Rene Krolmark (born 11 July 1958), better known by his stage name, Hank Shermann, is a Danish musician best known for his work with the 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 ...

Career

Shermann started playing guitar in 1977, influenced by the likes of

Ace Frehley Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley (; born April 27, 1951) is an American musician, best known as the original lead guitarist and co-founding member of the hard rock band Kiss. He invented the persona of The Spaceman (a.k.a. Space Ace) and played wit ...

Michael Schenker Michael Schenker (born 10 January 1955) is a German guitarist. He played in the rock band UFO and leads the Michael Schenker Group. He was an early member of the hard rock band Scorpions, a band co-founded by his elder brother Rudolf Schenker ...

Uli Roth Uli Jon Roth (born Ulrich Roth; 18 December 1954) is a German guitarist who became famous for his work with the hard rock band Scorpions and is one of the earliest contributors to the neoclassical metal genre. He is also the founder of Sky Ac ...

, K.K. Downing and Glen Tipton. In 1978 he co-founded and performed with the Danish

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band Brats (under the name Hank de Wank), where he first met future bandmates

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 ...

and later Michael Denner. The band released one album and was dissolved in 1981 after a disagreement with their record label. In 1981 he formed

alongside

, where they deviated from punk music and started to write heavier songs. During this time Shermann composed all the music for 1983's ''Melissa'' and most of 1984's ''

Don't Break the Oath ''Don't Break the Oath'' is the second studio album by Danish heavy metal band Mercyful Fate, released in 1984. The style Mercyful Fate employed on ''Don't Break the Oath'' resembled a mixture of heavy metal with progressive elements, lyrical ...

'', widely considered Mercyful Fate's most seminal albums. Mercyful Fate disbanded in 1985 due to creative differences, as Shermann wanted to create a more commercial approach. Shermann formed and performed in the

arena rock Arena rock (also known as AOR, melodic rock, stadium rock, anthem rock, pomp rock, corporate rock and dad rock; ; ) is a style of rock music that originated in the mid-1970s. As hard rock bands and those playing a softer yet strident kind of po ...

band

Fate Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...

from 1984-1988, while King Diamond formed the eponymous

alongside Mercyful Fate members Michael Denner and Timi Hansen. In 1992 Mercyful Fate reformed with four of the five original members, and after several lineup changes the group released five albums before going on hiatus in 1999. In 2002 Shermann and Denner formed the band Force of Evil and two albums were released. In 2008 Shermann formed the band Demonica with Klaus Hyr, and released a single album before disbanding. In 2012 Shermann toured with Volbeat for 74 shows across North America, Europe and South America when they were supporting Megadeth. In 2014 he teamed up with his old bandmate Michael Denner to form Denner/Shermann, before the two disbanded in 2018. Mercyful Fate reformed once again in 2019 and were planning to tour North America and Europe (however this has been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic), with plans to release their first album in over two decades. Shermann released his first solo single in 2019, and plans to release a full album in 2022.

Equipment

Shermann's first guitar was a black Japanese Les Paul copy he bought for US$100. Shermann often tours with

Gibson Flying V The Gibson Flying V is an electric guitar model introduced by Gibson in 1958. The Flying V offered a radical, "futuristic" body design, much like its siblings: the Explorer, which was released the same year, and the Moderne, which was designed ...

s and Fender

Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously ...

s. A signature Flying V was created for Shermann by 10-32 Guitars. The "HSV" features 27 frets and tremolo bar.

Discography

Brats

* ''1980''

Mercyful Fate

*''

Melissa Melissa is a female given name. The name comes from the Greek word μέλισσα (''mélissa''), "bee", which in turn comes from μέλι (''meli''), "honey". In Hittite, ''melit'' signifies "honey". ''Melissa'' also refers to the plant ''Me ...

'' (1983) *''

'' (1984) *'' In the Shadows'' (1993) *''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' (1994) *'' Into the Unknown'' (1996) *'' Dead Again'' (1998) *'' 9'' (1999)

Fate

*''Fate'' (1985) *'' A Matter of Attitude'' (1986)

Force of Evil

* ''Force of Evil'' (2003) * ''Black Empire'' (2005)

Demonica

* ''Demonstrous'' (2010)

DENNER/SHERMANN

* ''Satan's Tomb'' (EP) (2015) * ''Masters of Evil'' (2016)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shermann, Hank 1958 births Living people