Don't Break the Oath

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Don't Break the Oath
MercyfulFateDBTO.jpg
Studio album by
Mercyful Fate
Released7 September 1984
RecordedMay 1984
StudioEasy Sound Recording, Copenhagen, Denmark
GenreHeavy metal[1]
Length47:30
LabelRoadrunner (Europe)
Music for Nations (UK)
Combat (USA)
ProducerHenrik Lund
Mercyful Fate chronology
Melissa
(1983) 		Don't Break the Oath
(1984) 		The Beginning
(1987)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic4.5/5 stars[2]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal10/10[3]
Sputnikmusic5/5[4]

Don't Break the Oath is the second studio album by Danish heavy metal band Mercyful Fate, released in 1984.

The style Mercyful Fate employed on Don't Break the Oath resembled a mixture of heavy metal with progressive elements, lyrically preoccupied with Satan and the occult and distinguished by King Diamond's theatrical falsetto vocals. Although very influential to future black metal bands due to its lyrical content, the music itself is more reminiscent of traditional heavy metal. The album was remastered and subsequently re-issued on Roadrunner Records in 1997. This reissue came with the bonus track "Death Kiss (Demo)", which would eventually evolve into the album's lead-off track, "A Dangerous Meeting". Metal Rules named this the greatest extreme metal album of all time.[5]

Track listing[]

All lyrics are written by King Diamond.

Side one
No.TitleMusicLength
1."A Dangerous Meeting"Hank Shermann5:10
2."Nightmare"Shermann6:20
3."Desecration of Souls"Shermann4:54
4."Night of the Unborn"Shermann, Michael Denner4:59
Side two
No.TitleMusicLength
5."The Oath"Diamond7:31
6."Gypsy"Denner, Diamond3:08
7."Welcome Princes of Hell[6]"Shermann4:03
8."To One Far Away"Denner, Diamond1:31
9."Come to the Sabbath"Diamond5:19
1997 re-release bonus track
No.TitleLength
10."Death Kiss" (demo)4:30

Personnel[]

Mercyful Fate

Production

  • Henrik Lund - producer, engineer
  • Niels Erik Otto - engineer
  • Thomas Holm - cover art

Charts[]

Chart performance for Don't Break the Oath
Chart (2020) Peak
position
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[7] 66

References[]

  1. ^ Bukszpan, Daniel (2003). The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal. Barnes & Noble Publishing. p. 149. ISBN 9780760742181.
  2. ^ Huey, Steve. "Mercyful Fate - Don't Break the Oath review". AllMusic.
  3. ^ Popoff, Martin (1 November 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 220. ISBN 978-1894959315.
  4. ^ Nash, J. "Mercyful Fate - Don't Break the Oath". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 2016-11-23.
  5. ^ "Top 50 Extreme Metal Albums". Metal Rules. Archived from the original on April 5, 2018. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  6. ^ Ludwig, Jamie (October 22, 2014). "King Diamond Interview". Wondering Sound. Archived from the original on August 20, 2016. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  7. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Mercyful Fate – Don't Break the Oath" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
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