MERCYFUL FATE - RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE 12" Vinyl LP Album

- Return of the Vampire: Unearthed Demos from Mercyful Fate’s Dark Beginnings

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The album: "MERCYFUL FATE - Return of the Vampire" was produced by: Mercyful Fate

This album was recorded live in the studio, with the exception of solos and vocals which were overdubbed

Guest musician was "Lars Ulrich (Metallica) on the track "In the Shadows"

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Personnel/Band Members and Musicians on: MERCYFUL FATE - Return of the Vampire

Band-members, Musicians and Performers
• King Diamond - Vocals
• King Diamond – Vocals, keyboards

  The Danish high-priest of the falsetto, whose corpse-paint probably never quite washes off the collar.  Read more...

  Before he was an icon, Kim Bendix Petersen was just another kid in Copenhagen lugging gear through the mid-70s gloom with Brainstorm and Black Rose. By the time Mercyful Fate coalesced in ’81, he’d stopped playing the part of a frontman and started inhabiting something far more unsettling. To hear that first EP is to hear a man daring the listener to laugh at his theatrics, only to realize the music is too sharp, too lethal, to be a joke. When the Fate inevitably fractured in '85—as bands built on such rigid alchemy usually do—the King simply took the candles and the bone-cross with him. His solo output didn't just 'feature' horror; it exhaled it, turning 12-inch vinyl into a physical medium for ghost stories. It’s music that smells of old velvet and cheap stage fog, anchored by a voice that shouldn't work but somehow, impossibly, does. You either buy into the ritual or you don’t, but you never forget the first time that scream hits the speakers. King Diamond Wiki

• Hank Shermann - Guitar, bass
• René Krolmark – Guitarist, Songwriter

  Better known as Hank Shermann, he’s the man who traded the snotty rebellion of punk for a Flying V and a book of occult riffs.  Read more...

  Before he was an architect of the black metal aesthetic, René Krolmark was stalking Copenhagen stages with Brats, operating under the delightfully puerile alias 'Hank de Wank.' It’s a bit of 1977 grit that he never quite scrubbed off, even as his playing evolved from three-chord thrashing into the sophisticated, neoclassical menace that defined Mercyful Fate. When he co-founded the Fate in '81, he brought a sense of 'swing' to heavy metal that most of his contemporaries lacked; his riffs didn't just chug, they danced. The mid-80s fracture saw him pivoting toward the melodic, stadium-leaning crunch of Fate (1985)—a move that baffled the purists but showcased a songwriter who refused to be buried in a tomb of his own making. Whether he was navigating the short-lived Lavina or the esoteric weight of Zoser Mez, Krolmark’s signature remained the same: a tone that feels like cold chrome and a vibrato that sounds distinctly, stubbornly Danish. He remains a study in contradictions—a punk heart wrapped in a virtuoso’s technical skin, still swinging that V like it’s the only thing keeping the lights on.

  René Krolmark Wiki
• Benny Petersen - Guitar
  Benny Peterson, a Danish guitarist, made his mark in the early ’80s with Mercyful Fate, playing during 1981-82. A staple of Denmark’s hard rock and heavy metal scene, he lent his chops to top-tier bands like Evil, Pretty Maids, and more, shaping the raw, aggressive sound that defined the era.
• Michael Denner - Guitar
• Michael Denner – Guitarist (Mercyful Fate, King Diamond)

  The master of the eerie harmony; the man who proved that heavy metal solos could be as graceful as they are grim.  Read more...

  Michael Denner is the reason those early Mercyful Fate records didn’t just sound heavy—they sounded *expensive.* Emerging from the same snot-nosed Brats era as his partner-in-crime Hank Shermann, Denner brought a 70s-inflected soul to the band's occult attack. While others were chasing speed, Denner was chasing the kind of vibrato that lingers in the air like incense. His tenure from '81 to '85 didn't just 'feature' guitar work; it established a twin-guitar language that redefined the genre. When the Fate first fractured, he jumped straight into the fire with King Diamond, providing the neoclassical elegance that makes Abigail (1987) feel like a Victorian ghost story rather than a standard metal record. He’s floated in and out of the fold since—rejoining for the mid-90s resurrection and occasional guest appearances—but his thumbprint is permanent. To hear a Denner solo is to hear a player who values the space between the notes as much as the notes themselves. It’s a sophisticated, slightly melancholic touch that reminds you he grew up listening to the greats before the world turned into a distortion pedal.

