In an effort to better promote the then latest Mercyful Fate recording In The Shadows, Metal Blade Records issued a fine example of what an EP should be with The Bell Witch. This release, now hard to come by, features six songs (on the CD version), two of which are studio tracks from the album, as well as four live recordings from a gig in Los Angeles that features some of the band's most notable tracks. All of this makes The Bell Witch a great piece to own for the Mercyful Fate fan, or just any Metal collector in general.
The two studio tracks on here are easily the best tracks off the album. The title track, "The Bell Witch", is the more captivating of the two tracks, bring more vocal depth through falsettos and traditional clean singing through a very catchy song with lyrics that tell a story. "Is That You, Melissa" is also an impressive track, but is more aimed towards the higher Falsetto's then anything, only have short moments that go to a deeper singing. In the end it works for the song, but those who dislike when the King goes a bit overboard with that vocal style will be a little let down. Then again, that vocal style is what everyone is drawn to, right?
But, what's the point of this EP now since it's easy, as well as cheap, to grab the album those two songs come off of? The latter four live tracks. These tracks are all Mercyful Fate classics, including the band's single "Egypt" and the infamous "Come to the Sabbath". These tracks are professionally recorded, and all go one right after the other without any stops. It seem a bit hard to believe that, given the point of their career these tracks were recorded, that Mercyful Fate only played such a small set, so it's obvious some studio editing with the crowd was done to make the flow between songs works better, which is fine since it's the typical downtime between songs during a regular concert anyhow. This really pushes the concert going experience of the live tracks since bands don't fade in and out like their recordings may do live on stage. It also shows how well the band can work together as a group to pull off a very energetic performance.
This makes a very nice collectors piece for any Mercyful Fate, as well as a very unique gift. While not one of the rarest releases on the face of the Earth, it will still set you back a little money at this point in time, but at least it is worth it. This well crafted EP could very well have been pushed into a full-length Compilation release had the label decided to throw in some b-side material, or even the rest of the concert the live tracks came from. Either way, The Bell Witch from Mercyful Fate is a surprisingly energetic EP release that features some stellar live recordings of fan favorites, and two great songs off a great album.
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