Andy LaRocque

Andy LaRocque
Background information
Birth name	Anders Allhage
Also known as	Andy LaRocque
Born	29 November 1962 Gothenburg, Sweden
Genres	Heavy metal, death metal, thrash metal, black metal, Neo-Classical metal
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter, producer
Instruments	Guitar, keyboards
Associated acts	King Diamond Death At The Gates

Andy LaRocque (real name Anders Allhage, born 29 November 1962, Gothenburg, Sweden) is best known as a guitarist, songwriter, and occasional synth player for the band King Diamond.

Biography

LaRocque started in the Swedish hard rock band Swedish Beauty that later switched names to Swedish Erotica. He also played on the Death album Individual Thought Patterns and the IllWill album Evilution, along with other former members of Mercyful Fate.

According to Metal-Rules.com, Death's Individual Thought Patterns is the 100th greatest heavy metal album of all time. Also according to Metal-Rules, it is the 11th greatest extreme metal album of all time. It is included in Guitar Player Magazine's Metal Guitar albums Top 20.

LaRocque contributed a guitar solo to the track "Cold", featured on the album Slaughter of the Soul by Swedish melodic death metal group At the Gates. Producer Fredrik Nordström was responsible for the idea, and telephoned LaRocque.^[1] At the Gates' guitarist Anders Björler gave LaRocque an audio cassette recording of the song. The tape played at the wrong speed at LaRocque's house, so LaRocque had to transcribe the recording.^[1] Two days after receiving the cassette, LaRocque laid down a guitar solo for the song within half an hour. Björler described the solo as "great" and in a November 2007 interview admitted he still couldn't play the solo "properly".^[1]

He can be heard on other albums as well, such as Falconer's Chapters from a Vale Forlorn, where he performed lead guitars on the song "Busted to the Floor".

He owns a studio called the "Los Angered Recordings" in Angered, Sweden, since 1995, where he records many albums of other bands. In 2007, Andy moved the studio to Varberg and renamed the studio to "Sonic Train Studios" where he keeps producing bands to this date.

He is well known for his signature guitar style incorporating neoclassical elements into his playing, specially by using exotic scales such as harmonic minor, phrygian dominant, diminished minor scale. His extended theory knowledge makes him able to mix these neo-classical scales with other ones such as blues scale or melodic minor. He has a very distinct guitar tone for his solos, and often incorporates layers of harmonies over his scale runs and phrasing. He frequently uses a mixture of classically flavored arpeggio sequences and alternate picked scale runs intermixed with melody lines to create his signature style. He cites Michael Schenker and Randy Rhoads as major influences. He also likes Steve Vai, Tony Iommi, and was impressed by the playing of Chuck Schuldiner when he recorded "Individual Thought Patterns" with him.

Discography

With E.F. Band

• One Night Stand (1985)

With King Diamond

• Fatal Portrait (1986)
• Abigail (1987)
• Them (1988)
• The Dark Sides (EP, 1988)
• Conspiracy (1989)
• The Eye (1990)
• In Concert 1987: Abigail (live, 1991)
• A Dangerous Meeting (compilation, 1992)
• The Spider's Lullabye (1995)
• The Graveyard (1996)
• Voodoo (1998)
• House of God (2000)
• Abigail II: The Revenge (2002)
• The Puppet Master (2003)
• Deadly Lullabyes: Live (2004)
• Give Me Your Soul...Please (2007)

With Death

• Individual Thought Patterns (1993)

With IllWill

• Evilution (1999)

With X-World/5

• New Universal Order (2008)

