Melissa

This seems like a good place to debut this take: Mercyful Fate, at their best, is as close to perfection as a metal band has ever gotten. While Fate makes their name off of catchy guitar riffs, a proto-thrash drumming style, and King Diamond’s iconic high falsettos, there is so much more to their music than that. It’s hard to call them underrated, because just about every classic era thrash metal band cites them as a key influence, but what I will say is this: it is impossible to overrate them. Mercyful Fate is on the short list of bands that can credibly be argued as the greatest metal band ever. The first piece of evidence that’s going to support that case? Melissa.

The timeless “Evil” kicks things off with cagey, ripping guitar riffs and a brutish introduction to King Diamond’s wild vocals. Complete with multiple guitar solos, a slowed-down riff change, and plenty of memorable vocal lines, this song has everything that makes old school heavy metal so great. Hank Shermann’s guitar excellence and songwriting craftiness are key cogs in the magnificence of Melissa; it’s that next-level artistry that made the album stick out in a year that saw releases from other metal legends like Metallica, Iron Maiden, and Ozzy Osbourne. The band immediately showcases their diversity with the second song, “Curse of the Pharoahs.” Introducing a little more punch to the rhythm guitar and following up with a bit of a drum breakdown that leads into a mini-solo is quite the way to pique interest.

I want to be clear, there isn’t anything about Mercyful Fate that is strongly out-of-the-ordinary compared to their contemporaries. They didn’t play as fast as Slayer. They didn’t write hooks as prominently catchy as Maiden. And they weren’t as progressive as a band like Rush. What Mercyful Fate does on Melissa is write pure heavy metal songs that are interesting, that build emotion, and that throw in new ideas at exactly the right moment. “At the Sound of the Demon Bell” is a perfect example. Before the band starts sounding like they’re recycling ideas, they break into a more technical instrumental jam session, offering a rockin’ respite from King Diamond’s weaponized vocals. The drums pick back up, and his cries resume. It’s perfect execution, plain and simple.

Cue the B-side, and the band starts off with another classic. “Black Funeral” has a haunting groove to its stomping riff and Diamond utilizes the lower register to his vocals in a fashionable way as he proclaims his affinity with Satan. For 1983, they were groundbreaking in this regard. Most metal bands that flirted with outright satanic imagery in the early-‘80s were pretty rough-around-the-edges (Venom, Bathory, Sodom). Melissa is polished with detailed production and strong attention to detail in the sonic atmosphere the band creates. I guess the only other band that could compare was Satan themselves. The best example of this on Melissa is the first third of “Satan’s Fall,” with maniacal laughing pulled off in a way that very few bands could do.

It’s difficult to not write a review for each song individually on this record. The highs are that high, and even the ‘lows’ on this album are still excellent songs. The aforementioned “Satan’s Fall” is probably the least captivating, but it’s more-so a victim of its own innovation. The fact that Fate had enough ideas to stretch a song out to nine minutes is a testament to their genius, although the other songs on album do ultimately impress me more.

The closing title track is a dynamic and evocative piece, perfectly encapsulating the emotional journey that this record takes its listeners on. Most are drawn to the vocals when it comes to Mercyful Fate, but I am blown away by the guitar work across this record, and this title track is a great reason why. From the suspenseful intro to the bursting rhythm guitars, the band displays their mastery for almost seven minutes straight. And that, on a larger scale, can be applied to the album as a whole. These guys mastered the art of traditional heavy metal. Song-for-song, I don’t think there is another album in the genre that could stack up against either of Mercyful Fate’s first two records. Melissa is the gold standard, and has endured over forty years of tribute and accolades without losing a lick of its charm.