I've been a big MF fan for awhile now and always come back to these two albums fairly frequently. Both are two examples of superior heavy metal and are undeniable classics. However, my question is, which do you think is better? Both are roughly the same length if you throw away the somewhat pointless instrumental. Production wise, I'd say Don't Break the Oath beats out Melissa. While Melissa sounds evil enough, Oath's production makes you feel like you're burning in the flames of hell itself. Just listen to A Dangerous Meeting: you can feel the embers burning with those palm muted guitars kick in. Melissa has the advantage of housing perhaps one of most evil sounding songs of the early 80s in Black Funeral. Even if you're the most strict Christian out there, even you should be compelled to "Hail Satan!" during the song's 2:50 length.

Two great albums that are hard to match. Which do you think is the greater?

I think the first E.P beats them both, but in terms of those two I would choose Melissa. I don't know what else to say, you haven't given us much to discuss besides asking which one is better.

I agree that both are great albums and I'm proud to be Danish, whenever listening to MF.

I prefer "Don't Break the Oath" above "Melissa"... To me DBtO is more of a classic, since I've listened to it for much longer than its prequel. I cannot tell you how much I love every single track of that album, especially the first 3 songs. Melissa is fucking awesome too, but DBtO has some kind of special thing about it, which is hard to explain... It's just a magical listening experience every single time I spin it.

Mercyful Fate FTW!

You could say why, if it troubles you?

I'd need to listen to Melissa a lot more to be able to judge really, I know its good but I absolutely love Don't Break the Oath - I can listen to it any time and enjoy all of the songs a great deal. When the guitars kick in on The Oath in particular, you just know its gonna be a bad-ass song. The aaaahs and oooohs (I'm sure you know which bit I'm referring to!) probably cracked me up the first time I heard it, but its grown on me so much; just a wonderful quirk of Mr Diamond that you won't really find elsewhere and that works brilliantly within the music. Lovely solos, lovely lyrics, brilliant atmosphere.

In the name of Sa-a-a-tan!!

Melissa is was my first Mercyful Fate album, so it's naturally my favorite. I think the songwriting on Melissa may be a bit stronger than on dbto. Both are undeniable classics though.

As much as I love songs like Don't Break the Oath, I think "Melissa" may be my favorite of the two. I got that one first and have a big soft spot for it.

It's close, but I'll have to go with Melissa.

Into The Coven is probably their best song (if not Come To The Sabbath), and Satan's Fall is an epic masterpiece. It's a quicker album, so each song stands out more, and each song is quite amazing.

I haven't listened to Melissa near as much as DBTO, but I'm going with DBTO. It's got better songs, more energy and more focus to it. Melissa I remember feeling rather underdeveloped in places, with not every song being great. DBTO has "Welcome Princes of Hell" and "Gypsy," but those songs only sound weaker in comparison to everything else on the disc, and everything else is just absolutely fucking stellar. DBTO is one of metal's all time finest, period.

It's kind of a toss up.. on one hand I think the first five songs from Melissa are better overall, but Satan's Fall (although great in some places) is a bit too long for it's own good and I'm not all that crazy about the title track. DBtO is definitely more consistant. Still, it's a tough choice..

Melissa is the best metal album of all time, released by the best metal band of all time. End of story.

I really can't put into words how I feel about M.F. (and moreover, their masterpiece Melissa, which first got me into the band), it's just something that bypasses all human feelings. Call me a fanboy if you want, but Shermann and Diamond are one of the most talented musicians to ever walk the earth.

Melissa for Satan's Fall alone. Both are perfect albums though.

This is a very tough decision, but I'm going to have to go with Don't Break The Oath. The songwriting is a bit more refined and developed than Melissa, and the whole band seems a bit more focused as well. All the songs "fit" together extremely well, and it ends with arguably MF's best song - Come To The Sabbath.

Melissa, but only because that bullshit part on Nightmare where the King is screaming "you are insane" over top of the music takes Don't Break the Oath down a quarter of a millimeter. It's like, Melissa 10, Don't Break the Oath 9.998.

The self-titled EP is a bit better than both, I think. But Melissa is a very close second. All three are masterpieces in their own right though.

As much as I love King Diamond, I have to admit that part was annoying as fuck. The rest of the song is ass kicking though.

I agree that that part on Nightmare was annoying at first, I've since come to really like it. It just adds to the demented atmosphere of the song and makes it live up to the song title.

For me, I prefer DBTO more than Melissa. I love every single song (barring To One Far Away), whereas on Melissa I feel the title track and At the Sound of the Demon Bell are a bit weak. Both albums are excellent, though, and even the weakest songs of each are much better than most other material.

Seconded.
Welcome Princes of Hell>>>>>Listen To The Bell.

Both are pretty much two of the few perfect albums I've ever listened to in my relatively short life.
But I'll give the edge to Don't Break the Oath because it has a cooler name and for the songs The Oath and Come to the Sabbath.

For me, it is Don't Break the Oath because it has superior production, bombast, and atmosphere. Melissa is still a great album, but aside from Evil, I can't say that any of the tracks are as catchy as the ones found on Don't Break the Oath.

Melissa has better production.

Melissa = "100/100"
Don't Break the Oath "100/100"

Some of the finest works in the metal genre.

I'd have to go with Melissa. Both albums are perfect gems of 80's metal, but Melissa has one of the strongest opening songs I've ever heard.

This.

How can you say one has better production, meaning the other has inferior production and still give it a perfect score?

