Review by Mandeep Arora on April 15, 2025.

In many ways, Mercyful Fate's return in 1993 was a triumphant one, though to this day, 'In the Shadows' remains kind of underrated and underappreciated in their plummeting discography. That's mostly because it's veiled by the enormous cachet and stature of the band's first two albums, 'Melissa' and 'Don't Break the Oath' - rightful classics and many a metalhead's firsthand experience of evil and genuinely terrifying music. The original lineup had amassed a strong fan following, and with it, a bit of a cult status. The other spin-off band, King Diamond and its full-blown concept records, further cemented the opinion that this altering lineup of talented musicians along with the main man - ahem ahem, King Diamond - could do no wrong. 'In the Shadows' treads that fine line between rejuvenating the old-school Mercyful Fate sound and borrowing flagrantly from King Diamond's greatest hits. The end result is an album that sounds like a heady mix of both but also one that carves its own image and stands out owing to its solid collection of catchy, memorable, and fun songs. To the best of my guess, Melissa makes a triumphant return too, in all her mystical glory on the album cover - the much-alluded to mistress gazing at the great Egyptian desert on which stands the dreaded old oak and rides the haunted headless rider, a reference to the primary characters and entities presented in the album’s songs.

Relatively speaking, it's a heavy album, with chunky riffs and a cleaner, more modern production. This does rob it a bit of the old-school allure but the generalised sound of the mix is actually pretty good. It's Timi Hansen's last studio album with either band, a bit of a bummer, but at least he bows out on what is a very good album that exploits his talents to ample use. Admittedly, the basslines aren't quite as sonorous as on earlier albums because modern production standards mean the stocky guitars kind of drown everything else, but you can still hear the bass on most of the segments. The drums, too, make progress in a subtle way; in stark contrast to Kim Ruzz's understated ardor, they're a bit too basic and kind of disappointing, slightly lost in the mix, and not doing much to augment the magnitude of the songs. Part of that reason is the guitars, particularly the rhythm ones, taking care of a major chunk of the album's momentum. Yes, there are leads galore, in similar vein to its predecessors, but unlike these old classics where melodies take center stage, it's the swole riffs that make a stronger impression this time around. I don't know if it's the loud production or the actually very catchy and tuneful riffs, but my takeaway is of an album that's chock-full of memorable riffs more so than anything.

King Diamond sounds very good too. Surprisingly, he resorts to more of his clean vocals this time, deploying the venerable falsettos mostly on song choruses. His clean voice has never been anything special but he does an admirable job on songs like 'The Old Oak' and 'Legend of the Headless Rider'. The falsettos aren't super high-pitched and seem to adopt a similar approach as on 'The Eye', which in consequence renders them a certain fullness and resonance. His vocal melodies are poised, magnificent, and mesmerizing, be it on the choruses or the bridge sections. And he doesn't go overboard with experimentation while embodying the various characters in the many short stories he tells, which is fantastic. The lyrical themes are an evident departure from the outright Satanic and occult stuff of yore, rather embracing the more supernatural kind à la King Diamond the band.

Some songs take a bit of time to grow on you, like 'Egypt' and 'Legend of the Headless Rider', whereas others like 'The Bell Witch' and 'A Gruesome Time' are straight-up heavy metal bangers. 'The Old Oak' is another memorable composition that stands out thanks to its progressive nature; Mercyful Fate/King Diamond has always had underlying prog tendencies but a full-blown extended song with numerous moving parts isn't their forte - we've seen 'Satan's Fall's' slump into an ungainly behemoth of a tune and 'Dead Again's' overarching ambition yet lack of direction rendering it a nondescript clunker. The reason 'The Old Oak' works so well is because its many sections are glued together by several cognate elements like drum fills, a fading guitar solo, or a vocal melody, so everything feels seamless and very well put together. The other shorter songs have a more definite structure as opposed to a freer flow of the previous albums, which may or may not be a good thing depending on how predictable you like your music. I think it works very well in the album's favor. The riffs are more hard rock hammering and not as thoroughly diabolical, which does not bother me in general, but there are times when I miss that strong tinge of darkness, that certain descent into malevolence...

