Mercyful Fate is a Danish heavy metal band from Copenhagen, formed in 1981 by vocalist King Diamond and guitarist Hank Shermann.

[16] Brats were a punk/metal band, featuring future Mercyful Fate members, vocalist King Diamond, and guitarists Hank Shermann and Michael Denner.

[19][20] This line-up, consisting of King Diamond, Hank Shermann, bassist Timi Hansen, drummer Kim Ruzz and guitarist Michael Denner.

[23] The character of Melissa, a witch who was burned at the stake, appears for the first time on the eponymous debut album and intermittently throughout the band's later work.

[24] One of the album's tracks, "Into the Coven", received particular attention two years later, when it was listed by the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) as one of their "Filthy Fifteen" songs due to its perceived occult content.

[12] King Diamond was, in reality, interested in LaVeyan Satanism, which he called "a life philosophy" and stated that it had nothing to do with the Devil of Abrahamic religions.

[30] They were replaced by Mike Moon and Hal Patino, respectively, and King Diamond continued releasing albums even after Mercyful Fate had reformed.

[30] After leaving King Diamond, Michael Denner opened up a recordshop in Copenhagen, until 1988, when he formed the band Lavina (which would later become Zoser Mez), along with former bandmate Hank Shermann.

[35] In 1992, King Diamond, Hank Shermann, Michael Denner and Timi Hansen reunited to reform Mercyful Fate (drummer Kim Ruzz was replaced by Morten Nielsen).

[38] On October 25, 1994, Mercyful Fate released its fourth album Time, which was recorded and mixed at the Dallas Sound Lab during May and August of that year.

King Diamond focused on his eponymous band, along with guitarist Mike Wead, who joined the group during the European House of God tour.

[30] Hank Shermann and Bjarne T. Holm reunited with Michael Denner to form Force of Evil, while Sharlee D'Angelo joined the band Arch Enemy.

[45] On December 7, 2011, King Diamond, Hank Shermann, Michael Denner and Timi Hansen reunited onstage at Metallica's 30th Anniversary concert, at the Fillmore in San Francisco, California, where they, alongside Metallica, performed the latter's "Mercyful Fate" medley from Garage Inc.[46] On January 28, 2017, the original line-up of Mercyful Fate (minus Diamond) reunited to receive the Pioneer Prize at the Steppeulven ceremony by the Danish Association of Music Critics at the Bremen Teater in Copenhagen.

The band's line-up consists of King Diamond on vocals, Hank Shermann on guitar, Bjarne T. Holm on drums, Mike Wead on guitar and Joey Vera on bass, the latter of whom was filling in for Timi Hansen, who was battling cancer;[48] Vera then became their full-time bass player after Hansen died on November 4, 2019, shortly after his 61st birthday.

[51] On June 2, 2022, Mercyful Fate performed their first live show since 1999 in Hanover as part of a European tour, where they debuted a brand new song titled "The Jackal of Salzburg".

[64] Mercyful Fate have been cited as a formative influence on the 1980s thrash metal scene, including two-fourths of the genre's "Big Four" – Metallica and Slayer.

[68] Slayer guitarist Kerry King has stated that he and then-guitarist Jeff Hanneman were big fans of Mercyful Fate and cited them as influence on their second album Hell Awaits.