TRACK #242:

At the Sound of the Demon Bell by Mercyful Fate

By association, Shindig Superhero King Diamond finally becomes the Shindig All-Star he was always meant to be.

From Mercyful Fate’s 1983 debut album, Melissa, comes this Satany as shit foray into Halloween with Mr. Diamond at the helm, falsetto and all.

And, for King Diamond fans, the name Melissa is an important one.

According to the album’s final song (and title track) Melissa was a witch who owned the heart of King. She was (presumably) burned at the stake by a priest, to which King Diamond swore revenge.

Melissa then reappeared the following year, again on the final track, of the album Don’t Break the Oath called Come to the Sabbath. That song details the performance of a ritual that will curse the priest responsible for murdering Melissa.

King with his famous Melissa mic stand, though I doubt that’s the original skull.

Finally, Melissa appears on the 1993 Mercyful Fate reunion album, In the Shadows, on the song Is That You, Melissa? Here, King attempts to convince a Coven to perform a ritual which will allow him to speak with Melissa’s ghost. Though the Coven refuses, King is later visited by her spirit. They share a kiss and Melissa is never spoken of again.

However, Melissa holds even more significance to Mr. Diamond than that. See, sometime in 1981, King procured human remains from a medical school in Copenhagen. He then proceeded to named those bones “Melissa.”

King would go on to form his legendary mic stand from the femur and tibia of “Melissa’s” remains. Additionally, he would carry her skull around with him on stage. That is, he did, until one night at a show in the Netherlands (he reckons) Melissa’s skull was stolen!

King still uses his Melissa mic stand to this very day, but her skull has never…been seen…again.

At the sound of the demon bell,

Everything will turn to hell

Rise, rise, rise…

It’s Halloween!