Reformed Danish metal legends Mercyful Fate and bassist Joey Vera have mutually decided to part ways. Mercyful Fate leader and frontman King Diamond confirmed the split via social media.

The statement reads:

“Mercyful Fate and Joey Vera have mutually decided to split ways.

“Our friendship and respect for each other will always remain the same, and we all sincerely wish each other the absolute best for the future”, says King Diamond.”

 

Despite the separation, the band expresses much friendship and respect, making the split appear amicable. The decision arose after completing Mercyful Fate’s first North American headlining tour in over two decades back in November 2022.

During the tour, Becky Baldwin, a British musician with previous experience in Fury, Triaxis, and Control The Storm, stepped in on bass for Vera. His absence was due to a scheduling conflict with his longtime band, Armored Saint.

Joey Vera had initially replaced original Mercyful Fate bassist Timi Hansen for the band’s summer 2020 European festival appearances following Hansen’s cancer diagnosis. However, Hansen’s passing in November 2019 led to the rescheduling of Mercyful Fate’s 2020 summer festival performances to 2021 and then 2022.

The North American tour, featuring support from Kreator and Midnight, followed Mercyful Fate’s headlining performance at the 2022 Psycho Las Vegas. The band, currently working on a new album, previewed new material with the song “The Jackal Of Salzburg” in Germany and Psycho Las Vegas in June 2022. The current lineup includes Hank Shermann and Mike Wead on guitars and Bjarne T. Holm on drums.

Looking ahead

Moving into 2024, Mercyful Fate have a few shows already on the schedule. On April 22nd, the band will hit Santiago, Chile for a performance at Movistar Arena before heading out to São Paulo for an appearance at this year’s Summer Breeze Brasil, which runs from April 26 through April 28th.