“I never felt that they were copying us”: King Diamond Says Ghost Did Not Copy Mercyful Fate

Ghost
Tobias Forge photo: Tuomas Vitikainen / King Diamond photo: Cecil (Wikimedia Commons)
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Over the course of their roughly 15-year career, Swedish rockers Ghost have presented audiences a stunning array of occult-based music, as well as rock ‘n’ roll stadium bangers. While Ghost have certainly carved a path out for themselves within the music world, some have said that the band is very much like another Mercyful Fate.

That said, Mercyful Fate’s own King Diamond disagrees with this sentiment. In an exclusive conversation with Metal  Hammer, King Diamond spoke to people comparing both Ghost and Mercyful Fate, how he views Ghost, and the differences between the two.

Per King Diamond:

“Some people have compared the two bands, but I never thought that,” the singer told Hammer’s Stephen Hill. “I very much saw them as a Blue Oyster Cult style band. I’m sure they have a little influence from us, and that’s a huge honour to hear, but they have their own style. I never felt that they were copying us. We have all these guitar solos, and they barely use any guitar solos on those first couple of albums.

“They also have a show which is completely different to ours,” he continued. “You see someone saying ‘Oh they got that from King Diamond and Mercyful Fate!’ but I don’t think that is true. It’s not like we don’t have any humour in our shows, but it’s very grotesque and twisted. With them I see it as a lot more tongue-in-cheek. Ours is horror show, they have jokes going back and forth during the show.”

“I’m not so much into the pop side of what they do, but they’ve certainly done some very heavy songs too. They do it very well, they’re amazing songwriters.”

What are your thoughts on what Mercyful Fate’s King Diamond has to say about Ghost?

We recently spoke to Ghost frontman Tobias Forge about the band’s new album Impera, Forge’s songwriting process, and what he loves about cinema.

“Metal has this sort of high horse”: Ghost Frontman Tobias Forge Talks Impera Success, Creative Process, + More

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Words by: Michael Pementel