Mercyful Fate: The Beginning (remaster)

It is without question that Mercyful Fate was one of the most important of the Heavy Metal bands to arrive on the scene in 1982 with a sound far more along the lines of what Black Metal would become than its cited founders Venom ever could have imagined. Sorcery and Witchcraft and a whopping dose of Satanic themes showed that singer King Diamond was not only imposing as a performer, but very pronounced in his beliefs. The legendary band would only release two official studio albums in their heyday with Melissa and Don't Break The Oath before King Diamond would go off to front a band using his name alone and continue to make Heavy Metal history. The release of The Beginning is a must have for all fans of Fate and Metal in general for this allows you to enjoy the Nuns Have No Fun EP that the group issued in 1982. The raw sound of these four tracks still find Mercyful Fate to be a promising juggernaut for the genre while it was in its infancy. Three of the other tracks find the band on the BBC's "Friday Night Rock Show" from 1983 and would end up appearing on the incredible Melissa. By the time they would find themselves recorded for this release however they would take on a slightly different form from how they sounded originally. The CD closes out with what appears to be the rough demo for "Black Funeral" and even in its infancy this is a sinister and powerful track. Included are some liner notes that speak into the earliest history of the group and present some photos and lyrics. This is a highly recommended Metal history lesson. Class is in session and King Diamond is presiding……dare you be late? I didn't' think so.

Track Listing
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 – bonus track

Added: January 28th 2007
Reviewer: Ken Pierce
Score:
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 2792
Language: english

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