KING DIAMOND Says Split With Longtime Guitarist ANDY LA ROCQUE Had Been 'Coming For A While'

In a new interview with Frank Godla of Metal Injection, KING DIAMOND's namesake frontman spoke about the recent split with the band's longtime guitarist Andy La Rocque and addition of Greek guitar virtuoso Gus G (FIREWIND, ex-Ozzy Osbourne). Regarding the circumstances that led to Andy's exit from KING DIAMOND, the singer said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We are certainly still friends. That's never gonna change. I think it's a gradual thing that's just been going different directions for a while. And it got to a point where it's just, like, 'Okay, something has to change. It's not right.' I wish him and his wife all the best possible in the world. The whole thing about the other band that he plays with now [LEX LEGION], the side project and stuff like that, it was never a part of any reasons for anything."

King, who also fronts the long-running influential metal band MERCYFUL FATE, went on to say that the decision to part ways with Andy wasn't made hastily.

"When it was decided was over two days," he explained. "[But] it [had] been coming for a while. And it's not one thing or 'you said this' or 'did this or that.' It's not like that. It really is like moving apart a little bit here, a bit there. And I had a feeling recently that when Andy heard the new touring plans and the new plans overall, that it was not something that was, 'Yay,' but more like, 'Oh my God. Are you kidding me?' I don't think he likes touring that much as we're doing now. I've seen that many times before, where [MERCYFUL FATE guitarist] Michael Denner stopped [playing with the band] because he could not handle touring. There was too much frictions at home whenever he did that. For him, he was missing it too much and all this stuff. I totally understand it. I think others — [former KING DIAMOND bassist] Chris Estes was the same. And [former KING DIAMOND guitarist] Herb Simonsen... Most of those people that are not playing or stopped playing with us along the road was for that reason — family. We tour longer now these days, and we are gonna continue going that way because it's very, very important."

On the topic of how Gus was selected to replace Andy, King said: "I talked to Hank [Shermann, MERCYFUL FATE guitarist] and told him [that I was looking for a new guitarist to replace Andy in KING DIAMOND], and then he said, 'You should check out Gus G'. And I did not know who Gus G was. [Metal Blade Records founder and CEO] Brian Slagel said to me, 'Oh, Gus G, man.' And then I didn't respond to it because I wasn't aware. So he was the second one recommending Gus to me. And then when we talked more about it and this and that, then I started listening and doing all the stuff that I got very interested, of course. He's the first person we talked about for this. We never talked about having an audition or anything like that. We talked about him, and then got in depth about him because it seemed, 'Wow, wait a minute here. Okay.' Then I said to Brian Slagel, 'Can you hook us up? Can you ask him if he would be okay with me calling him?' or something like that."

After Godla noted that "some things are just meant to be", King concurred. "It really feels like it. You're right. That's really what it felt like the whole time," King said. "And that's also why it doesn't feel [like it's] this horrible thing, because it's something that is good for both me and Andy. And we played for 40 years. Think about it. It's, like, crazy that you think about it has been that long."

As for how Gus will approach playing the KING DIAMOND material, King said: "First of all, he's gonna copy Andy as close as he can [on the classic songs] and fully honor that. That's what people want to hear and see. So, that's one thing. But this is not like a hired hand. He's in the band — 100%. And that's why also he's playing, recording, touring with us for as long as it works out — hopefully till we don't play any longer. That's what I hope. 'Cause he's so down to earth, so nice person, so skilled. He has the right attitude for getting the style correct with what I want. So we are already talking a lot. But I want him to play his own style, but it must also fit with what we're doing. So [you're] not gonna be hearing Gus, what he does with FIREWIND. It'll be some of that, I'm sure, but there'll be a new side of him that maybe he has not even explored himself. He might get into a new addition in his vast technique, because of how I put things together, what I might ask him to try and do."

King also addressed concerns from some KING DIAMOND fans about how such a drastic lineup change will affect the band's sound on the upcoming studio album. The singer said: "Some people might think that, 'Oh, Andy's leaving now, It's the songwriter [exiting the band]... What are they gonna do now?' It's, like, wait a minute. You're forgetting something. I have written by far the most in KING DIAMOND. Just the music I have written on an average 70%. And then all the lyrics. So, that's an average through all the albums we've done together. And it's kind of a natural thing, I guess, that it would be the guitarist or a keyboardist that wrote the music. But not with us. That was never the case."

He continued: "I have enough for the first one and a half albums on KING DIAMOND, on that story that'll be [told] over [the next] three [KING DIAMOND] albums, of just my stuff, that is now musically ready to be recorded, fully written. Lyrics, I have the whole story, all three complete. Also up in my head I have what it will look on stage like. When we finish the last note on the third album on stage live, I know what it'll look like there at this point already. So I'm very far with everything. But with regard to Gus, I also said to [KING DIAMOND's other guitarist] Mike Wead and to Pontus [Egberg, KING DIAMOND bassist], 'If you have something you feel like should be listened to, we can listen to it.' I will always be writing the majority. That's how it is. That style cannot be changed. But I said the same to Gus. I said, 'Well, I know you write music. I've listened to all your FIREWIND albums.' I want him to write some of his own, but he wants to do something that was very nice for me to hear, that he wants to have me tell him the story as the first part to get into that mood, find out what kind of horror it is that's going on, and then he wants to send some stuff to me. I can listen, I can pick and choose, if there's anything that feels interesting to me, and then we'll take it from there, see how we do that. If I suggest something for him to go try, he could go try that. Maybe write something together, this and this and that. But there's open doors for this stuff."

