Denner / Shermann
Masters of Evil
Metal Blade Records
2016
Michael Denner and Hank Shermann, the duo of Mercyful Fate guitarists, have been largely sidelined by King Diamond’s solo band, without an album in ages and with also no touring, so they seem to be breaking away under their own names and along with ‘Diamond alumnus Snowy Shaw behind the drums and Cage screamer Sean Peck behind the mic along with Marc Grabowski on bass, they try to make up for all that lost time…
Following an EP that proved to be interesting, but not really set the world on fire, a debut long player has landed now, “Masters of Evil” with an unimaginative cover that mixes the colors and theme of the first two MF releases, in no bid for originality.
The album itself proves to be “interesting” but on the other hand so derivative and somewhat lacking where compared with the “actual” Mercyful Fate releases that it so heavily reminisces off, seems to be a distant second degree relative…
While writing this off, would be a shame, it just doesn’t fully satisfy – in the way that it should… I suppose it’s uneasy to try to listen to it without perjury and expecting to hear something quite different.
While Peck does a pretty good job overall, it does seem a little forced into a niche that he doesn’t sound completely comfortable in.
The first single, “Angel’s Blood”, comes right at you with a sonic sledge hammer! Once the guitars hit your ears, the unmistakable trademark guitar sound of Denner and Shermann is instantly recognized. Prepare yourself for a heavy metal thrill ride!
Along with the album release on June 24th, also comes live touring. Ever since the first announcement that this guitar duo was reforming, many show requests have been received from all over the world. Now with a full complement of original songs to draw from, look for the group to bring those to a city near you very soon.
“Angel’s Blood” is an odd opener” a very mid-tempo, heavy opener that’s just not dramatic enough to full hook you.
“Son of Satan” (complete with a very mediocre CGI video) wants badly to be Mercyful and it’s probably one of the more successful songs that after a few spins manages to lodge itself in your memory.
“The Wolf Feeds at Night” has some of the virtues it should, including the dueling guitars of the duo, but ultimately fails to completely live up to expectations, marred by its mediocre verses/chorus.
The “Pentagram and the Cross” fares better, but is a bit repetitive in the chorus department.
A better balance is struck on “Masters of Evil”, the eponymous title track, which does drag a bit midway, but seems to be checking all the right boxes.
“Servants of Dagon” manages to create an eerie atmosphere, but fails to capitalize on it, as it doesn’t have any serious thing going on plus it has a very flat chorus that is not entirely supported, by the one-track vocals.
“Escape from Hell” has a very nice riff, but just veers off into generi-ville, never to be heard of again.
“The Baroness” suffers from similar issues and where King’s theatrics no matter how over the top almost always sounded evil and threatening, Peck’s replica sounds almost silly at certain – semi-spoken parts…
Trying to recreate a certain chemistry might be a bad idea, trying to recreate it on album with a different line-up can lead to varying degrees of success of failure, with D/S’s second attempt registering an entry somewhere between the two…
In all honesty, a proper Merciful Album would be much more preferred.
Following an EP that proved to be interesting, but not really set the world on fire, a debut long player has landed now, “Masters of Evil” with an unimaginative cover that mixes the colors and theme of the first two MF releases, in no bid for originality.
The album itself proves to be “interesting” but on the other hand so derivative and somewhat lacking where compared with the “actual” Mercyful Fate releases that it so heavily reminisces off, seems to be a distant second degree relative…
While writing this off, would be a shame, it just doesn’t fully satisfy – in the way that it should… I suppose it’s uneasy to try to listen to it without perjury and expecting to hear something quite different.
While Peck does a pretty good job overall, it does seem a little forced into a niche that he doesn’t sound completely comfortable in.
The first single, “Angel’s Blood”, comes right at you with a sonic sledge hammer! Once the guitars hit your ears, the unmistakable trademark guitar sound of Denner and Shermann is instantly recognized. Prepare yourself for a heavy metal thrill ride!
Along with the album release on June 24th, also comes live touring. Ever since the first announcement that this guitar duo was reforming, many show requests have been received from all over the world. Now with a full complement of original songs to draw from, look for the group to bring those to a city near you very soon.
“Angel’s Blood” is an odd opener” a very mid-tempo, heavy opener that’s just not dramatic enough to full hook you.
“Son of Satan” (complete with a very mediocre CGI video) wants badly to be Mercyful and it’s probably one of the more successful songs that after a few spins manages to lodge itself in your memory.
“The Wolf Feeds at Night” has some of the virtues it should, including the dueling guitars of the duo, but ultimately fails to completely live up to expectations, marred by its mediocre verses/chorus.
The “Pentagram and the Cross” fares better, but is a bit repetitive in the chorus department.
A better balance is struck on “Masters of Evil”, the eponymous title track, which does drag a bit midway, but seems to be checking all the right boxes.
“Servants of Dagon” manages to create an eerie atmosphere, but fails to capitalize on it, as it doesn’t have any serious thing going on plus it has a very flat chorus that is not entirely supported, by the one-track vocals.
“Escape from Hell” has a very nice riff, but just veers off into generi-ville, never to be heard of again.
“The Baroness” suffers from similar issues and where King’s theatrics no matter how over the top almost always sounded evil and threatening, Peck’s replica sounds almost silly at certain – semi-spoken parts…
Trying to recreate a certain chemistry might be a bad idea, trying to recreate it on album with a different line-up can lead to varying degrees of success of failure, with D/S’s second attempt registering an entry somewhere between the two…
In all honesty, a proper Merciful Album would be much more preferred.