Jimmy Kay from Canada’s The Metal Voice spoke to guitarist Andy Larocque (King Diamond) and Pete Blakk (ex King Diamond) guitarist about their debut LEX LEGION album reuniting the King Diamond THEM Conspiracy Line-up.
Larqocque was asked about the musical direction of their debut album and he said, “I would say it’s heavy metal based on the 80s because that’s what we’re kind of born and raised with. Late 70s, early 80s style with a touch of darkness but still I would say is accessible and it’s got a great flow from the very beginning to the end of the songs. It’s not very progressive. I mean, if you compare to what we did back in the old days, this is a little bit more accessible, I would say. And also a lot of melodies which I think is really really important but you know 80ish heavy metal with some really interesting elements you know within the songs of course without being too technical or progressive. “
Lex Legion is a brand-new band comprised of old friends with incredible heavy metal pedigree. Comprising four-fifths of the classic late 1980s King Diamond lineup. Vocalist Nils K. Rue, Pete Blakk, Hal Patino, Andy LaRocque and Mikkey Dee.
Jimmy Kay from Canada’s The Metal Voice spoke to King Diamond’s guitarist Andy La Rocque and Bassist Pontus Egberg in Montreal, Canada at the MTELUS theater on Nov 2, 2024.
The two were asked about the inception of the two new tracks ‘Spider Lily’ and Electro therapy and about an update on the release of the bands new studio album.
When asked about the inception of ‘Spider Lily “That idea came up from King. I don’t know exactly when but he’s been working on it for quite a while. I think the lyrics for it got done just like a few days before the tour started actually. He sent me the basics of the song just a few days, like a week prior to the tour starting, I believe. So we had to learn it real fast, record it because we knew that we’re going to shoot it on video too. So it’s the newest song we have right now that we actually play Live. ‘Spider Lily’ is a mean girl who can also be good, we’ll see if it’s going to change a little bit. It’s a character part of the story that King is working on right now.It’s going to be released as a video single I don’t know when exactly. We also have other songs in the loop too, King has a lot of ideas and I have a lot of songs that’s kind of in the demo stage done or finished.” Andy La Roque
“Like Andy said, for us we only heard the rough demo of this song like a week before we headed over to the States and quickly had to learn it and record it. Now I think it’s been mixed.” Pontus Egberg
When asked when the new King Diamond Studio will be completed and released “We are still working on it and as soon as we get back from tour we’re going to have a little Christmas break and then we’re going to pick it up again. So the plan is to have everything done this spring (2025). It will be released shortly after the European summer Festival tour (2025) and all that that’s the plan we have.” Andy La Roque
When asked about their other new song ‘Electro therapy’ and its inception “It’s been around for a couple of years actually. I think I wrote the intro riff back in 2019. There have been some changes back and forth especially on the verse, trying to find the right key for King to sing on and all that stuff. I think what we have now is probably the final version and it’s going to end up on the album too. King is still working on some fine tuning on the lyrics, you will hear that tonight. It’s like different (lyric) versions every night. Andy La Roque
When asked if there were any plans to remix any of the older albums “I would love to do that but the problem is we don’t even know if (Masters) still exist or not. I would love to do it if we could find the tapes that would be awesome.”
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
THE ROCK ALCHEMIST – Italian Rock Band from Turin with a strong sonic identity that blends modern rock with progressive, hard, alternative, and pop elements!
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s SARCOFAGUS return with a Historic 2010 Concert Video Premiere on YouTube! Click image to watch the video
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 