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Class 6(66)
Mercyful Fate: Don't break the oath
07/03/12 || Will Cifer
Introduction
Corpse paint aside, the influence Mercyful Fate has had on black metal is glaringly obvious, yet this remains an underrated masterpiece. So let’s pretend you were a kid in 1984 whose grandparents were easily coerced into buying you metal albums, you might have thought “Shout at the Devil” was pretty gnarly because of the pentagrams on the album jacket and the hot chicks… um… dudes in their spiked leather jazzercize outfits, and you were totally sold on the fact you could summon the Dark Lord himself if you cranked “Mr. Crowley” or “Number of the Beast” up to 11. That all changed the day you found a copy of “Don’t Break the Oath” by this band Mercyful Fate. Their singer King Diamond stepped out of a horror movie to hit a metal yodel with a more chilling quality than Rob Halford’s wail. The whole album pulses with sinister drama and has more textured ambiance to give it the black mass set to metal feel its predecessor “Melissa” did not have, though a classic in its own right was the more straight forward of their two studio albums.
Songwriting
I found this album before “Melissa”, cut me some slack I was 8 so run off and hide your Green Day CD’s, but in looking back there is a noted growth of songwriting here. The arrangements are far from prog or the goth Broadway territory of King Diamond’s solo work. These were the days where you could still be heavy and have things like hooks and melodies, and for this only the songs stand the test of time. 10
Production
The production on the vocals is where it shines. The only snag is the effect on King’s voice at the beginning of “Desecration of souls“ and the sounds of the haunted house intro to “the Oath”. Also, this may not have the best drum sound and the bass is buried low in the mix. The guitars are given more of a sheen than on “Melissa” and they are panned in a way where they are spotlighted as needed. It doesn’t sound as dated as some other bands from this era with larger budgets, but at this juncture – Combat Records was still a fledgling label. 7
Guitars
From a performance standpoint, Hank Sherman and Michael Denner both are on their A-game here. It’s a blend of tasteful neo-classical shredding and ballsy playing that the current wave of Fate imitators like Ghost and In Solitude can’t touch. The interplay of the two guitarists is perfect compared to the more straight forward attack of “Melissa”. 9
Vocals
Maybe one of the finest metal vocal performances ever recorded really, only rivaled by King’s own work on “Abigail”. The term banshee, is commonly thrown around when this type of falsetto metal singing is present, and here it is fitting as King Diamond’s highs soar with ghostly resonance into the beyond. His mournful mid-range moan has never sounded better than on the song “Gypsy”, and his best overall work could be on “Welcome princess of hell”. 10
Bass
Timi Hansen isn’t trying to be Steve Harris, when the bass does surface it’s always tasty and punching with the kick. 8
Drums
Kim Ruzz got the job done in a genre where over-the-top drumming prevails, and his work gets over-shadowed by Mikkey Dee on the first four albums of King’s solo work. Ruzz is solid, with the feel of Deep Purple’s Ian Paice on the sections that really move. His accents are spot on and there is some interesting cymbal-work going on. 8.
Lyrics
My sweet Satan you are the one… King Diamond’s delivery sells it, and this is before they received the type of press coverage where he would go on record as being a member of the Church Of Satan. Here, King is presenting a more Hammer Horror depiction of Satanism. Still, when he sings about Satan there is more sincerity in his words than in those of Cronos, whose tongue was firmly planted in his cheek, and Slayer’s who were spouting of comic book-like nonsense. King Diamond at this point was not apologetic about it, and he paved the way for bands like Dissection and Watain in that sense. 10
Cover art
Iconic. When I get my tax return, it’s going to be permanently drilled into my skin. 11
Logo
Burzum seemed to like it. 9
Booklet
From what I remember about the album, basic for the time period . 5
Overall and ending rant
While, as mentioned above, there were elements that might not have been perfect, all of the elements came together to form one of the best heavy metal albums ever created, influencing everyone from Metallica to Emperor. There is no element of trying to be brutal, kvlt or grim. For all the majesty and theatrics there is something very honest about this, from the songs to the overall presentation. Not even Fate themselves could come close to re-capturing this during their 90’s re-union.
Best played loudly in a dark candle-lit environment for the next 28 years as nothing is going to touch this one.
- Information
- Released: 1984
- Label: Combat
- Website: www.covenworldwide.org
- Band
- King Diamond: vocals
- Hank Shermann: guitars
- Barry Thompson: guitars
- Timi Hansen: bass
- Kim Ruzz: drums
- Tracklist
- 01. A dangerous meeting
- 02. Nightmare
- 03. Desecration of souls
- 04. Night of the unborn
- 05. The oath
- 06. Gypsy
- 07. Welcome Princess of hell
- 08. To one far away
- 09. Come to the sabbath