• Timi "Grabber" Hansen - Bass
• Timi “Grabber” Hansen – Bassist (Mercyful Fate, King Diamond)

  The man didn't just play the bass; he attacked it with a pick-heavy rattle that became the heartbeat of Danish occult metal.  Read more...

  Timi Hansen earned the name 'Grabber' for a reason. While most metal bassists of the early '80s were content to be felt and not heard, Hansen used his fingers and a relentless pick attack to carve a space for himself between the twin-guitar assault of Shermann and Denner. He was the foundational weight of Mercyful Fate during that lightning-in-a-bottle run from ’81 to ’85, providing a muscular, clattering drive that kept the band’s high-concept theatrics grounded in the gutter. When the King moved on to solo territory, Hansen was the logical choice to anchor the 1985–1987 era, his lines on Abigail pulsing with a sinister, driving urgency that feels like a pursuit. He returned briefly for the '92 reunion—a final, thunderous victory lap—before the rigors of the road took their toll. There’s a specific, trebly grit to his tone that sounds like a Rickenbacker being pushed to its breaking point. It’s a sound that is sorely missed, a reminder that in the right hands, four strings are more than enough to summon a storm.

  Timi “Grabber” Hansen Wiki

 

• Kim Ruzz - Drums
• Kim Ruzz – Drummer (Mercyful Fate)

  The engine room of the occult; a drummer who brought a Neil Peart-inspired precision to the damp basement of the early Danish metal scene.  Read more...

  If Shermann and Denner were the architects of Mercyful Fate, Kim Thyge Jensen—rechristened Ruzz—was the one making sure the whole structure didn't collapse under its own weight. He was never a typical 'metal' drummer; he played with a loose, syncopated swing that felt more like a haunted jazz session than a military march. During that lightning run from 1981 to 1985, his work on the Melissa and Don’t Break the Oath sessions provided a frantic, busy counterpoint to the King's vocals. I’ve always found it fascinating that after helping define an entire subgenre, he simply walked away to become a postman—a quiet, analog life that makes his eventual 2017 stage cameo feel less like a 'reunion' and more like a ghost returning to the scene of the crime. His brief 2012 stint with Metalruzz was a reminder that the hands still remember the patterns, even if the industry had long since moved on. He remains the definitive pulse of the band's golden era, a man who understood that sometimes the most terrifying thing a drummer can do is play around the beat rather than right on top of it.

  Kim Ruzz Wiki

 

• Carsten Volsing - Guitar
  Carsten van Der Volsing (real-name: Carsten Falkenlind Volsing) is from Copenhagen, Denmark and has played guitar in the bands: Brats and "Mercyful Fate".
• "Old" Nick Smith - drums
  "Old" Nick Smith plays with the "Danger Zone" band on their first two demo recordings, as well with "Mercyful Fate" on their first two demo recordings.
• Jan Musen - drums
  Jan Musen (Real-name: Jan Lindblad) born in 1960 Copenhagen, Denmark, drummer with "Mercyful Fate" during 1981.

Complete Track-listing of the album "MERCYFUL FATE - Return of the Vampire"

The detailed tracklist of this record "MERCYFUL FATE - Return of the Vampire" is:

Track-listing Side One:
1. "Burning the Cross" – 8:49 (music by Benny Petersen)
2. "Curse of the Pharaohs" – 4:27
3. "Return of the Vampire" – 4:50
4. "On a Night of Full Moon" (music by Michael Denner, Shermann) – 6:40
5. "A Corpse without Soul" – 8:11
6. "Death Kiss" – 5:53
7. "Leave My Soul Alone" (music by Denner) – 3:21
8. "M.D.A." (Mission: Destroy Aliens) (music and lyrics by Denner) – 4:20
9. "You Asked for It" – 4:13

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