“I was not going to be part of Mercyful Fate’s reunion shows”: Interview with Michael Denner 

It breaks my heart that Mercyful Fate shut Michael out of the reunion. He should be part of it, and I have to say my appetite for the reunion is very much diluted due to his absence. Particularly due to circumstances of it. Michael and Hank are one of metal's most legendary guitar teams, and for it to be ended in this way is just awful.

It's not Mercyful Fate without Denner, that's for sure.

Michael Denner is a great guitarist. It was too wrong idea not to have him as a second guitarist for Mercy come back! Good luck, friend!

That's sad!!! Mercyful fate without Denner, is not the same thing!

Denner is one hell of an awesome guitarist.

Michael Denner - class act, no bs, nice guy. Played my fave main solo on MF's "A Dangerous Meeting" and closing solo on KD "The Black Horsemen", absolute melodic masterpieces ! Hope you're doin' great Mikey, wish you all the happiness and success in any upcoming projects you're workin' on. Rock on brother !!!

Denner/Shermann is one of my favourite metal duo of all times, it's a shame that Mercyful Fate decided to continue without Michael, especially considering that they play only the songs from the EP and first two albums

i like that Mercyful Fate are doing new stuff, but at the same time without Denner. Feels more like a King Diamond and friends tribute to Mercyful Fate

I met Mr Denner at Sweden Rock Festival many years ago. Totaly friendly. I was starstruck as he has been a big inspiration for me as a guitarist. For me he is as important for MF as Andy is for King Diamond, and King without Andy is not King.

Another one comment. I'm really upset with the fact that such old friends went out like this. In this short life we should keep the old ones and not to betray them. Never ever.

Gotta feel bad for Michael. It also sucks for the fans, too. It really is a shame everything went down like it did. I was pretty excited when I saw MF was getting back together, but I was pretty disappointed when I saw Michael wasn't going a part of it. Glad to hear he is still making music.

whoever wrote the questions for this interview is a genius..seriously said everything i would have wanted to ask ....great job and greetings from Egypt

Love Michael Denner!! He such a underrated guitarist 🎸 and such a humble man. I feel for him for not being a part of the Mercyful Fate reunion. Even with Mike Wead replacing him he could have played on a few songs in my opinion. All the best Michael. You are one of my influences that inspired me as a musician.

Imagine Denner and KK playing on a metal album.

Denner is my favourite guitarist of mercyful fate / king diamond era.....flying v, melodic......absolute legend.....Hail from Spain !!!

Michael Denner should be playing in the mercyful fate concert his solos and leads are so soulful and helped make mercyful fate and king diamond 🤘🏽

The only reason I got hooked to MF music was because of MD guitar parts

They could even have the three guitarists onstage and cover the whole era of Mercyful Fate. It's a shame they left Denner out of it as his involvement is mandatory for it to be a reunion. Imagine Mikkey Dee getting back with him and Al Patino in the same band. I'd be interested by that!

One of my all time favorite guitarists. I would love to see him back with Mikkey

I've been a fan since 88. Sorry to see this development from the legends of my past. Hope they can mend fences with the time that remains. Best wishes from America's midwest.

I love Michael Denner. He was trying to be as diplomatic as possible and I really like how he ended it with wishing them good luck cuz it's better for him. It's a shame how he was treated and backstabbed by his own friends. He has a great personality and I'm sure his new Ventures will be successful. I really liked it when he played with Volbeat at Wacken. I thought it was an unusual combination but his playing style shown through. In this interview especially near the end his personality kind of reminded me of Abbath's and I was thinking what a cool combination that would make if he was in a band with Abbath.

Man.. I just found out about this situation. I'm going to see Mercyful Fate Nov. 5th 2022 and Denner is who I was looking forward to seeing the most. This sucks!! Wasn't Hank the guy who broke up the band after "Don't Break the Oath" because he wanted to play pop roc? And Michael Denner stuck with King Diamond his first two solo albums. I don't get it. All I know is this blow's

Heartbreaking Statements... even sadder, they sound extremely authentic and credible.

