Saturday, July 18, 2009

Mercyful Fate - Evil EP (2009)

After a decade of silence, Mercyful Fate has re-recorded a pair of tracks from their debut full-length Melissa, in concordance with their appearance in the Guitar Hero: Metallica game. If you don't have the game, the tracks are available as a digital download on ITunes.

Whereas I tend to shun many re-recordings of classic metal tracks, it's hard to fault what Fate have done here. The songs sound much like the originals, just clearer and cleaner through the marvels of modern production. King Diamond still sounds fantastic on the vocals, and Sherman and Denner provide their classic axework. With the EP, you get "Evil" and "Curse of the Pharaohs". The tracks are mastered by Andy LaRocque, unlike the Activision versions in the game.

This is really not worth more than a couple bucks, but if you're some n00b who has never heard Mercyful Fate, it's time to man the fuck up. Now is your chance, slackoffs. I don't play Guitar Hero or Rockband or any of these games very often, nor do I karaoke. I'd rather write my own music. However, if I WERE to suddenly establish the desire to play these games, I'd be honored to have Mercyful Fate tracks available rather than the radio lite shit that chokes up so many of them. Actually, skip this and just track down Melissa or Don't Break the Oath.

Verdict: Indifference [5/10]
(you can't improve upon perfection)

http://www.covenworldwide.org/

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