps up the whole story.

I wouldn't suggest this as a first introduction to King Diamond but would definetly recommend it as maybe the second. First being Abigail.


1. "Eye of the Witch"
2. "The Trial (Chambre Ardente)"
3. "Burn"
4. "Two Little Girls"
5. "Into the Convent"
6. "Father Picard"
7. "Behind These Walls"
8. "The Meetings"
9. "Insanity" (Instrumental)
10. "1642 Imprisonment"
11. "The Curse"

I'm up a little late looking for something to do so I'm just going to move onto the next few things and also add something I forgot to put it earlier.

1990 King Diamond releases a rare live album called In Concert 1987:Abigail. Supposedly King was searching through his attic and came across this old recording and decided to release it. I'm actually glad he did because this is one of my favorite live albums. The sound is very clear and the performace was spot on. The Mikkey Dee drum solo blows me away. I don't know how many times I would listen to that thing and try to copy that but just couldn't Mikkey Dee is a monster on the drums. I even like the guitar solos. Just everything about this live album is awesome. You have stuff from Fatal Portrait, Abigail and even a few Mercyful Fate songs which I think they did an awesome job performing as well. All around great live album.



1."Funeral"
2."Arrival"
3."Come to the Sabbath"
4."The Family Ghost"
5."The 7th Day of July 1777"
6."The Portrait"
7."Guitar Solo Andy"
8."The Possession"
9."Abigail"
10."Drum Solo"
11."The Candle"
12."No Presents for Christmas"

In 1992 A few compilation albums were released for both Mercyful Fate and King Diamond.
One Compilation was called "Return Of The Vampire". It was full of rare demo tracks that were recorded before their first album "Melissa". A lot of songs found on this compilation were reworked into other songs that were released on "Melissa" and "Don't Break The Oath". Others are being heard for the first time.


1."Burning the Cross"
2."Curse of the Pharaohs"
3."Return of the Vampire"
4."On a Night of Full Moon"
5."A Corpse without Soul"
6."Death Kiss"
7."Leave My Soul Alone"
8."M.D.A." (Mission: Destroy Aliens)
9."You Asked for It"


The other compilation is "A Dangerous Meeting". This would be a split album of Meryful Fate and King Diamond songs. The vinyl release featured "Satan's Fall" where the cd didn't.


1."Doomed by the Living Dead"
2."A Corpse without Soul"
3."Evil"
4."Curse of the Pharaohs"
5."A Dangerous Meeting"
6."Gypsy"
7."Come to the Sabbath"
8."The Candle"
9."Charon"
10."Halloween"
11."No Presents for Christmas"
12."Arrival"
13."Abigail"
14."Welcome Home"
15."Sleepless Nights"
16."Eye of the Witch"

Both of these compilations are pretty good. I think my favorite though is "Return Of The Vampire" mostly because its full of stuff that I haven't heard before. Its also interesting to hear how other songs came from these.
I also messed up earlier because I thought this came out in 1992 as well but after looking I saw that it was actually released in 1987. That album was Meryful Fates "The Beginning". This compilation features songs from the first EP plus other unreleased tracks.


1."Doomed by the Living Dead"
2."A Corpse Without Soul"
3."Nuns Have No Fun"
4."Devil Eyes"
5."Curse of the Pharaohs" *
6."Evil" *
7."Satan's Fall" *
8."Black Masses" **
9."Black Funeral" ***

* From "The Friday Rock Show". 19 March, 1983
** From the "Black Funeral" single (B side)
*** From the "Metallic Storm" compilation

Mercyful Fate's THE BEGINNING was a necessary pickup for me simply for the tracks from the first MF EP, which was already a pricey collectible. I think I mentioned in my post for the EP that I've only ever seen one copy of that damn EP and it was way too rich for my blood at the time. At least with THE BEGINNING I have those tracks at an affordable price. Still wouldn't mind owning a copy of the real deal if I ever come across one at a decent price though.

The Beginning and Return of the Vampire are both essential. Classic MF. I'm not familiar with Them, so I can't comment on it I'm afraid.

I remember having "The Beginning" on cassette, I bought it solely because I wanted to hear "Nuns have no fun".

I never had Return of the Vampire. These both have me curious, I'd like to listen to them again at some point.

Good thread!

A Dangerous Meeting, as I may have mentioned earlier in theis thread, was my introduction to both King and Mercyful Fate. While I was aware of both over the years, I never felt compelled to seek out the music. King's voice at times could be like nails on a chalkboard to me.

I stumbled across this disc in a little used shop I still frequent shortly after the release of Metallica's Garage Inc. I really liked the tunes the Metalli-Kats covered in their KD/MF medley and most of them were right here on this disc. I figured that would be as good as place as any to introduce myself to the band. Glad I did.

