MERCYFUL FATE Announces Spring/Summer 2022 European + U.S. Tour Dates

Influential Danish metallers MERCYFUL FATE will embark on a European tour this spring and summer. The trek will kick off on June 2 in Hannover, Germany and will include shows in Poland, Sweden, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, France, Spain, Finland, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovenia, Norway, Czech Republic and the United Kingdom. A one-off appearance at the Psycho Las Vegas festival in Las Vegas, Nevada will follow in late August.

Confirmed dates:

Jun. 02 - Expo Plaza - Hannover, Germany (with VOLBEAT)
Jun. 04 - Mystic Festival - Gdańsk, Poland
Jun. 10 - Sweden Rock - Sölvesborg, Sweden
Jun. 14 - Wuhlheide - Berlin, Germany (with VOLBEAT)
Jun. 16 - Graspop Metal Meeting - Dessel, Belgium
Jun. 18 - Copenhell - Copenhagen, Denmark
Jun. 24 - Rock The Castle - Verona, Italy
Jun. 26 - Hellfest Open Air Festival - Clisson, France
Jul. 01 - Rock Fest Barcelona - Barcelona, Spain
Jul. 02 - Tuska Open Air - Helsinki, Finland
Jul. 22 - Hills Of Rock - Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Jul. 24 - Artmania Festival - Sibiu, Romania
Jul. 28 - Fezen Festival - Székesfehérvár, Hungary
Jul. 29 - Metaldays - Tolmin, Slovenia
Aug. 04 - Wacken Open Air - Wacken, Germany
Aug. 06 - Beyond The Gates - Bergen, Norway
Aug. 11 - Brutal Assault - Jaromer, Czech Republic
Aug. 13 - Bloodstock Open Air - Derbyshire, UK
Aug. 21 - Psycho Las Vegas - Las Vegas, NV

In 2019, it was announced ARMORED SAINT bassist Joey Vera would be replacing original MERCYFUL FATE bassist Timi Hansen for the latter band's summer 2020 European festival appearances due to Hansen's cancer diagnosis. Hansen passed away in November 2019 and MERCYFUL FATE's 2020 summer festival appearances were initially rescheduled for 2021 before being moved back to 2022.

Back in October 2020, Vera told Dead Rhetoric about how he landed the MERCYFUL FATE gig: "I've been friends with [MERCYFUL FATE vocalist] King [Diamond] for some time. ARMORED SAINT did a tour with King back in 1988-89; we have been friends and labelmates forever. And so, he came to see me when I was on tour with FATES WARNING supporting QUEENSRŸCHE in Dallas where he lives. He came to see the show. [Metal Blade Records owner] Brian Slagel was in town. King pulled me aside backstage and told me the story of Timi going through chemotherapy and had a summer tour booked and wasn't sure he was going to be well enough to do it. If he wasn't, would I consider stepping in and helping out. Of course, I was flabbergasted and honored, yeah. I didn't have anything else going on — it was supposed to happen this summer. To honor Timi and help them out, thank you for asking me. In the back of my mind, I was thinking Timi would pull through, he would get enough energy to make it. I was sadly mistaken and it was devastating."

Two years ago, MERCYFUL FATE guitarist Hank Shermann confirmed that he was working on the first new music from the band in more than two decades. At the time, he said about the writing process: "First of all, King [Diamond, vocals] is living in Texas, in the States. I'm living here north of Copenhagen, in Denmark. The drummer [Bjarne T. Holm] is also here, so I work with him in the rehearsal room shaping the new songs. The other guitar player [Mike Wead] is in Stockholm, Sweden, and our new bass player [Joey Vera] is in Los Angeles. So everything is [being done via] Dropbox or e-mails."

He continued: "I think there's about six or seven [tracks that are] about to be ready. The first song has been sent to King after it's been mixed and all the guys played on the song. So I sent the files to Joey in Los Angeles; he did the bass. And then I sent the same files to Mike in Stockholm; he did his solos. And now King has the first song, evaluating for the vocals to be added. And then we will rearrange certain parts to be twice as long and stuff like that."

MERCYFUL FATE's last studio album, "9", was released in 1999.

MERCYFUL FATE will be remembered for its unquestionable mark on the history of metal with its innovative sound, complex arrangements, memorable melody, and its influence on bands that later took the genre to new heights.

In 1998, METALLICA paid tribute to MERCYFUL FATE by recording a medley of classic MERCYFUL FATE songs on the album "Garage Inc." Titled "Mercyful Fate", the medley included parts from "Satan's Fall", "Curse of the Pharaohs", "A Corpse Without Soul", "Into the Coven" and "Evil".

Lars Ulrich of METALLICA (a fellow Dane) played drums on a new version of MERCYFUL FATE's "Return of the Vampire" on the "In the Shadows" album, which came out in 1993.