I had a cool chat with Andy LaRocque and Nils K Rue from LEX LEGION about the formation of the band, the recording of the new album, advances in recording techniques, the threat of AI, alternative wedding marches, as well as a few other things. Check it out below. Killer album due on June 12th.
Cheers.
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 infused with the jaw-dropping vocals of Nils K. Rue (Pagan’s Mind), Lex Legion’s eponymous debut album is a single-minded, future-facing alchemy of world class hard rock/metal music distinguished by tasteful, lean arrangements, virtuoso musicianship, and unabated melody and harmony.
In 2026, Lex Legion’s members find themselves more musically accomplished than ever, whilst also being more comfortable with themselves and each other than ever before. As well as vocalist Rue, Lex Legion is comprised of former King Diamond guitarist Pete Blakk and bassist Hal Patino, guitarist/producer Andy LaRocque, a King Diamond constant since 1985 who also played on Death’s seminal Individual Thought Patterns, and drummer extraordinaire Mikkey Dee, who was in Motörhead for over two decades and has been in the Scorpions for 10 years. All remained close and have long discussed reuniting, with everyone knowing Rue from prior projects and his five acclaimed albums with Pagan’s Mind. Add to this the weight of hope and expectation from King Diamond fans, and it’s clear that Lex Legion’s time is now.
This is music for fans of heyday Iron Maiden, Queensryche, Accept and, yes, King Diamond (the four Lex Legion instrumentalists appeared together on King Diamond’s Them and Conspiracy albums), but with a freshness and sense of excitement that only debut albums capture. Within the first few seconds of album opener and first single “Sleep Eternally”, Lex Legion unequivocally confirm that fact.
“There’s elements of everything on the album,” said LaRocque. “The right tempo and the right kind of vocals, both starting out like a fist in your face!” Rue’s soaring pipes and ominous harmonies are framed by Dee’s unmistakable powerhouse drumming, a clutch of imaginative leads from both guitarists, and shifts of pace and tempo that will satiate King Diamond fans. Second track and follow-up single “Gypsy Tears” seals the deal; eerie and rapturous, otherworldly and propulsive, evocative and a straight-up headbanger which leaves the listener in no doubt as the thunderous treasures within.
The pride Lex Legion have in the record is fierce and unequivocal.
“This is totally unique. No one is writing this kind of music and there’s a big hole for us to fill,” states Blakk. “The album is a journey and every song is like the beat of a movie. I want listeners to travel back.”
“The song style is different (to King Diamond) but still from the same era,” mulled LaRocque from his studio in Varberg, Sweden. “The riffs are different and the arrangements are a little less progressive and a little more straightforward.”
“Lex Legion is totally written the way we thought in the ‘80s,” says Dee. “We wrote what we wanted, and if you liked it, that was a great bonus. If you didn’t like it, that was fine with us, too!”
Lex Legion will be released by MNRK Music Group in May of 2026, with touring beginning the following year.
As Mikkey Dee says, grinning, “Enjoy it or fuck off!”
