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Mercyful Fate > Into the Unknown > Reviews
Mercyful Fate - Into the Unknown

Unfair - 72%

Felix 1666, January 15th, 2023

It is not fair: After their reunion, Mercyful Fate could do whatever they wanted. Nobody dared to put one of their later albums on a par with “Melissa” or “Don’t Break the Oath”. This was not allowed, because it would have meant nothing else than that the heretical critic would not have recognized the greatness of the early works. Too stupid, that guy!

Therefore Mercyful Fate were stuck between a rock and a hard place, especially in terms of the lyrics. Either they picked up new topics (how dare they?) or they returned to the tried and tested subjects (no new ideas!). They had started their comeback period with “Egypt” and now we had to the listen to the (sound of the demon) bell again. Uninvited guests, a kind of collective term for all creatures who had already appeared in their lyrics, returned and so there can be no doubt that “Into the Unknown” wants to be a typical Fate album, although its romantic artwork may suggest something different.

The progressive musical approach of the title track seems to have the intention to build a bridge to “Satan’s Fall”, but you cannot produce a bridge into your own past. I don’t say that the song is going nowhere, but it cannot hold a candle to the eleven-minutes-monument of the debut. On the other hand, there are more straight tracks here to find as well – and some of them are really strong. The lively “The Uninvited Guest” has a very good drive and does not lack an element of spooky malignancy and the consistent “The Ghost of Change” with some pretty strict lines and the great melody at the end also leaves its mark. But unlike former times, the guys are not immune against failures. For example, the chorus of “Holy Water” is completely ridiculous in view of its harmlessness and the vocal intro of “Deadtime” reveals a non-convincing facet of King’s voice. Broad parts of the album’s second half do not fulfil the (high) expectations. A song like the rather one-dimensional “Under the Spell” is okay, really not bad, but also almost banal for a band that has penned tracks like “Nightmare”, “Into the Coven” or “Don’t Break the Oath”.

At the end of the full-length, it’s nice to meet the mad Arab in the eerie closer again and when it comes to the big picture, there can be no serious doubt that “Into the Unknown” houses much more positive than negative aspects. The compositions are meticulously designed and arranged, both the smooth and the abrupt breaks usually work and the level of vehemence leaves nothing to be desired. Additionally, the clean but not sterile production lends the material a proper presentation, even though the occult note of the two early classics is almost totally missing. All this leads to the realization that “Into the Unknown” is a good, but no essential release of the Danish five-piece and we see that even or especially legends can break on their own reputation.

Into the Familiar. But if it ain't broke.. - 77%

autothrall, October 6th, 2019
Written based on this version: 1996, CD, Metal Blade Records

Into the Unknown might be one of the duller looking albums in the Mercyful Fate catalog, but not the worst of them. This marked a point for me when the band's inspiration seemed to be drying up and they were releasing albums to seemingly fill out a contract, or at least that's what a tour through their 1996-1999 material feels like. Nothing they put out was necessarily bad, but a lot of the riffs and ideas felt like mere retreads of others you'd already heard between Fate and the King Diamond albums. And that's really the greatest crime committed on Into the Unknown, which might be one of the more ironically titled albums I've come across, because this one is as straightforward and unsurprising as they get, sort of a mix of Don't Break the Oath, In the Shadows and then Time's production values, updated to their day.

Now you might say that even an average Mercyful Fate record is still probably better than a lot of other metal out there, and I have no argument against that. This is one I can enjoy sitting through because for what it lacks in creative development it compensates for in the energy level. The band is firing up a set of classic MF licks, with enough grooves to sate the fans of their earlier 90s material but a classic feel to the leads and harmonies which kicks me back a decade. The rhythm guitars are some of the simpler patterns they've scribed, with a leaden, chunky tone to them that keeps them hammering above the thick, embedded bass lines which sound pretty fuckin' rad on their own. The leads are modest but worthwhile, and they alternate between a mid-paced gait and the slower grooves from tunes like "Listen to the Bell" which sound like outtakes from In the Shadows (the song even has a line 'deep in the shadows...'). The drums sound good, and the band still knows how to structure a verse-chorus transition quite well, and there are clearly a handful of riffs here like the opener to "Fifteen Men" which I think are pretty damn awesome.

