Watch: MICHAEL DENNER's Pre-MERCYFUL FATE Band BRATS Reunites After 45 Years At Metal Magic Festival

For the first time in nearly four and a half decades, Brats — the pre-Mercyful Fate punk-metal band featuring guitarist Michael Denner — returned to the stage for a historic reunion performance at the Metal Magic Festival in Fredericia, Denmark on Friday, July 11. The reunion featured Denner alongside original members bassist and vocalist Yenz Cheyenne and drummer Lars Monroe, marking a full-circle moment for a band that helped lay the groundwork for Denmark's heavy metal legacy.

Ahead of the show, Denner's longtime Mercyful Fate bandmate and fellow Brats alum Hank Shermann (who went by Hank De Wank during his Brats years) shared his support on social media:

"After nearly 45 years, Brats returns to the stage tonight at the Metal Magic festival. Playing most songs from the 1980 album with original members Yenz, Lars Monroe and Michael Denner. Brats was my first band formed in spring of 1978. Yenz and Lars joined early 1979, Michael autumn 1979 and King Diamond November 1980. Quite some history… GO GUYS, hit it hard."

Formed in 1978, Brats began as a punk-influenced rock act before evolving into a heavier sound that would eventually morph into the early blueprint for Mercyful Fate, following the arrival of King Diamond in 1980. The lineup that took the stage at Metal Magic on Friday represented the final incarnation of Brats before that transformation.

While Denner and Shermann would go on to become one of the most revered guitar duos in metal history with Mercyful Fate, Brats holds a special place in Danish rock lore as the launchpad for their musical partnership and the early creative spark behind what would become an iconic metal sound.

Cheyenne (aka Jens Arnsted, also known as Yenz Leonhardt) would later form hard rock acts Geisha and Y, the latter featuring King Diamond bassist Hal Patino.

The Metal Magic Festival set focused on material from Brats' 1980 album, a cult release that captured the raw, genre-bending energy of the band before they moved into the darker, more theatrical terrain of Mercyful Fate. For fans of early Scandinavian metal and punk-infused hard rock, the performance was nothing short of a time capsule — equal parts nostalgia and celebration of the genre's rebellious roots.

Denner played a key role in shaping Mercyful Fate's dark, contributing to the band's landmark albums Melissa in 1983 and Don't Break the Oath in 1984. His work with fellow guitarist Hank Shermann became iconic for its blend of neoclassical flair and sinister riffing, helping define the early black metal aesthetic and influencing generations of metal musicians.

After Mercyful Fate's initial split in 1985, Denner continued to collaborate with King Diamond on his self-titled band's debut album, Fatal Portrait in 1986. Throughout the late '80s and '90s, Denner remained active in the Danish metal scene and rejoined Mercyful Fate during their 1990s reunion, contributing to several albums including In the Shadows and Time.