LEX LEGION: The Stars Align (2026)

By BRIAN GIFFIN

AS ONE of the main musical forces behind King Diamond, guitarist and producer Andy LaRocque has been a pivotal figure in heavy metal music since 1985. The only constant alongside King himself in the pioneering Dutch band, LaRocque has appeared on all the group’s albums and played on or produced a wealth of other recordings, including Death’s 1993 masterpiece Individual Thought Patterns.

While King Diamond hasn’t released a new album now for 19 years, fans of LaRocque and his epic, neo-classical playing should feel assuaged by the imminent release of the debut album from his new band.

Lex Legion features the King Diamond line-up (minus King himself) that recorded the legendary “Them”, with the towering vocals of Pagan’s Mind singer Nils K Rue. In spite of such a pedigree, LaRocque cautions against any direct comparisons with his other band.

“Most people think that it’s going to be some King Diamond clone or copy. That,” he says, “would probably be the easy way out. We want to stay away from that as much as possible. King is King, and this is something very different and new, too, in a way. Even though we have our roots in the eighties and you can hear some influences on the album too, of course. That’s how we write music, and that’s our school. But definitely, we’re trying to do our own thing.”

There’s definitely an old school, classic vibe to Lex Legion. Given the history and pedigree of the players, that should come as no surprise. Nor should it be a shock that it sounds totally natural.

“We played together in the late eighties and early nineties, some of us,” LaRocque points out. “We go back many years now.”

The origins of Lex Legion go back almost 20 years, when LaRocque was mixing an album called Disaster/Peace for his former band mate Pete Blakk.

“We were discussing that maybe we should do something together. Just write a few riffs and have a little fun, and see where it takes us. We had a few sessions in the studio and wrote a few songs but it never really turned out, because we were so busy with everything else. So after a year or so, nothing really happened with that. I got busy with King Diamond and working with bands in the studio and all kinds of things.”

The idea began to take form again 12 years later. During the Covid pandemic, Blakk played some songs he was working on to Mikkey Dee. Liking what he heard, the drummer suggested LaRocque be involved. The ball started rolling from there.

LaRocque takes up the story.

“Mikkey said, ‘This is really good stuff. I want to be a part of this. Let’s call Andy and see if he’s interested in this!’ And Pete was like, ‘No, he’s going to be too busy with Diamond and producing bands. He’s not going to do that.’ Mikkey said, ‘I’ll just give him a call.’ Then Mikkey got back to Pete and said, ‘Andy’s on!’”

Hal Patino also signed on, although LaRocque can’t recall if it was before or after him. Eighty percent of the 1988 line-up of King Diamond were now back together. All they needed was a singer, and Andy LaRocque knew who to call.
Nils K Rue had entered LaRocque’s orbit during his stint with Eidolon, the Canadian speed metal band featuring the Drover brothers, Glenn and Shawn, who would both go on to play in Megadeth.

“He was the singer for that band for a while,” LaRocque says. “I was mixing [the album], I think – this was so long ago I forget the details – but he was down there and wanted to say hi.”

A few years later, Rue recruited LaRocque for a one-off industrial groove metal project called X-World/5 that also included Magnus Rosen from HammerFall and Tin Machine guitarist Reeves Gabrels.

“That was totally different to anything I’ve done before,” he recalls. “After that Nils told me, ‘If you guys ever get back together – you and Mikkey and Hal – I’d be super happy to do that.’ That was back in 2009? So when this came up during the pandemic… we actually had a few singers in mind – no names mentioned! – and then I started to think of Nils. I played a few songs for Mikkey, and he started freaking out when I thought of Nils and said, ‘Let’s call him!’ We called him, and he was very, very happy to be part of the project. Not the project – the band!”

With the membership sorted out, the band began writing during Covid, with Blakk and LaRocque getting together in the studio before sending out ideas to the others.

“Me and Pete met in the studio several times and wrote riffs and songs together. Usually Pete came up with a starting riff, or I would, and then we kind of filled in from there and put everything together. Sometimes I had a whole song in my mind that was pretty much complete, we just changed a few things. Same with Pete. Then we had Mikkey down in the studio, because he’s really good at arranging things. Like, changing things around and taking this part out and putting this part in to make it more interesting. So, when you think you’ve got a good idea, Mikkey comes down and makes it even better!”

Rue took care of the vocals and melodies, and Dee started shopping the recordings almost immediately.

“We started to work slowly on the songs and find a direction. That’s what took some time. Then Mikkey sent off the first couple of songs to his old management, Motörhead management in the US, and also a record company called MNRK. They were freaking out and told us they wanted it. We said it might take a while to finish up, but they said that doesn’t matter. They were 100 percent before we even had all the songs.”

The final part of the puzzle was coming up with a name. They kept coming back to the word “legion”, but as that’s one of the most overused band names in heavy metal, Legion alone wasn’t going to be good enough.

“So we started coming up with stuff like Lost Legion,” says LaRocque, “but that was taken. Then I think it was Mikkey or someone around him that came up with ‘Lex’. And Lex Legion can mean a lot of things – the dark legion, the mystic legion – and I think that’s perfect for this band. Google it, and it can mean a few different things. Which I really like.”

Lex Legion’s self-titled debut is finally released on June 12, following the singles, “Sleep Eternally” and “Gypsy’s Tears”, that prove the excitement for the release is more than just hype.

Even better news is that it’s not a one-off deal. The guitarists are already working on material for a follow-up, which LaRocque promises won’t take six years to come out.

“The chemistry between me and Pete, when we’re in the studio writing stuff, is just like being back in the eighties composing solos and stuff. As Pete said in one interview, we don’t even need to talk. We just do our thing and we know what’s going to happen.”

There are also plans for live shows and even touring, although LaRocque suggests they’ll need to have a few more than nine songs before that can happen. There may even be a chance Lex Legion will get to Australia in the future, something that King Diamond has never done. Andy LaRocque is looking forward to that possibility.

“We definitely will tour on this one. We just need to wait for the right time, and see what’s going to happen with the first album. Then we’ll start working and planning for that. But you’ll definitely see us out. Mikkey’s of course been to Australia many times with Motörhead and Scorpions, too, of course, but I’ve never been to Australia. We tried many times but it’s never happened. So I would love to come over there and meet all our Australian fans.”