Jimmy Kay and Former Anthrax singer Neil Turbin from Canada’s The Metal Voice recently spoke to KING DIAMOND guitarist Andy LaRocque. LaRocque gave The Metal Voice his top 6 King Diamond Albums as well as checked in regards to the upcoming King Diamond Album as well as talked his production work with other band at his Studio, Sonic Train Studio
Any news on the upcoming King Diamond studio album? “During Covid 19 we have been working on and writing for King Diamond, I know people have been saying it takes forever but yeah it does. We want to have the best material when we pick out the good songs before we start recording them. Our goal is to go out on the road again when all this Covid stuff is over with but before that we need to have an album out there. We got some pressure yes. King has got the basic lines of the story already in his mind and I have 4-5 songs that are possible for the next album. I know King has got tons of riffs. As soon as he sits down and gets it down on tape it’s going to go fast. “
Did Covid lock down postpone things? “Covid was difficult because we had a few shows booked at 6the time it started, it came like a shock for all of us I believe, we were kind of paralyzed in the beginning and then we tried to make the best out of it and that was just to sit down and write riffs. Yeah we got a little paralyzed with all this happening we just tried to adapt to the new situation and make new plans for the future.”
What would be your vision for the new album? “Melodies of course, super important, without melodies there is no music. I am also envisioning a more organic sound on the album. If you look back to the older albums, when Mikkey (Dee) played, a little up and down in tempos, that makes it dynamic and also organic. So that is one thing I would like to hear on the next album an organic feel. The drummer is a really important thing and I know that Matt Thomson (Drummer) is the right guy to do it.”
For The Metal Voice former Anthrax singer Neil Turbin spoke to King Diamond guitarist Andy LaRocque and Bassist Pontus Egberg on December 3 2020 in California at The Grove of Anaheim. LaRocque spoke about the making of the new single Masquerade of Madness and gave an update on the upcoming album The Institute.
Watch the interview below.
When asked about the latest single Masquerade of Madness
“So far we only have one song from the upcoming album done, we are still working on the new songs for the next album. We really haven’t composed that many songs yet I have about 4-5 in the loop and King has a lot of ideas and he hasn’t had time to put them down on the computer. So one song Masquerade of Madness, we have managed this summer to play live. For this song I came up with the music and then King needed to re-arrange a few things to make it work with his vocals and then of course he wrote the lyrics. A little back and forth between me and King until it worked.”
When asked about an update on the upcoming albums
“2007 was the last album, it’s been a few years but music takes time. While King Diamond will be with MercyFul Fate doing shows in the summer I will be working on the songs, recording, mixing for the album, I will be busy. ”
When asked when The Institute album will be released
“There will be two albums, the first one will be released late 2020, it will be a concept story over two albums. The second part of the story will be released in the future.”
When asked how the Institute compares musically to past King Diamond albums
“Music wise, I have been looking back to the origins of King Diamond music back in the 80’s and that’s what we have been trying to go back and find, the original roots. So I would say the new album is back to the roots. a lot of riffs will have the style of the early album.”
Australian Metallers LORD are continuing to ride the success of their latest album Fallen Idols with the announcement of a 10 part podcast series named Nod to the Old School, hosted by the band’s very own Andy Dowling.
Nod to the Old School is all about the old school mix tape and metal compilation. Andy finds himself chatting with some of the best in the business about their first introductions to heavy music and what were on those early mix tapes.
The 10 episodes, which will be released over November and December, match up with the 10 tracks from Fallen Idols. The array of guests are as varied as the styles covered in LORD’s latest release, further solidifying the love of the metal mix tape.
Andy says, “I’ve been podcasting for the past 5 years with my own show The Andy Social Podcast, so it’s only natural that we now bring the worlds together. We are using the popularity of podcasts to not only share great stories from these amazing people in the metal world but to further promote LORD and our new album Fallen Idols”.
Episode 1 features the legendary Andy LaRocque of King Diamond which is available right now on all podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify and more. The remaining episodes will be periodically released over the coming weeks.
All episodes will be released 7am, Sydney AEDT time (GMT +11 hours).
