Okay, this one was legitimately tough. How do you decide between Mercyful Fate and King Diamond? Ultimately the decision was due to the massive influence Mercyful Fate has had on the formation of metal. That and the fact that Melissa and Don't Break the Oath are all-time metal classics with tons of great songs. This is not to say anything disparaging about King Diamond's solo work, just that Mercyful Fate's early work is so influential that King Diamond could not fill those shoes. HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Artillery
Iron Fire
King Diamond
Manticora
Panzerchrist
Victimizer
This would be a no-brainer for me due to those two albums. And their post-reunion stuff is strong, too.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, you could have copped out and chosen both of them.
I would much prefer to choose just one band, which will present some interesting situations when I get to Germany, Sweden, U.K., and U.S. The two albums really sold it for me.
ReplyDeleteAt the risk of sounding like a horrible person by snubbing the greats, my favorite Danish band is probably Svartsot.
ReplyDeleteBoo! OK, well, they're pretty good. But I wouldn't consider it a snub. More like you're just WRONG. :) MF is so freaking good. Despite being so widely appreciated, I would still consider them underrated.
ReplyDeleteHaha. I can live with being wrong, I guess. I'm going to be honest though (and probably find myself dodging rocks for it): I never really got it with Mercyful Fate or King Diamond solo. Not an attack on the band(s) or anything, I just personally find the vocals kind of annoying.
ReplyDeleteOf course I don't like Marcolin with Candlemass either, so I guess I just really dislike operatic vocals in metal. Personal bias, I know, but we all have those bands that we "should" like that we just don't. For example, I know a girl who is a huge Viking metal fan but hates Bathory.
In any case, I know I'm in a pretty small minority here, so I'll go back and sit in my corner now.
Nothing wrong with stating your opinion. It's hard for me to imagine picking anyone over Mercyful Fate from Denmark, just as with Kelly. We all have different tastes. Artillery was also strongly considered here.
ReplyDeleteI suppose you probably feel about MF how I feel about Priest. "What does everyone see in this?"
ReplyDeleteYou're both crazy, albeit for different reasons.
ReplyDelete