What a great interview. Thanks for your honesty Michael. Good luck.

At 10:25 this reminded me that on the back of the 2020 Melissa reissue, they removed Michael's name entirely from the 'personal thanks'. If you put the new release side by side with the old vinyl, you'll see where his name is removed, and they put Kim Ruzz's name. It still says all the same names, including the Denner family on the thanks, but Michael's name is absent. That's a minor detail, but a really dirty move on their part.

The interplay with Hank and Michael was so awesome.

Michael Denner and Hank Shermann are both my guitar legends. I wished that Hank and Michael were both in the reunion

It’s hard too accept in life but as we age you lose a lot of friendships. People do in fact change with age & in the end your on your own!

I would have asked if he's still in touch with the original Mercyful Fate drummer Kim Ruzz. Another legendary and very underrated skinsman . Other than that awesome interview!!!

Love you, brother!!! It's very cool to hear your story of your ups and downs. I consider you one of the pioneers and thank you so much for all the incredible music!!

One of my favorite guitar players of all time

Great interview, Michael is a class act and a great guitarist. Hank is great as well, but a lot of people forget that it was Hank who started playing a pink guitar and wearing all white clothes towards the end of the original MF run. He was obviously not into heavy music any more. While Michael never turned his back.

He was one of the first in Mercyful Fate. How great is that.

Love you Michael!!! 🤘😈🤘

My favourite guitar player of the Mercyful Fate/King Diamond group and a very lovely person. Great interview.

Michael Denner and Chaoszine, thank you very much for the interview! He has a wonderful imagination for music.

Shame that the guy who played in Melissa and Don't break the oath (Mercyful fate basically) isn't in this reunion.. what the hell king ? Denner is as much Mercyful fate as King Diamond is King Diamond

please do some more Denner records with Sean Peck!!!!! 1

I can't believe Bjarne Holm never said anything. He was playing in Denner's Inferno when Mercyful Fate was in talks of reuniting.

This makes me not wanna see Fate now !! What the fuck , think of us King , not just yourself !! Yes Micheal , I’m a hardcore fan and agree with you !!

Loved his Michael Schenker style he has . To me he was the better of the two

These are some great questions (and answers, of course!), I really wanted to get them answered for a long time and now I get that, thanks a lot!

You'd figure King's experience with Gene Simmons over his makeup "infringement " ordeal, that he wouldn't take the same approach over an album cover.

One thing is to choose to not have him with on the tour, but to erase him from old footage is just childish and makes me loose respekt for King. Sad

I never knew it was like this, sucks for Mike Denner and fans (even though I love "9", it's an amazing album for me), it should be him playing considering they're playing all the classics. I agree about "Into the unknown", great album too. I think there was a lot of great stuff in the second coming of MF but a lot of people seem to dismiss it. Hope to hear more stuff from Michael in the near future!

As a die Hard Mercyful Fate fan, it's really sad to hear what happened... I had the opportunity to meet Denner at his shop in Denmark , about 10 years ago on a trip to Europe, and I was so amazed how simple and honest he was! The 15 min chat I had with Denner, just made me understand why I've lived and died for Metal since I was still a child with 13 years old and now I'm 44 years old... Big egos are for Catholic Priests, Politicians and Actors, not for Metallers, Rockers , Witches, Wizards and Demons ! Keep strong Denner and thanks for being honest and solid like Lucifer himself! I still have hopes that KD and Hank will gather with you again in the greatest Sabbath of All !!!!

"The Bell Witch" is a great one of the reunion Mercyful Fate tunes!

