The only wheel of the Denner/Shermann vehicle that brought the circular gyration device count to an odd number on "Satan's Tomb" was Sean Peck, but that's because he was tasked to fill the shoes of King Diamond-good luck. But "Masters of Evil" allows Peck to venture outside of his safe-vocalist cage (it was unintentional, I swear) and truly show his power as a singer in this setting. His traditional stern voice and high-flying screams sound excellent; there was never any doubt the man is a banshee. Peck, however, comes dangerously close to mirroring the wild falsettos and mannerisms of King Diamond at times. He twists his voice to match the sinful atmosphere of classic Mercyful Fate while sticking to his own perks and talents as a vocalist. What the hell is he doing on "The Wolf Feeds at Night," an Ozzy impression?

"Masters of Evil" changes nothing musically from the template of the EP. The tracks are geared to support Mercyful Fate-esque riffs and ideas that are drenched in the robust riffing style of Judas Priest in a "Painkiller" coat and even Satan's Host at times. The project sounds a hell of a lot more comfortable than "Satan's Tomb," which I assume was used to shake off the creative cobwebs before Denner and Shermann whipped out the big guns. Denner and Shermann cover various flavors of the Mercyful Fate spectrum, launching into faster bits echoing "Don't Break the Oath" and more mid-tempo pieces which sting with the bite of "Time" or "Into the Unknown." Their idiosyncratic solos are clearly the highlight of the record, and ring with the same magnetism that was a paramount feature of the Mercyful Fate sound.