MERCYFUL FATE – 9

vote
8.5

• Band:
  MERCYFUL FATE
• Duration: 00:41:49
• Available from: 05/15/1999
• Label:

• Metal Blade Records

That Mercyful Fate’s golden age was not the Nineties is a pretty well-known fact, and after all, when you literally enter the history of a musical genre with an EP and two full-lengths, it can be difficult to surpass yourself, even when your name is Denner and Shermann or King Diamond. As history has taught us, even after the aforementioned masterpieces, the Diamond King (or King of Diamonds, if you prefer) was able to add other pieces to the immense puzzle of heavy metal – but this is another story (horror, of course) – but we can say that, although Mercyful Fate have never made a truly bad album, the works released after “Don’t Break The Oath” were all good but never epochal. It was therefore with a certain surprise that, when “9” came out and beardless we put it in the walkman with not very high expectations, dampened by the universal older friends, we almost had a shock. If it is true that “9” is not an absolute masterpiece, it is also true that if the standard of a mediocre album (a reputation that has been made over the course of the twenty-five years of existence) is that of this work, we would live in a world made of very beautiful albums. Surely, the ‘right’ age at the release of the album did a lot, but even today, listening again to the plots of this work, we cannot help but shudder in front of some truly functional moments and, in general, for songs that maybe not all stand out, but that never go below a certain threshold of danger.
The opening entrusted to “Last Rites” surprises us with some strange guitars by the duo composed of Hank Shermann and Michale Weid, together for a couple of years, who give life to an incipit that perhaps does not knock out, but that flows with vivacity and that remains in the head with an effective refrain. It is followed by “Church Of Saint Anne”, of which we still appreciate today the cheekiness with which it is pronounced “Sa(n)t’Anna”for a rhythmic song that stands out above all for its melodic inspiration and a very theatrical ending. King Diamond’s high notes are less present within the album, leaving room for melodic vocals like those of “Sold My Soul”, a definitely unusual song, which begins with an effected bass but which refers to the height of the chorus, rocky and histrionic. “House On The Hill” starts off with energy, baptized by a fairly eighties-style and convincing riff, but suffers from some strange sounds and a certain flatness. Another story with “Burn In Hell” which, despite being alienating for its introduction, allows the axe duo to play with solos and riffing written specifically to accompany King Diamond’s falsetto and vocal masquerades, with many tempo changes and a fairly direct approach. A song that is definitely a product of its time (the album’s production, in general, is very ‘modern’), that does its job without being nostalgic, even if we are not yet at very high levels. In the opinion of the writer, these levels are reached with “The Grave”, with its Luciferian text and its atmospheres that take us back to the times of “Satan’s Fall”, although with the necessary distinctions – especially in the way the guitars are played and the atmosphere that blows after the break that speeds up the song. The ending is not a masterpiece, perhaps, but if only we had more songs like this.
“Insane” is perhaps the least successful song of the lot, with a forcedly aggressive structure based on three minutes supported by Bjarne T. Holm’s double bass drum and a not so sensational riffing. We quickly move on to “Kiss The Demon”, a song that shares with “Sold My Soul” a sort of strangeness born from inspirations probably dating back to before the historic debut EP, therefore the Seventies. Beyond the unusual presentation with that soft intro that will be repeated for the duration of the song, “Kiss The Demon” has a very effective structure, capable of seducing with the persuasive voice that opens the song and an opening torn apart by an exquisitely heavy metal riffing, with a simple and old school chorus, which reaches its peak in the passage to two and a half minutes of song. At the time we fell madly in love with the following “Buried Alive”, for its story of revenge from the afterlife that reminds us so much of “Evil” and for a musical structure that makes it the best song on the album, certainly the one that could compete without feeling inferior with some great classics. However, you can clearly feel the era in which the song was written, which advances cadenced in the poisonous narration (with a convincing and convinced King Diamond), alternating arpeggios and martial riffs, slowdowns and restarts and a finale among the best of this phase of the band’s career. The album closes with the sulphurous title-track, a song that is once again unusual (something that, as we have seen, often occurs, perhaps a symptom of a band in search of new ways to express themselves), with sinister arpeggios and a limping gait that explodes in the chorus, which does not make “9” a manifesto song but certainly makes you appreciate the attempt. The album ends and for a long time also the story of Mercyful Fate, who could not keep intact the second reunion, until they met again about ten years later. And this is another story.
In short, the fame of this album is in our opinion undeserved, perhaps dictated by the period and by a whole series of factors that, a quarter of a century after its release, we believe can finally be skimmed from the work itself, giving the opportunity to “9” to appear if not in the list of the band’s total masterpieces (which coincide with some total masterpieces of heavy metal itself, if you look closely) certainly not even in that of the bad products of the Danish band. To be rediscovered and enjoyed in its form, perhaps not perfect, but for this very reason delicious.