''9'' is the seventh studio album by Danish heavy metal band

Mercyful Fate Mercyful Fate is a Danish heavy metal band from Copenhagen, formed in 1981 by vocalist King Diamond and guitarist Hank Shermann. Influenced by progressive rock and hard rock, and with lyrics dealing with Satan and the occult, Mercyful Fat ...

. ''9'' was recorded during February and March 1999 and was released on 15 June 1999 on

Metal Blade Records Metal Blade Records is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The US office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distrib ...

. This album continues the heavier sound that was introduced in their previous album ''

Dead Again ''Dead Again'' is a 1991 neo-noir romantic thriller film directed by Kenneth Branagh and written by Scott Frank. It stars Branagh and Emma Thompson, with Andy García, Derek Jacobi, Hanna Schygulla, Wayne Knight, and Robin Williams appearing i ...

'', and also marks the continuation of the Satanic- and occult-based lyrical themes which were prevalent during the band's first incarnation and were reintroduced on the Time (1994) album, as the primary lyrical focus. ''9'' was Mercyful Fate's last studio album before their twenty-year hiatus from 1999 to 2019.

Track listing

Personnel

;Mercyful Fate *

King Diamond Kim Bendix Petersen (born 14 June 1956), better known by his stage name King Diamond, is a Danish rock musician. As a vocalist, he is known for his powerful and wide-ranging countertenor singing voice, in particular his far-reaching falsetto s ...

– vocals * Hank Shermann – guitar *

Mike Wead Mike Wead (born Mickael Vikström on 6 April 1967), is a Swedish guitarist who lives in Stockholm. Wead contributed to heavy metal bands such as ''Hexenhaus'', Memento Mori, Abstrakt Algebra, The Haunted, Edge of Sanity, Candlemass, The P ...

– guitar *

Sharlee D'Angelo Sharlee D'Angelo (born Charles Petter Andreason, 27 April 1973) is the Swedish bassist for the melodic death metal band Arch Enemy, as well as the classic rock/AOR band the Night Flight Orchestra and the stoner metal band Spiritual Beggars. D ...

– bass *Bjarne T. Holme – drums ;Additional musicians *Kol Marshall – keyboards ;Production *Kol Marshall – producer, engineer, mixing with Mercyful Fate *Vince Rossi – engineer

References

{{Authority control 1999 albums 9 Metal Blade Records albums