See Mercyful Fate Play First Show in 23 Years

King Diamond and Co.'s set featured a new song called "The Jackal Of Salzburg"

These days, it's not uncommon for bands to reunite and play their first show in five, 10, or even 15 years, but Mercyful Fate just played their first set in a whopping 23 trips around the sun. The Danish metal legends fronted by King Diamond made their first stage appearance in over two decades last night (June 2nd) in Hannover, Germany, while supporting Volbeat, and going by the footage available online, the band sounded absolutely fucking amazing.

The band's big return was originally announced back in 2019 and slated to happen in 2020, but of course the pandemic pushed back those plans for a few years, and now it's finally happened. Mercyful Fate's set last night consisted of nine songs, including highlights from 1983's Melissa and 1984's Don't Break the Oath, as well as a brand new track titled "The Jackal Of Salzburg," which is slated to appear on their upcoming album that's tentatively scheduled for a 2023 release via Metal Blade.

For now, we have amazing footage of the band sounding astonishingly on-point — especially frontman Diamond, who was belting those sky-high notes just like he did in the 1980s. So sick.

Check out video of their set above and below via YouTube, as well as their setlist courtesy of Setlist.fm.