We could possibly have a new MERCYFUL FATE album by the end of 2023
MERCYFUL FATE‘s King Diamond (vocals), Hank Shermann (guitar) and Mike Wead (guitar) recently sat down with Guitar World magazine to discuss the band’s upcoming studio album.
Discussing the new MERCYFUL FATE song “The Jackal Of Salzburg“, which the group debuted live last June in Hannover, Germany, Wead said: “It’s one of the more epic songs out of the new ones I’ve heard. It’s kind of bombastic, with a slight touch of doom metal, which is a bit different for MERCY. But then again, MERCY was never a band that stood still, either.”
As for the timeline for the next MERCYFUL FATE studio album, Shermann said: “That’s a really good question, because I really don’t know, other than that I have at least eight or nine songs ready to be worked on. We already have three songs worked out, out of those, and the drums for ‘The Jackal of Salzburg‘ are recorded. I would also say it probably depends on what the reaction is from [the fall 2022] U.S. tour.”
“The Jackal Of Salzburg” track takes it’s inspiration from one of the last major witch hunts to go down in Salzburg, Austria (1675-90). Known as the Zaubererjackl trials, 139 people were executed as followers of Wizard Jackl, who was never actually found.
“It’s so grotesque, man,” King Diamond says. “There was a young man, 20 years old, whose mother was burned alive as a witch in 1675. Two years later they started hunting [the son] based on confessions the mom had made under torture, where she gave up her son as being in league with the devil.
“It’s pretty shocking when you think about spearing a child on this horrible thing that goes up your backend and comes out through your mouth, or on a wheel that would pull them apart. Completely insane.”
MERCYFUL FATE just wrapped up their first North American headlining tour in over two decades on November 16, 2022 at the Tabernacle in Atlanta, Georgia.