I’ve never been the biggest fan of King Diamond nor of Mercyful Fate to be honest but there’s something about a couple of their records that keeps drawing me back. Don’t Break The Oath is the main one that does this. I’m not sure if it is the most spectacular and hellish album sleeve, or the music itself, or perhaps a combination of both, but return I do.
It’s hard to talk about the sound stage without sounding like a ponce, but production is an interest of mine and I like to dissect an album in my head as I listen to it. The guitars are brittle and panned wide and far away, whereas the vocals, bass and drums almost sound like they are from another album; centred and thick with their bassy, warm analogue sound. On a stereo it’s not so noticeable, but on headphones the distance between the guitars and the rest of the instruments is more noticeable. It’s an interesting choice.
It’d be easy to pick “Gypsy” as a favourite song (maybe because Emperor covered it and I knew it from there), but honestly I like to listen to the whole album in one go, and I always enjoy it that way.
A classic, but you don’t need me to tell you that.