I am not big on remastered album. It seems like an attempt to sell you the same album twice. However there are times when it makes more sense. The production value of Mercyful Fate's 1983 debut album, was good for the time. Producer Henrik Lund who also mixed the album, had never worked with a metal band before. King Diamond has later said this was because they assumed he did not want a bunch of amateurs looking over his shoulder, so they only gave him notes. How could you really know how to dial in something that had never really been done before with bands like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest as the only reference points at the time.
A common problem when trying to turn your younger friends onto a classic album is to their ears something like this does not sound as heavy, due to have the guitars sit back in the reverb. This remaster takes the already great songs and elevates the sound quality so that it stands shoulder to shoulder with the dynamic range. This was originally done by Ted Jensen in 2005, and is being re-issued for the album's 40th anniversary. I listened to it at high volume through a pair of studio quality head phones, and found the guitar have more punch to them, as this now has the sonic kick you would expect of an album released today rather than making do with the best 1983 had to offer.
You can feel the double kick on "At the Sound of the Demon Bell" in your chest where it should be. King's vocal layers are clearer, the over all guitar and bass sound brings the levels up to a place where the shrillness of his falsetto is balanced out by the punch of guitar, thanks to the improved compression. In some ways the brighter fuller sounds , take some of the darker tones out , but the overall sound has more attack so this works for the recording. I think there is little reason for me to talk about the songs, here because this is just an improvement to an already perfect album, while I can talk about King Diamond for days on end, the album speaks for itself when it comes to songs. Sure if you have never heard it before it is a must, especially if you are a fan of a band like Ghost, you ripped off Mercyful Fate in many regards, sure King Diamond plays nice and respects the politics of the music business, so has never called bands out in this regard. But this version makes those things more apparent as well as allows you to hear that this was not just heavy for 1983, but holds up against all the black metal bands that came after. One of the best metal album ever made period.
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