Review Summary: Mercyful Fate ends their nineties run with solid back to basics
By the end of the nineties, running back and forth between King Diamond and Mercyful Fate had to result in some serious burnout for our favorite horror metal royalty. The bare bones approach on 1999’s 9 (actually their seventh full-length, go figure) hints at this fatigue; their songwriting is at its most straightforward as the forty-one minutes runtime is closer to the first two classics while the lyrics are seemingly distilled to the most basic spooky tropes. But in light of albums like the preceding Dead Again overextending themselves, this installment can almost feel like a palette cleanse.
For starters, this just might be the heaviest Mercyful Fate album. The production is closer to the grime seen on King Diamond’s ventures and the musicianship focuses more on heft than flamboyance between crunchier guitar tones, harder hitting drums, and bass that’s more upfront than it’s been in a minute. Things can admittedly get cluttered at times to where the King’s vocals can risk getting drowned out, especially on tracks like “Insane” where the drums can dominate the mix.
And rather than coming off as too phoned in, the songwriting has a certain no-nonsense appeal that feels like the band just wanted to get in and rock the *** out. It works especially well with the first three songs as the opening one-two of “Last Rites” and “Church of Saint Anne” (I see what you did there) pack in infectiously grinding chugs and catchy vocal lines while “Sold My Soul” has a fun bounce to it. Other tracks fall just shy of the mark but end up being pretty enjoyable as “The Grave” and “Buried Alive” are driven by especially chunky riff sets with the most modern tinges.
While 9 may have come a little too late to feel like a true shot in the arm, it is easily their strongest album since 1994’s Time. The presentation feeling a little too bare bones can be a little hard to shake, but there are enough quality tracks on display to help the approach feel more focused than underwhelming. It’s probably for the best that the band went dormant following this album’s release, only just recently showing serious signs of life in the last couple years, but I can’t really say they went out on a whimper. It’s not an essential listen but any King Diamond diehards who passed it by might benefit from giving it another chance.
