Unless you spent the past quarter century living in Michael Jackson's closet, chances are you've heard and/or seen the spectacle that is Mr. King Diamond. However before Diamond ventured off into solo stardom it was his previous efforts in Mercyful Fate that would put this shock rocker on the legend map.
Founded in Copenhagen Denmark in 1980, Mercyful Fate began as a collective side project turned focus group for Shermann, Denner, and Diamond after helping each other out with demo work for former bands. Needless to say, the metal community at large is thankful for the meeting of these minds for if they hadn't, then many legendary bands such as Metallica may have never found the inspiration needed to shred.
Unfortunately the band did not make a music video for the first 2 classic LP's, but after a near 10 year hiatus (the result of arguments between Diamond and Shermann over creative differences) the band reformed in 1993 with their 3rd full length record "In The Shadows" featuring the single "Egypt." For anyone interested in checking out this LP, Lars Ulrich got to thank his heroes by drumming on the re-recorded track "Return of the Vampire"… this was of course pre-Load era, so it's not half bad. Would I steer you wrong?