MERCYFUL FATE / Don't Break the Oath (1984)

Don't Break the Oath is Fate doing what they did better than anyone: theatrical metal. King must have been bursting with creativity in those early years. Guitarists Hank Shermann and Michael Denner are so perfectly attuned to each other's playing style that they never put a foot (or a finger) wrong; if they were women their menstrual cycles would've been in perfect sync. They delivered riffs that would be stolen by almost everyone for the next decade.

Songs of Note: Come to the Sabbath; A Dangerous Meeting

4 in for the kill out of 5