King himself sounds quite good, perhaps not as jazzed up or intense as his performances on the earlier albums in both his mainstays, but he does some cool falsetto counterpoints, and still can deliver some chorus parts that stand out from the rest. The lyrics here deal with cool subjects like Caribbean pirates and other period horror which helps expand out King's lexicon of chills, even if the music might in places feel a little dumbed down or redundant with cuts from In the Shadows and Time. I also got a kick out of the intro, "Lucifer", which is a chanted bastardization of "The Lord's Prayer". Cheesy, indeed, and the most useless track on the album, especially when you consider some of the great intros he's had before, but you just have to get a kick out of King Diamond thinking this was such an edgy idea in 1996. All told though, this is a solid record that I wouldn't necessarily break out unless I was really sick of the first four, except if I wanted to hear one particular tune. Certainly better than its follow-up, but not as timeless or inventive as I'd have hoped.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Best Mercyful Fate album of the 90's! - 93%

Brat1983, March 2nd, 2006

This album is a little special to me because it's actually the first album featuring King Diamond that I got into... I had recently listened to Abigail but King's voice gave me a hard time... it really took me some time to get into it... but this album I borrowed at the local library and it was different.... As with most of Mercyful Fate's repertoire, King's falsetto is not used as much as in his "solo" band and therefore it was a perfect way for me to start liking his voice.

This album is pure heavy metal all the way through played by people who know their shit and there's actually not really a bad song on this album.

Some of the really good songs are the fastpaced "The Uninvited Guest" which has a nice driven guitar riff and a catchy chorus. It has a dark undertone to it that suits the lyrics perfectly.

"Ghost of change" is another fine example of what MF is capable of. A cool heavy metal tune with lots of riffs and a nice chorus!

Title track "Into The Unknown" is one of my MF favourites. I especially like the middle part where everything slows down and you just hear the cymbals for a little while before the music starts up again... "it is so much colder in here... hold on to your soul, my dear". Fucking awesome :-D

Ending track, Ktulu (the mad arab part 2) has this Arab sounding guitar in the beginning... It's of course a continue of The mad Arab from the "Time" album... However, this one is much better... it's hard to describe why, but things just seem to fit perfectly here!

The reason why I don't mention the other tracks is because they already have been mentioned and they're actually the same high standard as these 4. These 4 are just my top-favourites off this album!

The musicianship here is very high class. Shermann and Denner once again prove themselves to be perhaps the best guitar duel team in heavy metal. Sharlee d'Angelo plays a very solid bass, and Bjarne Holm, who has his debut here as new MF drummer does a great job. He really is a great heavy metal drummer!

Another little anecdote is when I one evening sat in a train here in Denmark, I was listening to a cassette copy of this album and it was hard to resist the passion this music gives me. It was very hard for me not to get up and headbang and mosh around.... but perhaps I had been cast off the train so it was probably best that I didn't..... ;-)

Anyway, this album really deserves a place in every heavy metal collection. Even if you don't like King Diamond's falsettos, I think you'd still appreciate this record as he most of the time sings normally.
(By the way, I love King's voice now!)

More typical Mercyful Fate - 91%

Dethrone_Tyranny, October 12th, 2003

That's at least what most of this album is, typical, good ol' Mercyful Fate. After a quite different sound on the reunion album and a very different, more melodic direction that was taken for 'Time', the band finally gets raw again, more spontanious and much more aggressive, with occult matters once again put into the lyrics. This is unholy Fate right here, kids. Very cool intro, once you hear this, you know that the evilness is back. After the intro fades.....BANG!....'The Uninvited Guest' blasts through the speakers, a quite furious tune, though soft at certain points. The story that this song tells is just wicked. Next up is 'The Ghost Of Change', a great song with a very, very catchy melody to it. Probably one of the band's best. 'Listen To The Bell' is an average song, decent but not too memorable. Ok, now here's something a bit different...'Fifteen Men (And A Bottle Of Rum)....a change in style. Not the symphonic type of change that was heard on 'Time', but mostly due to the lyrics is what makes it different. It's a tale about pirates (Running Wild anyone?) at sea when a voyage goes dreadfully wrong. Still, this is a VERY good track. The title song is a bit weak, it has its high points, especially at the chorus but most of it is pretty forgetable after the first listen. Then we have the crazy ass riffage of 'Under The Spell', another one of their most underrated songs. I mean, this song is just fucking amazing, everything from the riffs, to the lyrics, to the chorus. It just kills! Next we have a bedtime...err...deatime story. 'Deadtime', the intro is an evil parody of the 'little red riding hood' tale, and a very decent track follows after that. Now it's time for Mercyful Fate to go back to their roots with 'Holy Water', the best song on here. Pure, unholy metal here, done in their 80s style. The band really went back in time with this one, and not to mention that the chorus is one of the best ever!...."I don't want that holy water, it makes me burn! I don't want that holy water, I guess I'll never learn. I'd rather drink from the Devil's well, and then I'll go to Hell"....what a killer song. As for the last, 'Kutulu (The Mad Arab pt. 2), is a strong number, better than 'The Mad Arab' from time. It's not too different in style, just overall better.