Release schedule;
1. Andy LaRocque (King Diamond) – Friday November 8th.
2. Jennie Skulander (Devilskin) – Tuesday November 12th
3. Daniel Dekay (Exciter, Diemonds, Banger TV) – Friday November 15th
4. David Ellefson (Megadeth) – Tuesday November 19th
5. Willie Gee (Guitar Tech for Slayer, Anthrax, Megadeth and more) – Friday November 22nd
6. Brittney Slayes (Unleash the Arches) – Tuesday November 26th
7. Johnny Dee (Doro) – Friday November 29th
8. Lord Tim (LORD, Blackened Angel, Serenity Defiled) – Tuesday December 3rd
9. Joel Green (Witchskull, Armoured Angel) – Friday December 6th
10. Paul Murphy (Utopia Records in Sydney) – Tuesday December 10th
Fallen Idols saw the band enjoying one their most successful releases to date with the album debuting at #20 in the Australian Artist ARIA charts and #2 in the Australian Independent Charts. Two singles and video clips have been released to date with United (Welcome Back) and Kill or Be Killed, setting up Fallen Idols to be heavily considered in many ‘best metal album of 2019’ end of year lists.
Jimmy Kay from Canada’s The Metal Voice recently spoke to KING DIAMOND guitarist Andy LaRocque. LaRocque spoke about the new Live DVD CD/ “Songs For The Dead Live”, gave an update on the status of the new KING DIAMOND studio albums and spoke about their upcoming shows.
Watch the interview here:
When asked about an update on the new King Diamond Studio album
“Right now, I’m actually composing some songs for King Diamond for the next album. It’s probably going to be two separate albums, not released with the same package. The next album will be a continuation of the first one, part one then part two.”
When asked about the Theme being about a mental institution in 1920
“Yes that’s correct yeah, to be honest I don’t really know too much about the story with exception to the the very few lines King told me so far. That would be something to talk to King about definitely you know next time you talk to him. I know it’s going to be a complete new story and it’s going to be about life and death and everything in between.”
When asked about the musical direction of the new studio albums
“I would say so far you know from what I’ve been doing I would say it’s getting back more towards the classical style of King Diamond more towards Abigail and the first couple of albums, the fans won’t be disappointed.”
When asked about the release date of the new studio albums
“It’s impossible to say but I know that King has pretty much the full story in his head already and then he has to write down all the specific lyrics and the details. So it’s impossible to say but we’re doing the best we can to finish. So far I have three songs and I’m aiming for five songs and I think King is working on around five songs.”
When asked about the making of the New live album ‘Songs for the Dead Live’ DVD/CD
“It took some time for everything to be finished and we had some technical issues that’s why it took so long. Also there are so many video angles and it takes so long to look through all the video material and shots, then there is the audio mix, it’s insane. Putting everything together just took a very long time it’s two concerts, one from the Fillmore show in Philadelphia USA and also one outdoor show from Europe in Belgium at the Graspop festival. We started recording during the US tour back in 2015, we recorded the Philly show and also the Detroit show to have a backup. We also recorded our own stuff with GoPro cameras throughout to get all the details like a camera in the coffin, a camera on the guitar, a camera behind the drummer, all the details captured. Then combining everything took a very long time.”
When asked Touring plans in 2019
“We’re focusing on trying to get some songs together for the next album and also planning to do some festival shows in Europe this summer with a new set list of course and a new stage show, we’re not doing the Abigail stuff this time around. The show is going to be completely different and hopefully we’ll get to the U.S. too.”
When asked about his memories of recording Abigail back in the 80’s
“December 1986 I think we entered the studio so we kind of knew each other pretty good at that time and we played well together since we just finished touring. So we got into the studio with good songs and it just felt great. At that the time I really think we captured a great atmosphere on the whole album that was just something magic with the songs. I felt very creative and the band was on fire, really on fire.”
KING DIAMOND DVD/Blu-ray, “Songs For The Dead Live”, will be released on January 25 via Metal Blade Records.
