Mercyful Fate - Don't Break The Oath review
Band: | Mercyful Fate |
Album: | Don't Break The Oath |
Style: | First wave of black metal, Heavy metal |
Release date: | September 07, 1984 |
Guest review by: | ponderer |
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
10. Death Kiss [demo] [2007 reissue bonus]
1984 was an interesting year for metal which saw the birth of peak albums like Iron Maiden's Powerslave and Metallica's Ride The Lightning, as well as offerings from Dio like The Last In Line and Metal Church's self-titled debut. Mercyful Fate's Don't Break The Oath was easily the darkest and heaviest album out of that group. The band would finally peak with the original lineup to bring us an album that showcased everyone's talents. From King's behemoth satanic prayer Don't Break The Oath to Timi Hansen's relentless driving bass lines in Night Of The Unborn, the band would make their mark in history as a serious black metal act. It's unfortunate that the world would have to wait nearly ten years before the band would return again in 1993.
Don't Break The Oath is a black metal offering which in 1984 had literally no comparison. Ride The Lightning and Powerslave were certainly as fast and as heavy, but both were exploring different genres lyrically while King was denying Jesus Christ and welcoming the princess of hell. Although he would return again in 1986 with Abigail, which King Diamond's fans know to be his grand masterpiece, he would never do anything as dark or as blasphemous again. It would also be unfair to toss Don't Break The Oath into only one musical genre because there are plenty of progressive concepts throughout. The album would make such an impression on this reviewer that I would eventually have the cover art tattooed on my right arm.
I didn't give it a 10 for originality because it follows right along the same lines as Melissa which isn't a bad thing at all, just more refined.
Rating breakdown
Performance: | 10 |
Songwriting: | 10 |
Originality: | 9 |
Production: | 10 |
Written by ponderer | 17.06.2008
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
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