Force of Evil / Mercyful Fate 1993-1999

[SoundMaster]

I understand Hank and Michael have a group together named Force of Evil. Anyone here familiar with them? What's the music like? I'd imagine similar to MF, but please confirm.

Speaking of which, what are your thoughts on the reunion version of MF? I think their 90s records were strong, but spotty at times.
Each one contains some awesome classics, however.

(Old Oak, Mad Arab, Into the Unknown, 15 Men, House on the Hill, Sold My Soul, Crossroads, Egypt, Mad Arab, etc)

 

[wdiv]

Heard of FOE, but never actually heard 'em.
The 90's MF just doesn't hold up at all next to their original incarnation.

 

[JonnyD]

I Love Egypt!!!! and The Bell Witch! but I prefere the Kings Solo albums Particularly Spiders Lullabye and Puppet Master

 

[Fangface]

Force of Evil is similar to Mercyful Fate, with a bit simpler and more straightforward approach.
The vocalist sounds more traditional and very different from King in that respect, I thought his performance was ok on the first s/t album, yet he has improved a lot on the latest one IMO, Black Empire. Now he sounds possessed and evil at times, I think that fits better with their horror based lyrics. Strongly recommanded if you're a Fate fan, even though FOE isn't as original as MF. Vocals might be an acquired taste though, I know some MF fans who don't like the voice in FOE...

Live-wise I saw them 2 months ago at Earthshaker fest', I had never seen the Denner/Shermann pair before and I was glad to realize that they still shred like very few duos can.
Their young singer still lacks some more stage experience and enthousiasm, I guess it will improve with time. His live performance was pretty good but also a little bit inferior compared to what he does on Black Empire, sometimes I missed some of the wicked agression he has on disc but he was good overall, which had been my main concern before the show. On the other hand, Hal Patino is a stage maniac!
They played a cover of "Evil" at the end of the gig which set the pit on fire All in good fun.
I was born in the cemetaaaaryyyy, under the sign of the mooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooon...

As for MF reunion records, I agree with you 100%, good-to-very-good records without being classics. Time is very underrated IMO.

 

[Wyvern]

Since I'm the regional King "IS NOT FOR ME!" Diamond, I found Force Of Evil highly refreshing. Albeit Steene tends to sound a bit like King on "Black Empire" (which annoys me).

Both MF and KD had always great musicians, so Force Of EVIL is for me the opportunity to enjoy such quality without suffering from KD wailing.

 

[sixxswine]

Buy the Black Empire record by Force of Evil. A underrated King Diamond Record is House of God, as far as Mercy goes In the Shadows is a great one out of the new records...