Denner/Shermann – Satan’s Tomb (Metal Blade)

Genre: Metal

Downing and Tipton, King and Hanneman, Robertson and Gorham – guitar duos have always been a key component of metal’s evolution, and Danish axe slingers Hank Shermann and Michael Denner certainly achieved legendary status as the driving force behind Mercyful Fate.

And now the two former bandmates are back together, unleashing all kinds of hell and peeling off riffs like it was 1983 all over again.

Their new band – featuring former Cage/Death Dealer vocalist Sean Peck, bassist Marc Grabowski and well-travelled sticksman Snowy Shaw – might not have the most inspired of monikers, but that won’t matter to ‘Fate fans who will be in raptures over Satan’s Tomb.

Ok, you can’t expect this EP to match Melissa or Don’t Break The Oath, and Peck – while perfectly suited to the material – is no King Diamond. But when the title track’s melodic intro drops away and Denner and Shermann hit the afterburners, you’re swept along by their adrenaline-soaked celebration of all things metal.

Hopefully a full album will follow soon, as if this is anything to go by, we’re in for a treat.

RUSHONROCK RATED: 7.5/10 Great Danes