KING DIAMOND SAYS MERCYFUL FATE WILL PLAY NEW NINE-MINUTE SONG ON UPCOMING TOUR: 'IT'S QUITE A MONSTER'

Influential Danish metallers MERCYFUL FATE will embark on a European tour this spring and summer. The trek will kick off on June 2 in Hannover, Germany and will include shows in Poland, Sweden, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, France, Spain, Finland, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovenia, Norway, Czech Republic and the United Kingdom. A one-off appearance at the Psycho Las Vegas festival in Las Vegas, Nevada will follow in late August.

In a Twitch livestream from a couple of days ago from the MERCYFUL FATE rehearsals, which are taking place in Glostrup, Denmark, vocalist King Diamond revealed that he and his bandmates are planning to debut a brand new song at the upcoming shows. "We're trying," he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "We're still working on a song. I wrote the final lyrics the day of our departure [for rehearsals], I would say, and that's a couple of days ago. So the others have not heard me sing the song at all. We played a few riffs from it yesterday. I didn't sing to it at that time. But it's coming [along] here. The next couple of days we're gonna see where it leads us."

Regarding the musical and lyrical content of the new MERCYFUL FATE song, King said: "It's quite a monster, I would say. It's almost nine minutes long. So it's not just a quick little [tune]. We hope we can play it. We're gonna do everything in our power to play it. It's not recorded yet. So whatever version we might play for you could change before it actually is fully recorded. Some drums have been recorded — that's what I can say. But we will do our damnedest to play it. We put it early in the set even. But that's something to look forward to, definitely. And now we've gotta make it sound correct, 'cause the early demo versions have lots of stuff on that create a certain mood in the whole thing, which we can't do [when we perform it]. The live version will be different. I can't do the backing vocals, naturally, that is intended for the song. But that's also a challenge, to do a version that works live, of course, [with the] vocal lines. It's gonna be fun. It's gonna be heavy. The subject is very heavy too. We are back in 1675 till 1690. That's a piece of history that we are describing — a nasty piece of history," he added, possibly referring to the Salzburg Witch Trials.

Confirmed MERCYFUL FATE dates:

Jun. 02 - Expo Plaza - Hannover, Germany (with VOLBEAT)
Jun. 04 - Mystic Festival - Gdańsk, Poland
Jun. 10 - Sweden Rock - Sölvesborg, Sweden
Jun. 14 - Wuhlheide - Berlin, Germany (with VOLBEAT)
Jun. 16 - Graspop Metal Meeting - Dessel, Belgium
Jun. 18 - Copenhell - Copenhagen, Denmark
Jun. 24 - Rock The Castle - Verona, Italy
Jun. 26 - Hellfest Open Air Festival - Clisson, France
Jul. 01 - Rock Fest Barcelona - Barcelona, Spain
Jul. 02 - Tuska Open Air - Helsinki, Finland
Jul. 22 - Hills Of Rock - Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Jul. 24 - Artmania Festival - Sibiu, Romania
Jul. 28 - Fezen Festival - Székesfehérvár, Hungary
Jul. 29 - Metaldays - Tolmin, Slovenia
Aug. 04 - Wacken Open Air - Wacken, Germany
Aug. 06 - Beyond The Gates - Bergen, Norway
Aug. 11 - Brutal Assault - Jaromer, Czech Republic
Aug. 13 - Bloodstock Open Air - Derbyshire, UK
Aug. 21 - Psycho Las Vegas - Las Vegas, NV

MERCYFUL FATE's last studio album, "9", was released in 1999.

MERCYFUL FATE will be remembered for its unquestionable mark on the history of metal with its innovative sound, complex arrangements, memorable melody, and its influence on bands that later took the genre to new heights.