After a fantastic Side A with its perfect streak of five spectacular songs, Side B feels like a bit of a letdown. It has its moments, sure, but the generalized impression I get is of rehashed ideas from Side A, with a decline in compelling stories and musicianship. 'Thirteen Invitations' and 'Legend of the Headless Rider' are not bad songs, but a bit overindulgent - and hence cheesy - for their own good; the latter is a riff fest that slyly hides its prodigious length thanks to the nimble storytelling but somehow feels lacking in something. It's distinct and effective, but not remarkable. In a similar vein, but much worse, 'Return of the Vampire' is as soulless as it comes and the absolute nadir of the album, gaining literally nothing from Lars Ulrich's involvement. It's apparently a bonus track on some of the versions but the one that I listened to had it as the album closer, much to my misfortune. Ideally, I'd have strictly kept it as a bonus track, or not have it at all, thus leaving 'Is That You, Melissa?' as the definitive and only album closer, which concludes Melissa's tragic story on an unexpectedly uplifting and warm note, sealed by Michael Denner's heartening and satisfying guitar solo; it seems very contrasting to the morose endings on the other songs and I'm all for it.

We collectively cite 'Melissa' and 'Don't Break the Oath' as the quintessential Mercyful Fate albums, and while admittedly this isn't on their level in some ways, it runs them really close as being absolutely fun to behold in many others. Sure, it's not Satanic enough, or at all, and sure, 'Return of the Vampire' is a silly song, but one cannot deny the sheer appeal of the excellent songs that dominate the first half of the album. Side A is utterly, truly fantastic. In comparison, Side B feels slightly iffy, though not out-and-out shoddy. In fact, it's actually pretty decent all things considered; it's just that it doesn't reach the lofty highs of the first half. That being said, I think 'In the Shadows' is deserving of a worthy spot in the best heavy metal albums list, albums that are not only very good but also very underrated. It may not be the first Mercyful Fate album that comes to mind, or the first one that you'd listen to (let's be honest here), but that's beside the point: as a demonstration of what the band members can do, as a celebration of the qualities that make them special, and as a great album in its own right, it's a compelling creation.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Felix on May 9, 2019.

Some soft guitar tones introduce the album, but it does not take much time until the King's falsetto sets in. Mercyful Fate open their comeback with their most characteristic feature. Back in 1993, it felt good to have them back even though one thing was clear right from the beginning: their early works would remain hardly beatable monuments. The powerful yet mystic aura of Melissa and Don't Break the Oath was and still is inextricably linked with the enigmatic spirit of the very early years of more or less extreme metal and roughly ten years later there was no chance to reproduce such an atmosphere. Given this situation, Mercyful Fate can be ranked among those formations whose first works are both a curse and a blessing. However, the band that catapulted Denmark on the European metal map did not think too much about this and begun to record a new album. 

In the Shadows refers to the legendary outputs from the eighties without becoming an embarrassing self-quotation. "Is That You, Melissa?" speaks volumes and "Egypt" is not too far away from the "Curse of the Pharaohs", but it is a matter of course that the trailblazers of occult metal have no reason to disown their past. Hence follows that the lyrics are still full of spooky creatures like a headless rider, a hangman, a bell witch and a handful of Egyptian Gods. The latter appear in the strong opener with its memorable chorus. It's the first of many well-designed tracks that integrates successfully catchy sequences in a complex structure. Sometimes I wish that they would have rejected some of the pretty soft parts, but it goes without saying that these sequences have always been an important element of Fate's compositions. It is therefore just my personal remark that I would have even more enjoyed a full-length with a higher degree of harshness. I also miss the very demonic touch of the highlights of Don't Break the Oath, but this is not to say that the compositions are mediocre or even bad.

"The Headless Rider" with a length of nearly eight minutes bundles the strengths of the album and of Fate's art in general, too. The band has put so many ideas into this song - other formations offer less riffs on an entire full-length. Thousands of twists and turns do not hurt the coherence of the composition, the different degrees of heaviness and the different pitches of the King give rise to the impression that one listens to five songs in one. Nevertheless, at the end everything fits together. The following "Is That You, Melissa?" with its chamber music-wise beginning marks the final highlight. Its dominating chorus with the "ohohohohoho" vocal line sends the ultimate showers down my spine. In contrast to the majority of the material, the homage to the debut flows smoothly and can be understood as the pop song of the Danish unit. No doubt, In the Shadows houses many good tracks, only the lines of "The Bell Witch" are going nowhere and "Return of the Vampire...1993" also cannot compete with the rest. But to my big surprise, this is not the guilt of a completely unknown amateur called Lars Ulrich who plays the drums on this track.

To sum up, this comeback scored with both a pretty powerful, clean production and typical songs that did not bring shame to the awe-inspiring name of Mercyful Fate. The second period of the pioneers had begun promisingly and their further works also offered some highlights. Thus, it is a little bit sad that Melissa seemingly sees no reason to return once again. But wait a moment, there is someone knocking at my door. "Is that you, Melissa?"... no, it was just the postman who brought me new invoices. I really miss you, Melissa.

Rating: 7.6 out of 10