Graspop Metal Meeting track listing:
01. Out From The Asylum
02. Welcome Home
03. Sleepless Nights
04. Halloween
05. Eye Of The Witch
06. Melissa
07. Come To The Sabbath
08. Them
09. Funeral
10. Arrival
11. A Mansion In Darkness
12. The Family Ghost
13. The 7th Day Of July 1777
14. Omens
15. The Possession
16. Abigail
17. Black Horsemen
18. Insanity
The Fillmore track listing
01. Out From The Asylum
02. Welcome Home
03. Sleepless Nights
04. Eye Of The Witch
05. Halloween
06. Melissa
07. Come To The Sabbath
08. Them
09. Funeral
10. Arrival
11. A Mansion In Darkness
12. The Family Ghost
13. The 7th Day Of July 1777
14. Omens
15. The Possession
16. Abigail
17. Black Horsemen
18. Insanity
Jimmy Kay from Canada’s The Metal Voice recently spoke to KING DIAMOND‘s guitarist Andy LaRocque. Larocque who gave an update on the progress of the bands new live DVD and writing of the new King Diamond Album.
Watch the interview here:
LaRocque also gave his thoughts of the recordings of such metal classics as Fatal Portrait, Abigail, Them and Conspiracy as well as talked about the departure of former Mercyful Fate members Michael Denner and Tim Hansen from King Diamond band after Abigail. As well as how he first joined the King Diamond band.
When asked about the released date and progress of new Abigail Live tour DVD
“We are going to release this new Live King Diamond DVD next year we are still working on that, there are a lot of files to go through, lots of scenes angles and stuff of the shows that we are going to release so, there is a lot of work to do. I can’t really say too much about it, I’m not the only guy in charge we’ve got the video producer. We also have our live engineer in charge who has been setting everything up to get the real live feel of it. The video producer sent me some files that I have to check out make sure everything is in sync back and forth, we are still working on it . I see the light at the tunnel coming because we are getting close with the first show, which is Philadelphia. The only thing we can do is like work on it until it gets good cause this is our first DVD ever released and we want it to be representable for what we are doing. The footage we are going to use is the last few years lives shows and there is going to be some side footage too I believe but I’m not sure exactly what but mainly from the Abigail performances we did in the last couple of years. I hope its going to be released next spring, if everything goes the way we want it. ”
When asked about the progress of New King Diamond Album
“Well we have some ideas and we are going to start seriously sitting down and start with new riffs and start to write songs as soon as possible, I would say starting around New Years writing songs. That’s the only thing I can say. There will be a new album of course it’s just that since 2012 we have been really busy doing the live shows which has been really important for us. Before 2012 we really didn’t do any festivals at all maybe one or two in our whole career so that was a new thing for us. Planing all the shows we have been doing in the past few years has taken a lot of time of course so we really haven’t had time to sit down and just make a good album plus all the other things we have been doing like remasters and now the DVD. So soon as things get less hectic we are going to start writing the album. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a concept album. The album is probably going to be a good mix of everything, probably classic King Diamond album with a good sound. I will be partly be producing it, me and King and then we will see what’s happening depending on what way we are going to go with . Whenever it’s done its going to be released. We got some great ideas for it that’s all can say right now.”
For Canada’s The Metal Voice, thrashing reporter Neil Turbin (Deathriders, ex-Anthrax) caught up with KING DIAMOND‘s Andy LaRocque in an exclusive interview. Neil Turbin is also joined by Mike Wead (guitarist of King Diamond, Mercyful Fate, Candlemass)
On what it is like to be in the King Diamond band for so many years.
“I have been in the band for about 30 years, it’s crazy, time just flies, it’s been awesome.” Andy LaRocque
If he was ever concerned about King Diamond’s Satanism when first joining the band
“I always was really into the theatrically stuff on stage, like Alice Cooper, Kiss, Black Sabbath, stuff like that. I look at it in a different way I see it more as a theatrical rock horror show than a satanic thing.” Andy LaRocque
On when they will begin work on a new King Diamond Album
“We are going to have a little break after this tour and after that break we are going to start writing music for the next album. We have some riffs but I’m sure once we start getting into the process it’s going to be lots of brainstorming, somewhere around February 2016.” Andy LaRocque
On their favorite guitar solos off the King Diamond Albums
“One that I remember being one of the first solos I recorded on the demo which was actually the solo for Welcome Home. Which I still think is a pretty good solo, we are still playing that song . I still like it”. Andy LaRocque
“In this set list none of my solos are in there. For me it’s the Black Horseman outro solo is really nice. I kind of changed it a bit the way Michael Denner played it on the originally album. That one is pretty good one.” Michael Wead
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 