It's sad hearing these things. I went to the show in America and it was a fantastic production, and I am catching one more show. Mike Wead is a great guitar player and has suited Mercyful Fate well for many years. It's true it doesn't feel quite right to be a reunion without Mike Denner and of course hearing his side of things confirms it. It seems like some childish petty beefs got in the way of what could've been a truly epic reunion. However for me as a millennial with no chance of ever seeing the original line-up, this is the best it can be for me and for what it is, it's a great show. Mercyful Fate and King Diamond are two of my all-time favorite metal bands, and while the situation is sad, petty squabbles between band members won't change that for me. And as a dedicated metal fan, I still don't want to miss these shows. It's just sad King couldn't have put the merch issues behind them and Hank couldn't have been firm about it needing to be Denner on stage with him. If they both would've done that, surely they'd have been able to make a true reunion happen.

Aww poor Michael he so deserves better. but if I remember correctly King invited him to jam out but he refused unless King apologized to him for causing him trouble with the Denner/Shermann album Masters of Evil cover art and merchandise. Michael shouldve just swallowed his pride and jammed with King pretty sure he would be in Mercyful Fate right now if he did.

Thanks for sharing this interview with Michael Denner!

I hear you everyday Mr Denner. They can’t take that away ….

That was excellent! The TV in the background was very annoying though.

“ TIME “ - is my favorite release by them. I know how to air guitar it. Know the words and King’s expression of them. That was only after a few listens to it.

MFF Don't Break the Oath and Melissa = Michael Denner 👊🤟⚡️🤜🎸🤛⚡️🤟👊

I love MF, and to me Denner is apart of the OG MF. Not sure what to feel about MF without Denner.

Mike definitely amazing guitarist

It’s not a reunion , King has stated that they are just taking off from where they left off from 2019 (covid etc ) King can’t just kick Mike Wead out cause all of a sudden Micheal wants to come back when he feels like it and call it a reunion. Of course Sherman and Denner would be great to watch for sure ! But that’s the facts

I am a huge fan of Andy and Pete's playing on Them and Conspiracy, but listen to Fatal Portrait and Abigail while looking at the lyric sheet. They show you who is playing which solo. You will see that the best constructed, most melodic solos are all Denner. It was shitty for King to leave Denner out of the reunion...And look what it did to M. Fates legacy now.

So it has to be either Hank or Michael...Interesting! I hope they'll be again okay with each other.

Mike try to get in the band Ghost and make them a true metal band. You can be masked and make the band great again like the first couple albums. They have real amateurs on tour. You could help Tobias right some really good tunes. Just a suggestion. Would love it.

Denner is my favorite guitarist He’s not the flashiest or most technical but his harmony and melodic stylings are absolutely amazing Wead is great but I’d prefer Denner in MF. My favorite album is Shadows with Denner in the lineup. There was something magical with the Denner/Sherman/Hansen trifecta

Turned me off big time when I heard that Michael Denner was ready, able, and willing to participate and plus he and Shermann JUST did something together. It just seemed wrong to not try and work that out.

It's Great!!!!!!!!!!

"... so they can sell more records. I make more money." 🤑 Lol! Cool guy. I hope they patch things up some day

Mr. Denner, if you ever happen to see this comment, since i discovered MF well over 20 years ago, YOU were what made me a fan. you're style and solos have been what's driven me to play all these years. years ago, i got a copyright strike for covering your melissa intro solo, and from this interview, i assume that was kims fault. thank you for showing so many of us how to play with feel

I was hoping they would ask him about Force of Evil

I saw MF without Denner last night. It was fun, but felt more like King Diamond featuring Hank Shermann than Mercyful Fate.

You can tell he is really upset with Hank. That was his boy

King is possessed by Money. SAD!

Why did you act like that, King Diamond? Why didn't you invite Denner? He is part of the core of the band. King acted as his beloved demons are used to doing: no honesty, no love, betrayal, malice, ... Nothing new! Stories of betrayal are ancient and repetitive.

Mike Wead and M.Denner should get a project going on. Could be the sickest!!!

