Track List: 1. Evil 2. Curse of the Pharaohs 3. Into the Coven 4. At the Sound of the Demon Bell 5. Black Funeral 6. Satan's Fall 7. Melissa. Released in 1983, Melissa is the debut album by Danish heavy metal band and black metal pioneers Mercyful Fate. Don't be concerned, this is not black metal in the modern sense of the word. Musically we are in straight-up heavy metal territory; black metal's penchant for tinny guitars, lo-fi production and inaudible vocals are nowhere to be found. Mercyful Fate took Judas Priest's epic power metal style and threw in some 1970's prog rock experimentation, incorporating lyrics and imagery obsessed with the occult to distinguish themselves via singer King Diamond's theatrical vocals which seamlessly altered between operatic highs and demonic growls. Unique vocal ability aside, any fan of Judas Priest's Sad Wings of Destiny will find much to enjoy here. Melissa was hugely influential on thrash metal's originators, with Metallica recording a medley of their favourite Mercyful Fate tune's for their Garage Inc. covers album and if you compare the opening riff of "Evil" with Overkill's opening riff from "Rotten to the Core" from their own debut album Feel the Fire, they're similar in the best way possible.