19. Mercyful Fate - Melissa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSaXd9UlRrY 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.
Christopher Jennings
Contributor
I love Heavy Metal, and generally anything that involves a guitar and loud noises, so I figured it was about time I put all the useless information in my head to good use and start writing a few things. Most of the time I'll be writing nonsense but occasionally I may surprise myself and appear half-way knowledgable.....but you can be the judge of that. Thanks for your fleeting attention!
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Christopher