According to King, both KING DIAMOND and MERCYFUL FATE are hard at work on new albums right now, with plans to release them about a year apart.

"I said to everybody, 'I'm not gonna do one more show without us knowing that we have new albums out,'" King explained. "Both bands are in the studio, 100%, right now. And MERCYFUL FATE is the one that will get the tiny priority, because the deadline for MERCYFUL FATE is December [of 2026]. We have plenty of time. I mean, somebody has to break an arm or a leg or something like for that not to hold up. But we are far with the album. We have worked for quite a while on these things. But that album will be finished by that time so that Metal Blade have all the time they need to get everything ready, including vinyl and everything. And then it's supposed to be released, I would imagine, a good guess is May [of 2027]— somewhere around that, because MERCY start touring that brand-new album in Europe in the summer coming '27. And then after that, going straight over and doing a U.S. tour in the autumn, I would imagine, from mid-October to mid-December, if everything goes well. The KING DIAMOND album will be finished to be released when we leave for Europe to play with MERCYFUL FATE. That album will just sit there and wait. We come back — it will be December '27, probably, when MERCY is finished [touring]. Then we might do a little South American fling before KING DIAMOND start touring in the spring [of 2028]. That'll be late spring [of 2028] for the new [KING DIAMOND] album. I can imagine the new [KING DIAMOND] album could be out around April [of 2028]. Mid-April [of 2028] is when I see us start rehearsing in Europe for the tour, for a brand new full album. And so the tour will start probably five weeks before the festival season starts in June [of 2028]. And then we'll go into the festival season by a month or something. So we'll be playing a bit over two months at that time in Europe. And then we need to get it back to the U.S. so we can get ready for a U.S. tour for that brand new album. And we have new stage productions for both bands. KING DIAMOND is getting a really extra step up for when we go out with that. It's gonna get even more, I would say, theatrical."

One of heavy metal's most celebrated and in-demand guitarists, Gus G — born Konstantinos Karamitroudis in Thessaloniki, Greece — has built one of the most impressive resumes in the genre. As founder and driving force behind FIREWIND for over two decades and ten studio albums, and as Ozzy Osbourne's lead guitarist from 2009 to 2017 — contributing to the Grammy-nominated album "Scream" (2010) — Gus G has proven himself to be one of the most versatile and technically gifted players in metal. A celebrated solo artist with six albums to his name, he has also appeared as a guest on records by Bruce Dickinson, ARCH ENEMY, Doro Pesch, IN THIS MOMENT and many more. He has graced the covers of Guitar World, Total Guitar, Metal Hammer and Young Guitar, and earned accolades including Metal Hammer's Golden God Award for "Best Shredder". His addition to KING DIAMOND represents a pairing of two of heavy metal's most iconic forces.

KING DIAMOND is quite possibly the most recognizable and prolific personality ever in heavy metal. Revered by icons as big as METALLICA and PANTERA and inspiring newer upstarts globally, King Diamond, the man and the band, have left an indelible mark on the history, and now again, the future of heavy metal.

In August of 2008, King Diamond joined METALLICA on stage at Ozzfest in Dallas to perform the MERCYFUL FATE medley made famous from the "Garage, Inc." album. Additionally, King Diamond was featured, alongside MOTÖRHEAD's Lemmy Kilmister, as a playable character in "Guitar Hero: Metallica" in 2009.

By 2012, KING DIAMOND was prepared to return to the stage for a select number of shows. The band's triumphant return were the highlights of both the Hellfest and Sweden Rock festivals in France and Sweden. Fans were treated to the largest and most involved stage production in the band's storied history. KING DIAMOND continued to hit the stage from 2013 to 2018 including performances at Rock Hard Festival (DE),Copenhell (DK),Graspop Metal Meeting (BE),Bloodstock Open Air (UK),Loud Park (JP),Wacken Open Air (DE) and Psycho Las Vegas (US),among many others.

In 2019, after the release of KING DIAMOND's first new single in twelve years, "Masquerade Of Madness", the band hit the road with a series of live shows across Europe and North America.

In 2024, KING DIAMOND completed a massively successful North American headlining tour, during which they premiered new material live for the first time in years — including the brand-new track "Electro Therapy" — before an ecstatic fanbase. On December 17, 2024, the band released "Spider Lilly", their first new single in five years and the first single and video taken from their forthcoming new horror trilogy, of which part one is titled "Saint Lucifer's Hospital 1920". Mixed and mastered by Arthur Rizk and directed by David Brodsky of My Good Eye Visuals — with footage filmed at the notoriously haunted Pennhurst Asylum outside of Philadelphia — the single features a special guest appearance by Danish vocalist Myrkur. Written entirely by King Diamond, "Spider Lilly" was met with an enthusiastic global response, reaffirming the band's place at the forefront of heavy metal and whetting fans' appetites for the full trilogy to come.

KING DIAMOND's 40-plus-year musical career is one of the most storied in the history of heavy metal, but the tale is not yet over. The most recent album, 2007's Grammy-nominated "Give Me Your Soul…Please", stands as one of the most critically acclaimed albums in an already iconic discography. Future albums will feature entirely new horror stories, concepts, haunting orchestrations, and the band's signature brand of heavy metal. Many more albums, tours, and ventures lay ahead.

KING DIAMOND 2026 is:

King Diamond - vocals
Gus G - guitars
Mike Wead - guitars
Pontus Egberg - bass
Matt Thompson - drums

Gus G. photo (below) by Akis Douzlatzis