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EXPLAINED: King diamond - The Real Truth

"The very first thought that came into my head was, ‘This band are going to get ripped off’." Corrupt police, crumbling dictatorships and amateur translators: The 80s metal classic that smashed borders and helped launch one of metal's most iconic labels

How a bunch of feral boys from Brazil helped reshape metal for decades to come

Metal Hammer

King Diamond given lifelong honorary award by Danish Arts Foundation

Award will see King Diamond paid up to £22,000 ($26,000) every year to continue creating "art of the highest quality"

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"I could have died three times since 2010": It's been 18 years since the last King Diamond album and he's getting impatient

Danish shrieker King Diamond has returned to the road with "a horror show set to music"

Metal Hammer

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“He does worship the Devil. It’s his religion. The rest of us are really worried about what forces he may unleash, without meaning to do so!”: My weird night sleeping on King Diamond’s floor surrounded by human skulls and a Satanic altar

In 1983, one intrepid journalist flew to Copenhagen to interview Mercyful Fate – and endured a night of occult weirdness and table football

Metal Hammer

“I just want to make sure that it’s the best material I’ve ever released”: King Diamond offers update on new solo album, says another single will “definitely” drop this year

King Diamond offers update on new solo album, says another single will “definitely” drop this year

Metal Hammer

“Listening to Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert… all kinds of crazy-fast players. And you tried to keep up with them”: Andy La Rocque on why he is no longer a 120mph soloist – and what we can expect from the long-awaited King Diamond album

La Rocque has been the King's six-string courtier for 40 years now. Here he tells us how it all began, how his style has evolved, and yes, the new stuff is coming...

Guitar World

Heavy metal, classic rock, prog and beautiful Mediterranean sunshine collide at Spain’s Rock Imperium - one of the most stunning and unique festivals in the world

Scorpions, The Cult, King Diamond, Till Lindemann, In Flames, Blind Guardian and Stryper are just some of the names confirmed for this year’s amazing lineup

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"While I survived the 90s, not all of me did." Alice In Chains icon Jerry Cantrell on riffs, extreme metal and the best rock record to come from Seattle

Ever wondered what extreme metal bands Alice In Chains jammed to? Jerry Cantrell has the answer

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King Diamond's first new song in five years has a video shot at a haunted asylum that inspired Stranger Things

Spider Lilly comes from Saint Lucifer‘s Hospital 1920, the first part of an upcoming horror trilogy

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King Diamond is bringing his Myrkur-assisted live show to Europe and the UK next summer with a stellar backing lineup

Paradise Lost, Angel Witch and Unto Others will support King Diamond at select headline shows in 2025

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“Trying to emulate these different players was a challenge. Chris Poland to Marty Friedman is like night and day. But that’s what excites me”: Glen Drover grew up idolizing Megadeth and King Diamond’s guitar heroes –then he had to step into their shoes

Inspired by Yngwie Malmsteen but weaned on Black Sabbath, the Canadian guitarist discusses the new gear and new skills he’s racking up as his own band Withering Scorn takes flight

Guitar World

Beyond The Gates festival announces headliner King Diamond and 7 others for 2025

The Bergen black/death metal weekender will return from July 30 to August 2

Metal Hammer

“I’ve seen a lot of things. Supernatural things. I’ve seen the place between heaven and hell”: The outrageous life of King Diamond, the occult metal icon Metallica love and Gene Simmons wanted to sue

Hauntings, heart attacks, exorcisms and lawsuits – King Diamond looks back on 40 years as Satan’s Little Helper

Metal Hammer

“He taught me how to play songs by Dream Theater, Iron Maiden and King Diamond… though I remember giving up on some of the John Petrucci solos!” Tor Oddmund Suhrke on guitar lessons with Ihsahn and casting musical illusions with Leprous

Melodies of Atonement finds Leprous taking the complex and making it sound simple – and if that confuses prog purists then so be it, says Suhrke. There is no reversing the evolutionary wheel…

Guitar World

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"I love being a poser!" Five minutes with Fernanda Lira of fast-rising Brazilian death metallers Crypta

Can you be TRVE while rocking a Beyonce tattoo? According to Fernanda Lira, hell yeah

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Black metal enigma Myrkur has joined King Diamond’s live band

Catch Amalie Bruun onstage when The King tours North America at the end of the year

Louder

Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats made a soundtrack for an Italian movie that doesn't exist: Then they got actors in to supply the dialogue

After six years without a new record, Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats return with one inspired by 70s Italian murder-mystery cinema

Metal Hammer

"I thought maybe Mercyful Fate might come knocking, but no." Inside the rebirth of Slayer legend Kerry King

Five years since Slayer hung up their spikes, Kerry King is roaring back with a new band, a new album - and a newfound sense of enthusiasm

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“When Tobias Forge called us his favourite new metal band, I got really emotional”: A conversation with death metal revolutionaries Crypta

Ahead of their upcoming UK tour, the Brazilian four-piece talk about brushing shoulders with stars from Ghost to King Diamond

Metal Hammer

“It was inspiring to see how Metallica worked. I had their posters before I had my first guitar”: how Volbeat’s Michael Poulsen stepped up to metal’s big league

The story of Volbeat’s Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies album

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The 12 best new metal songs you need to hear right now

Kerry King, My Dying Bride and The Ghost Inside are among the best new metal songs this week. Plus, vote for your favourite!

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A brief history of the metal Christmas song – and why there’ll (probably) never be a heavy holiday classic

Superstars from Spinal Tap to King Diamond have all tried to make a heavy metal Christmas classic. Yet, these attempts have never become chart-smashing hits. What gives?

Guitar World

“People think I play super-fast – it’s what you’d expect from a metal guitarist. But I would remind people that I’m very melodic”: King Diamond’s Andy LaRocque on how the Floyd Rose became his calling card – and why Death pushed his abilities to the limit

Inspired by British glam rock, Andy LaRocque’s distinctive guitar approach means he’s in demand for guest solos – but recording for Chuck Schuldiner and co took his playing to the edge

Metal Hammer

The 10 greatest solo albums in heavy metal history

Bruce Dickinson, Rob Halford and Ozzy Osbourne have all proven you don’t need to be in a band to make top-notch heavy metal

Metal Hammer

"Dave was really nervous about talking to these guys": Why Dave Grohl ditched the Foo Fighters to make extreme metal supergroup Probot, featuring members of Venom, Sepultura, Motorhead and more

Tired of playing rock shows with Foo Fighters, Dave Grohl recruited his favourite vocalists for the all-star metal project Probot

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