Mercyful Fate is a Danish heavy metal band from Copenhagen, formed in 1981 by vocalist King Diamond and guitarist Hank Shermann. Influenced by progressive rock and hard rock, and with lyrics dealing with LaVeyan Satanism and the occult, Mercyful Fate was part of the first wave of black metal in the early to mid-1980s, along with Venom and Bathory. The band is also cited as a formative influence on many then-up-and-coming genres, including thrash metal and death metal, as well as the Norwegian black metal scene.
Don't Break the Oath is the second studio album by Danish heavy metal band Mercyful Fate, released on 7 September 1984 through Roadrunner Records.
Kim Bendix Petersen, better known by his stage name King Diamond, is a Danish rock musician. As a vocalist, he is known for his powerful and wide-ranging countertenor singing voice, in particular his far-reaching falsetto screams. He is the lead vocalist and lyricist for both Mercyful Fate and the eponymous King Diamond. He also plays keyboards and guitars on studio recordings but uses live shows to focus solely on his vocal performance. Diamond is renowned for his dark lyrical content and his story concepts. He is also known for his distinctive shock stage persona. He has been an influence for other rock and metal artists, including Metallica, Slayer and Cradle of Filth.
John Bush is an American heavy metal singer. He came to prominence in the 1980s as the lead singer and lyricist of Armored Saint, a heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. In 1992, he joined thrash metal band Anthrax, with whom he remained until 2005 and briefly rejoined in 2009–2010. Bush has also been active with the reformed Armored Saint intermittently from 1999 to the present.
Fates Warning is an American progressive metal band, formed in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1982 by vocalist John Arch, guitarists Jim Matheos and Victor Arduini, bassist Joe DiBiase, and drummer Steve Zimmerman. There have been numerous lineup changes over the course of their 41-year career, and Matheos is the only constant member. As of 2020, the band consists of Matheos, vocalist Ray Alder, bassist Joey Vera, drummer Bobby Jarzombek and guitarist Michael Abdow. Fates Warning also had a revolving cast of drummers and guitarists by the time Jarzombek and Abdow joined the band in 2007 and 2020 respectively.
King Diamond is a Danish heavy metal band formed in 1985 by vocalist King Diamond, guitarists Andy LaRocque and Michael Denner, bassist Timi Hansen and drummer Mikkey Dee. King, Denner and Hansen had recently departed the group Mercyful Fate, and decided to form a new band under the King Diamond moniker, as it was already known from the Mercyful Fate days. Since the band's inception, there have been over fifteen musicians in and out of King Diamond, with the only two mainstays being Diamond and LaRocque. Their current lineup consists of King, LaRocque, guitarist Mike Wead, drummer Matt Thompson, and bassist Pontus Egberg.
Armored Saint is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1982. Since 1990, the band has consisted of John Bush on lead vocals, Joey Vera on bass, Jeff Duncan on guitar and the Sandoval brothers on drums and guitar, respectively. Of the current lineup, Bush and Vera are the two constant members. To date, the band has released eight studio albums, one EP, two live albums and one compilation album.
The Spectre Within is the second studio album by progressive metal band Fates Warning, released in October 1985 through Metal Blade Records. It has been reissued three times: first as a double album together with Night on Bröcken (1984) in 1992, followed by a remastered edition in 1994, and again in 2002 with four bonus tracks as well as new cover art.
A Pleasant Shade of Gray is the eighth studio album by progressive metal band Fates Warning, released on April 22, 1997, through Metal Blade Records. It is a concept album, and contains one song divided into twelve parts and is noted for its darker mood and more progressive style.
Timi Hansen was a Danish bass player. He played in the Danish heavy metal band Mercyful Fate from 1981 to 1985 and from 1992 to 1993, and its successor project King Diamond from 1985 to 1987.
March of the Saint is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Armored Saint. It was released in 1984 by Chrysalis Records and recorded with producer Michael James Jackson who previously worked for Kiss. The debut album yielded a minor MTV hit with "Can U Deliver", but Joey Vera and John Bush later recalled the album's recording as a frustrating and disappointing experience, explaining that Jackson's approach was much more commercial than the heavy metal sound the band had wanted. As Vera recalled in 2006: "At the end of the record we were very unhappy with the production, the mix, the way we worked and who we worked with. And the producer and our manager let us spend over ($)300,000 on our first record. To this day we are still in debt for that one."
A Twist of Fate is an EP by singer John Arch, released on June 17, 2003 through Metal Blade Records. At the time, the EP was Arch's first musical work in over seventeen years since leaving progressive metal band Fates Warning in 1987, with whom he recorded their first three albums; the last being Awaken the Guardian (1986). Consisting of two tracks, A Twist of Fate features Fates Warning founder and guitarist Jim Matheos, with whom Arch would later release a collaborative album in 2011, entitled Sympathetic Resonance, under the banner of Arch/Matheos. Also among the line-up are former Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy and current Fates Warning bassist Joey Vera.
Engine was an American progressive metal band. Engine's lead singer is Fates Warning's Ray Alder. In addition to Ray, the outfit also included the former Agent Steel guitarist Bernie Versailles, Armored Saint bassist Joey Vera plus Face to Face drummer Pete Parada. Their debut self-titled album was released in September 1999. Superholic was the follow-up, which was issued in May 2002.
Sympathetic Resonance is a collaborative studio album by singer John Arch and guitarist Jim Matheos, released on September 9, 2011 through Metal Blade Records.
Frank Aresti is an American guitarist and composer and former member of progressive metal band Fates Warning.
Arch/Matheos is an American progressive metal project.
Win Hands Down is the seventh studio album by American heavy metal band Armored Saint. It was released on June 2, 2015. The vocals were recorded at Bridge Recording in Los Angeles, guitars and bass were recorded at Travis Dickerson Studios in Chatsworth and drums were recorded at Clearlake Audio in Burbank.
Long Day Good Night is the thirteenth and final studio album by American progressive metal band Fates Warning, released on November 6, 2020. It is Fates Warning's first release on Metal Blade Records since 2004's FWX and also the first to feature guitarist Mike Abdow as a full time member, which he became in 2017 having previously been a touring only member and appearing as a guest on their previous album Theories of Flight in 2016.
Punching the Sky is the eighth studio album by American heavy metal band Armored Saint. It was released on October 23, 2020. The album was produced by Bill Metoyer and bassist Joey Vera, and mixed by Jay Ruston. The track "End of the Attention Span" was the first single and was released on August 12, 2020, along with a music video. A music video was also made for the next single "Lone Wolf" on June 29, 2021.
