Mercyful Fate were a huge part in the creating of black metal, a movement started by venom, they have also influenced some of the great metal bands of this time, (metallica, megadeth, slayer) and this is by far there best album yet
King diamonds voice is one that you can just tell by hearing it, his style is so unique and effective, and the guitar and drum work on this album is just amazing, boasting songs like "come to the sabbath" and "Desecartion of souls" if you are not a fan of king diamonds that dosent matter, the riffs, the solos, the power, this is just a monster album.
A Dangerous Meeting - Powerful riffs, melodic solos, a superb chorus, a good level of intricacy , not much wrong with this song, great opener 4/5
Nightmare - cool bass and drum intro, and then the vocals, a great solo from denner, and then the dark mid-section, with some great guitar and drum work to follow, its also great how the song puts you right into kd's singing about, and the last solo by sherman is good but possibly not needed 4.5
Desecration Of Souls - This Song is a great example of why this album is as good as it is, the vocal approach for the first verse is so cool
and of course the solos are awesome, and the riff after the second verse is also so powerful and fits the song perfectley, now shermans first solo is some of his best work to date and denners 3rd solo fits like a gem as well, this song is just superb 5/5
Night Of The Unborn - One of the best songs on the albums, but mainly because of the music not for the vocals(not his best imo) the chorus is awesome and everything about this song guitar-wise is awesome "THIS ONE'S FOR THE UNBORN!!!!) awesome stuff 5/5
The Oath - The Epic of the album, this song scared the *** out of my mate when he listenend to it, and i think thats good, when everything came in together it sounded awesome, the riffs and solo fills in this song are quality, the parts before the last solos are so cool, because of time changes(which prove musical intelligence imo) and also the vocals are awesome, this is the best song on the album 5/5
Gypsy - quite a tough song to follow(the oath) but nevertheless this a cool song, solos again are top notch, vocals werent at best imo not much to say im afraid, not there greatest work 3/5
Welcome Princess Of Hell - A good song, some more quality solos, and theres one really cool riff(you know what one baby) vocals are definately up to kings capability's, also some good harmonies within the guitar duties, a good song overall 3.5-5
To One Far Away - Cool instrumental, nice to hear an acoustic on a black metal ablum, cool solos, and if you want to sound like diamond, heres a good exercise you can use lol 3.5/5
Come to the Sabbath - The Second best Song on the album, this song is also a good example fate at their best, the vocals are just inspirational, also some of these riffs are so awesome as too are the solos, also the harpsichord section is also very effective, and just when u think the song is over they start playing some of the coolest riffs ever written(some parts reminisent of ashes in your mouth by megadeth) and when the vocals hit in you dont know what to expect and when you realise what your listening to "O MY SWEET SATAN, YOU ARE THE ONE!!!)
Album Over, Superb
Theres not much else to say about this album, it speaks for itself, this is one of the greatest metal albums ever written and should be owned by any metal fan
Pros - Quality Riffs
Awesome solos
good level of intricacy
Cons - Bad Production(unless you own the remastered version)
Diamonds Vocal approach maybe not for everyone
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