So the band goes back in time a bit to their more aggresive and raw style, but they would take this style to an even higher level with their next release....though that doesn't mean it will be better.

Best song: The Uninvited Guest, Ghost Of Change, Under The Spell, Holy Water

Good album, but they've done much better - 75%

GrimAndFrostbitten, August 14th, 2003

Though this album isn't amazing, it also fails to be bad. After all, it's Mercyful Fate, and with King Diamond's unique vocals and Shermann and Denner's guitar work, you can't really go wrong.

The album begins with an intro called "Lucifer," which is simple keyboard playing with an unholy version of the Lord's prayer, replacing things like "amen" with "shemhamphoresh" and so on. King Diamond is really too goofy for me to think of him as evil, though I definitely think he's a true schizotypal and not a calculated gimmick.

The first song is "The Uninvited Guest" -- perhaps it's just the way the guitars are played, but it sounds almost modern and more towards hard rock -- sort of detuned and blandly distorted -- as opposed to the somewhat classic rock sound of the earlier Mercyful Fate or the great neoclassical/heavy metal sounds of older King Diamond albums. The falsetto isn't used as much as usual on this song, save for the chorus. However, the songwriting's pretty good, the lyrics the usual haunted house fare, and the lead guitar delivers, as usual.

The next song is "The Ghost of Change," which begins a bit more slowly, but picks up a bit, even though it sounds just a bit doomy. It's sung quite a bit in falsetto, and as usual, the lead guitar remains good and the riffs are pretty solid, too. The lyrics seem to be longing for a lost love, sort of like in Melissa.

Listen to the Bell is another good song that's a bit chunky at moments, though still nothing remarkable for Fate and no "At the Sound of the Demon Bell."

Fifteen Men is a song about a ship called the unicorn in that begins sort of slow and doomish, but then picks up into fast riffing and drumming as the destruction in the story unfolds with a great solo before it returns to the doom style. Most noticeable after that is the singing of "Fifteen men and a bottle of rum" at around 3:45.

Into the Unknown begins with strumming on an acoustic guitar and an evil but modern sounding riff. The lyrical content, sung half in falsetto, seems to reflect the witchcraft/satanism aspect of early Mercyful Fate, but fails to go over the top or be as impressive. The second half of this song is sort of jumbled up, and though isn't bad, isn't too good either.

Under the Spell begins with a good Mercyful Fate style riff, then launches into a wailing solo with good non-falsetto singing on the part of Mr. Petersen. The riffage, drumming, and basswork remains solid, and Shermann and Denner's solos continue to deliver just like in old King Diamond days.

Deadtime begins with a King Diamond lullaby, and more doomish/evil but sort of slow and bland riffs. The song is a pretty cheesy and bizarre version of Red Riding Hood, and some of the singing sort of reminds me of Alice in Chains or something. There's some pretty good shredding at the end of this song, but it's not a highlight of the album. The next song, Holy Water is a pretty cool song, based on more watered-down occult lyrics, but is nothing remarkable.

Kutulu begins with a great introduction in an exotic riff in the style of Egypt, but the singing in this song is crappy and King almost does hard ryhmes in it. It still gets the coolest riff award on the album, even if the song itself sucks.

In retrospect, it's a pretty average album, neither good nor bad. Get this if you can find it for cheap, but skip it otherwise. However, Mercyful Fate's Melissa, Don't Break the Oath, and/or The Beginning completely own this album.