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 November 2. The two were asked about the inception of the two new tracks, "Spider Lily" and "Electro Therapy", and offered an update on the release of the band's new studio album. Watch below.
When asked about the inception of "Spider Lily", Andy La Roque revealed: "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."
Pontus Egberg adds: "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."
When asked when the new King Diamond studio album will be completed and released, La Roque answers, "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."
About their other new song "Electro Therapy" and its inception, La Roque offers, "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."
King Diamond's North American headlining tour will run through December 6 in Dallas, Texas. Support features Overkill and Night Demon. Additional backing vocals for the King Diamond set are provided by special guest, Myrkur.
Secure your tickets at kingdiamondcoven.com.
Remaining tour dates:
October
31 - Roadrunner - Boston, MA *
November
4 - The Masonic Temple - Detroit, MI
6 - The Agora Theatre & Ballroom - Cleveland, OH
7 - The Chicago Theatre - Chicago, IL
8 - The Riverside Theater - Milwaukee, WI
10 - The Fillmore - Minneapolis, MN
11 - Vibrant Music Hall - Waukee, IA
14 - Mission Ballroom - Denver, CO
16 - The Complex - Salt Lake City, UT
18 - Orpheum - Vancouver, BC
20 - Edmonton Convention Center - Edmonton, AB
21 - TCU Place - Saskatoon, SK
22 - Grey Eagle Resort And Casino - Calgary, AB
24 - Keller Auditorium - Portland, OR
25 - Moore Theater - Seattle, WA
27 - Fox Theater - Oakland, CA
29 - YouTube Theater - Los Angeles, CA
30 - The Theater At Virgin Hotels - Las Vegas, NV
December
1 - Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre - San Diego, CA
2 - The Van Buren - Phoenix, AZ
4 - REVEL - Albuquerque, NM
6 - The Factory In Deep Ellum - Dallas, TX
* no Overkill
King Diamond is quite possibly the most recognizable and prolific personality ever in heavy metal. Revered by icons as big as Metallica and Pantera to 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 Motӧrhead'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 to the stage were the highlights of both the Hellfest and Sweden Rock festivals in France and Sweden. Fans at these festivals were treated to the largest and most involved stage production in the band's storied history. Horror concepts from multiple albums were used in the décor; fans can rest assured that this show will only get larger and more impressive at future performances.
King Diamond continued to hit the stage from 2013 to 2018 including performances at Rock Hard Festival (DE), Copenhell (DK), Graspop (BE), Metal Days (SI), Bloodstock Open Air (UK), Loudpark (JP), Wacken Open Air (DE), a 2014 North American tour with Jess and the Ancient Ones, Fun Fun Fun Fest (US), toured as a part of the 2015 Mayhem Festival in the summer (US), a fall 2015 North American tour with Exodus as special guests, Sweden Rock fest (SE), Hellfest (FR),and Psycho Las Vegas (US).
In 2019, after the release of the King Diamond'S first new single in twelve years "Masquerade Of Madness," the band hit the road with a series of live shows in Europe including stops at Summer Breeze festival (DE), Graspop (BE), Hellfest (FR), Rock Fest (ES), and with Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats and Idle Hands as special guests for nineteen dates across North America.
King Diamond's thirty+ year musical career is one of the most storied in history of heavy metal, but the tale is not yet over. The most recent release, 2007′s Grammy nominated album 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 from the mind of King Diamond and the talented group of musicians: guitarists Andy LaRocque and Mike Wead, bassist Pontus Egberg, and drummer Matt Thompson. King is currently in the studio working on the band's next album which will be released in 2025.
King Diamond 2024 touring lineup:
Andy Larocque - guitar
Mike Wead - guitar
Pontus Egberg - bass
Matt Thompson - drums
Myrkur - additional backing vocals, keyboards