Melissa is probably the one I'd go for, but they're both fucking stellar. Basically all Mercyful Fate and most King Diamond solo albums are absolutely brilliant.

Melissa.

Comparing that song and the evil majesty of A Dangerous Meeting is like Shane Embury telling Messiah Marcolin he has bad hair.

Personally, I have to back Don't Break the Oath. This has some the greatest songs ever, sharp but full guitars and a untouchable atmosphere. The bass work rocks like a bastard as well. However, this is Mercyful Fate, so it's a tough call, as they are both certified classics, and have a welcome place in my collection.

Nonsense. ADM couldn't hope to compare to Evil. Evil opens better, has a MUCH better beginning riff and has an overall better set of vox. Honestly, ADM is one of the few Mercyful Fate songs that I don't really like. It's not bad, but it doesn't move me like Satan's Fall or Nightmare would.

but then again... to each his/her own, I guess

True.

Not that there is anything wrong with Evil at all, ADM is flawless as an opener, with it's brooding feel. But it's still like comparing a really good song, to umm, well a really good song.

Melissa - hands down , also Nuns e.p dbto is a little more polished than these two but still fucking amazing

Really? Stuff like 9 makes me very sad and then I fall asleep. And I can remember a fair few KD albums doing nothing for me.

Yeah, it's obvious that Don't Break the Oath is the superior album. Melissa seems to be praised as the one with more riffs, as if it fucking matters, and don't get me wrong it's a great album - but Don't Break the Oath is clearly the better album. Besides, it doesn't have the 'Jazz Odyssey' section in 'Satan's Fall'.

Side note: Michael Denner is a far greater lead guitarist to my ears than Hank Shermann; of course, they're both fantastic and Shermann's the better writer. But for me, Denner's leads are just really fantastic and well thought-out pieces on their own. He comes up with some frighteningly memorable stuff -- all melodic and creepy; I could listen to him all day.

Okay, granted, but I'd still say the greater amount of Fate and KD material is brilliant.

Production doesn't matter as much as composition. And the compositions on both are perfect.

I thought 9 was pretty good.. I mean, it can't compare to Melissa or anything but it's got some nice tracks. Sold My Soul is a fun track, especially.

Woah...This is an almost impossible question to answer! DBTO has a really powerful, huge, epic sound. "Melissa" drips with atmosphere, and feels darker overall. I'm going with "Melissa", just because it has an almost otherworldly magical quality that I feel when I'm listening to it. In saying that, DBTO is a total classic, and is musically bigger, and more adventurous than it's predecessor. Some of the riffs are just vicious as well. Both albums are stonewall classics though. The King at his absolute best, and the great guitar partnership of Shermann/Denner on fire, what metal fan could ask for more?



Agree 100% with this. 95% of Fate/KD stuff is awesome. "In The Shadows" is almost as great as the 1st two albums, I'd definitely label it as classic Fate!

it's like asking if getting a blowjob is more enjoyable than drinking a beer. you can't choose between the two!

Please... One of those is obviously better than the other.

Side note: Michael Denner is a far greater lead guitarist to my ears than Hank Shermann; of course, they're both fantastic and Shermann's the better writer. But for me, Denner's leads are just really fantastic and well thought-out pieces on their own. He comes up with some frighteningly memorable stuff -- all melodic and creepy; I could listen to him all day.[/quote]

Correct! Michael's solos are truly superior. Not taking anything away from Hank, as he is awesome too, but Michael's are far catchier. His second solo in the middle of The Oath makes the hairs on my neck stand on end every time. And let's not forget his solo in the middle of Desecration of Souls or the third solo at the end of Night of the Unborn. But that whole album is full of amazing solos.

As you may guess by now, Don't Break the Oath is my personal favourite. I first heard Melissa, which I loved straight away, and when I finally heard DBtO I was slightly disappointed for some reason. I think it may have been because of a lack of acoustic guitar, which Melissa had a fair amount of, and made certain tracks stand out on first listen. But after a time I began to like DBtO more and more until it is now my favourite album of all time, with Melissa a close second.

What amazes me is that DBtO is such a huge leap forward from Melissa but many of the tracks were written at the same time, or before, the songs that appeared on Melissa.

And I have to say, Nuns Have No Fun really should have included Burning the Cross and Return of the Vampire (FUCK the re-recorded version with Lar$ - there's no comparison). Those 2 tracks are fan-fucking-tastic! That EP should have been an LP.

I agree. The first two Mercyful Fate cds had what I would consider superior song writing, but that's not to say the song writing to Don't Break The Oath and the other albums weren't good.

As far as choosing between the two, that's a really hard choice for me. I love both dearly

It really comes down to the one you've heard first. The EP doesn't have the same quality songwriting you get with Melissa or DBTO.

Melissa is far superior anyway

Fuck yeah, I prefer Lucky Lager myself, but every man's got his favourite poison, no?

Holy shit gentlemen, this is a tough choice, but I'm gonna hafta go with Melissa. Mostly 'cause of that riff at 1:52 in "At the Sound of the Demon Bell", which is just fucking magical. Goddamn, it reminds be of being in grade 9 and stoned as fuck.

But then there's that one riff in "Gypsy", which really seems to remind me of some old wrestler's theme music, but kicks ass anyway. A real highlight of the album for me, along with most of the riffs in the title track. Not to mention Denner's kickass solo in "Night of the Unborn", the one that comes in after King says, "This one's for the Unborn!!!" Fucking solid, two albums that are heavy as fuck.