It's a damned shame king and Hank didn't want him to be put of the mercy guy fate revival...

I wish I knew the real reason behind the deep beef between Michael and Hank... this is harsh to read /hear about. .. What a shame .. is the feud that severe that they couldn't put that shit to the side for a few weeks to complete the rare reunion shows ? $$$ can bring anyone together . The most hated band members have manage to bury the hatchet and play together live for the right $ DOKKEN is prime example.

Got it, Michael Denner is like Jimmy Hendrix and the others guitarist kind of took it from him ,as Ritchie Blackmore put it , possibly.,The Best!🤘

No michael Denner no Mercyful Fate. Period. They should be ashamed.

I bet they didn't call Denner to the band because he already left the band on tour other times, and to avoid the risk of that happening again, they removed the guy... I would do the same if I were King and Hank, if the guy has messed up before, the chance of messing up again is high.

Can someone tell me what Hank did to Mike? I really don't know. Why did they leave him out of the reunion?

That Brats album is one of the greatest Scandinavian recordings of all-time. I've always described it as if Machine Gun Ettiquite era Damned was a New Wave Of British Heavy Metal band. That album is SO hot. Waaaay more listenable than Mercyful Fate. I could never take Mercy seriously with the ridiculous falsetto vocals.

Dennis inferno, Merciful Fate? Is ithere some kind of speech-to-text in the graphics?

The pix of him on Malissa was as evil as Mercyful Fate that attracted me to the music.

And whats the reason from his departure from King Diamond band?

It isn't Mercyful fate without Mr. Dinner.

that sucks Michael got cut out of M.F.

It sucks the way it turned out but it is what it is. And Mike Wead is amazing in his own right.

Michael should replace Wead in King Diamond.

I wouldn’t go to a Mercyful Fate show that didn’t consist of King/Denner/Sherman/Hansen. Just about every band out there now is a cover band. Some bands have zero original members let alone more than 1.

how was jamming with my friend sean peck?

Man he pissed off King some how.

Mr.Denner it would a Massive album if you could get Mikkey Dee to play drums for you

Sorry Michael i know it would be heartbreaking to be stabbed in the back by your old friends. Wish it would have been you in the band. King Diamond has an obvious freaking ego problem. Trying to stop your album cover is bullshit. Glad your staying busy. Sorry to hear that your relationships have gone sour and Hank obviously is being pressured/influenced by King to leave you out! Backstabbers stink. Honestly King is a joke. I discovered you guys back in 2012 and have been waiting for a new King diamond or mercyful fate for 11 freaking years. Amazing he cant put an album out in that time frame. Pronise after promise and fails.

This interview just makes me want to boycott Mercyful Fate all together. Had Denner been with the band, perhaps a new album would have been completed by now.

It's a shame 😔

Mike Wead SUCKS at playing Denner's solos.

King, the greek fakes.

We love you and we miss you,and you are right,last 2 cant mix myself with them,King whent commercial, f hom for ditching the big band,in my humble fan of mf fan opinion.

This is why I won't go to a mercyful fate concert . The line up of mercyful fate now is a joke. I'll save my money and go see denners band.

Wtf?! KD is acting like sharon osbourne

Look at what Dani filth did to paul allender just kick m to the curve u got no freinds we come to this world alone n we live alone😢😢

Mikey come out with a fuckn album that will make king look like shit u know how Megadeth made Metalica look like fuck u Metalica I can do it Dave Mustaine got back on track n said fuck u Metalica 😅😅😅 27:59

Mercyful Fate is playing live only songs from their first two albums and their first EP and they decide to call Mike Wead when all the fans of the band know that the sound comes from Denner/Shermann. Worst of all, apparently the decision was made because of the Denner/Shermann album cover that looks similar to Don't Break The Oath. It's hard to say but it's not fair how King treated the whole situation and also how Hank decided to lose a friend for money. I hope that Michael manages to heal his wounds soon and continues to make good music.