s/t
Force of Evil
(Escapi)

Force of Evil are Mercyful Fate without King Diamond, the satanic castrato, who is off doing his own solo stuff. In place of KD, the MF boys have recruited the lead singer of the band Iron Fire. Oddly enough, while KD is an acquired taste, Martin Steen has got a more mainstream voice. In short, while the subject matter of FoE is rather dark, they produce melodic metal with nods to Metallica, Iron Maiden, and of course, the mighty Helloween. This is a solid effort with oodles of rifting and powerful drumming, inotherwords, just what you want. There are no stinkers on here, and some quite interesting stuff, most notably 'Samhain', a very MF type track. While most side-projects are a load of the ole' bollocks, this one has legs. There may even be people who wish that KD does not want to record a new MF for a while. One wonders what is left in the FoM pantry. This CD is good, their next could easily be great.

Ratingg: 4/5