And I got 'No Presents For Christmas' played over the PA system at our minor league hockey game one year during the holidays.

The Eye is one of my least favorite King Diamond cds for some reason. I just can't seem to get into. I can't recall any of the songs even looking at the track listing. I think there are definitely better things to come.

Return of the Vampire is a pretty cool comp. I like it for the unreleased stuff-a good listen all the way through.

I don't have or really want A Dangerous Meeting. Having it in the collection would just be a case of redundancy.

I really ,really want and need the Beginning (just for the Nuns Have No Fun ep) . I've been looking for that thing a while now but haven't found a used one at a decent price.

I just recently got the EP on ebay I believe its a 3rd pressing. Total is was $31. I've seen it go for way more than that so I was just lucky to get it that cheap.

After a pretty long break 1992 rolls around and Mercyful Fate have reunited. The do a reunion tour and in 1993 release a new album entitled "In The Shadows". Everyone was back in the band except for Kim Ruzz, who I read worked for the Denmark postal service. Drums were handled by sessions drummer Morton Neilson although Snowy Shaws picture is in the booklet. Whats funny is Snowy is in the booklets of "The Eye" and "In The Shadows" yet he doesn't play anything on either album. All the songs on "In The Shadows" are new material except for the last track "Return Of The Vampire", which features Lars Ulrich from Metallica on drums. Lars took it upon himself to rearrange the song a bit and I think it sounds better than the original version, which is only on the "Return Of The Vampire" compilation. The original just sounded a bit unfocused and seemed like the lyrics weren't all there, where the new version just sounded like a complete song. Its definetly one of my favorite songs off the album, even though I don't think theres a bad track on the whole thing.

By this time I was listening to King Diamond and Mercyful Fate on a regular basis and when I saw the video for "Egypt" on headbangers ball I was really excited. I was finally able to see what these guys looked like since I never seen any videos til this point. I don't think I had the internet around this time either and there wasn't any Youtube, where I could find old King Diamond videos. I couldn't wait to get a hold of "In The Shadows". When I finally got it I was just blown away from beginning to end. King Diamond was back, Mercyful Fate was back and I was a huge Metallica fan boy at the time I even had Lars Ulrich on a track so this album was like holding a bar of gold in my hand haha. The production was a lot cleaner than the older albums. The production is a little flat but I honestly think that it sounds perfect and fits the mood very well. I think its one of the best reunion albums of all time.


1."Egypt"
2."The Bell Witch"
3."The Old Oak"
4."Shadows"
5."A Gruesome Time"
6."Thirteen Invitations"
7."Room of Golden Air"
8."Legend of the Headless Rider"
9."Is that You, Melissa"
10."Return of the Vampire...1993" (Bonus)

In 1994 a EP for the song "The Bell Witch" was released. It contained the song "The Bell Witch", "Is That You Melissa" and 4 live songs which were recorded in LA in 1993. This was the first official live Mercyful Fate album. I was excited about this as well because I was finally able to hear some of the older material done live by the real band and i would finally get to hear Snowy Shaw play drums haha. Its short but its a pretty cool EP. The performance was great.


1."The Bell Witch"
2."Is that You, Melissa"
3."Curse of the Pharaohs"
4."Egypt"
5."Come to the Sabbath"
6."Black Funeral"

P.S. I screwed up once again and forgot to add a live King Diamond album that was released in 1990 so I'm going to add it to the post before this one if anyone cares haha.

1993 was a pretty dry year for "real" metal releases so the appearance of IN THE SHADOWS was very welcome. I had kinda lost interest in KD's solo stuff a few years prior but I was excited for new MF (as I'd always preferred MF to King's solo material anyway) and wasn't disappointed by the album at all. I dunno, there's just something about the combo of King's voice and Shermann/Denner's guitar that just does it for me.

Fave tracks on IN THE SHADOWS would be "Egypt," "Is That You, Melissa?" and "The Bell Witch."

I saw Mercyful Fate on the tour for this album at the old Academy Theater in NYC... faaaaaan-tastic show!! It was on Halloween night 1993. Is there a more perfect band to spend Halloween with? It was a great time, though it was kinda odd being in a mosh pit (during the opening act, Flotsam & Jetsam) with a bunch of guys in Halloween costumes (haha). Mercyful Fate kicked ass, they sounded great, King's voice was ace. They even played King's solo tune "Halloween" (from "Fatal Portrait") in honor of the holiday, which to my knowledge is the only time MF has ever played one of KD's solo tracks.

I was very glad to have Mercyful Fate back!!!

In The Shadows is great from beginning to end. I found this thing last year in a used shop for $5.00. Quite a bargain,if you ask me. It's also nice to not have a concept album. I think the standout tracks are The Bell Witch,The Old Oak, and Is That You,Melissa.