As guest musician

• At the Gates – Slaughter of the Soul (1995), guitar solo on "Cold"
• Roadrunner United – (2005), trade off guitar solo on "Constitution Down"
• Evergrey – The Dark Discovery (1998)
• Einherjer – Norwegian Native Art (2000), guitar solo on "Doomfaring"
• Falconer – Chapters from a Vale Forlorn (2002), lead guitar on "Busted to the Floor"
• Falconer – The Sceptre of Deception (2003), lead guitar on "Hear Me Pray"
• Falconer – Grime vs. Grandeur (2005), vocals on bonustrack "Wake Up"
• Yyrkoon – Unhealthy Opera (2006), guitar solo on "Horror from the Sea"
• Melechesh – Sphynx (2004), guitar solo on "Purifier of the Stars"
• Witchery – Witchkrieg (2010), guitar solo on "From Dead to Worse"
• Darzamat – Solfernus' Path (2010), guitar solo on "King of the Burning Anthems"
• Critical Solution – Evidence of Things Unseen, guitar solo on Seek And Destroy
• Critical Solution – Evil Never Dies, Guitar solo on "Killed By Death" and "Seek And Destroy"
• Sorrowseed – Nemesis Engine (2013) – guitar solo on "The Sepulcher Legionnaires"
• Snowy Shaw – Snowy Shaw is Alive! (2011)
• Sylencer – A Lethal Dose of Truth (2012) (Lead Guitar on "Afflicted")^[2]
• Shining – Redefining Darkness (2012), second guitar solo on "For the God Below"
• Sandalinas – Living on the Edge (2005), fill guitar solo on "If it wasn't for you" and second guitar solo on "all along the Everglades
• Sandalinas – Fly to the Sun (2008), guitar solo on "The Healer Talks" and co-writer with Jordi Sandalinas of instrumental track "Back from the light"
• Sandalinas – Power to the People, the Raw E.P (2013), co-writer of "Haunted Visions" jointly with Rick Altzi.
• Hell:on – "The Hunt" (2013, Ferrrum.com) – guitar solo at "Slaughter Smell"^[3]

As producer

Andy LaRocque owns Sonic Train Studios from Varberg, Sweden. Some of the bands and projects which recorded in Sonic Train Studios are:

• Adamas – Evil All Its (2010)
• Attick Demons – Atlantis (2011)
• Critical Solution – "Evidence of Things Unseen" (2011)
• Critical Solution – "Evil Never Dies" (2013)
• Ascension – Far Beyond The Stars (2011)
• Albatross – Dinner Is You (2010)
• Ancient – "Proxima Centauri" (2001)
• Swordmaster – Postmortem Tales (1997)
• Taetre – The Art
• Einherjer – Odin Owns Ye All (1998)
• Midvinter – At the Sight of the Apocalypse Dragon (1998)
• Skymning – Stormchoirs (1998)
• Sacramentum – Thy Black Destiny (1999)
• Sacramentum – The Coming of Chaos (1997)
• Taetre – Out of Emotional Disorder (1999)
• The Awesome Machine – It's Ugly or Nothing (2000) – also slide guitar
• Astroqueen – Into Submission (2001)
• Evergrey – In Search of Truth (2001)
• Falconer – Falconer (2001)
• Falconer – The Sceptre of Deception (2003) – also guitar
• Ironware – Break Out (2003)
• Runemagick – Darkness Death Doom (2003) – drum producer only
• Eidolon – Apostles of Defiance (2004) – also guitar
• Evergrey – The Dark Discovery (2004) – also guitar
• Evergrey – Solitude, Dominance, Tragedy (2004)
• Melechesh – Sphynx (2004) – also Guitar
• Morifade – Domination (2004)
• Soul Reaper – Liferazer (2004)
• Dragonland – The Battle of the Ivory Plains (2005)
• Einherjer – Norwegian Native Art (2005) – also guitar
• Falconer – Grime vs. Grandeur (2005)
• Sandalinas – Living on the Edge (2005)
• Runemagick – Envenom (2005)
• Taetre
• Lord Belial
• Darzamat – Transkarpatia (2005)
• Hyeronymus Bosch – Equivoke (2007)
• XXX – Heaven, Hell or Hollywood? (2008)
• Siebenburgen – Revelation VI (2008)
• Sandalinas (band) – Fly to the Sun (2008)
• Tears of Glory – The Innocent Sin of Existence (2008)
• Total Death – Somatic (2009)
• Tyrantz Empire – Merauderz of The Monolith – The Omega Chapter (2009)
• Nefarium – Ad Discipulum (2010)^[4]
• Shining – Redefining Darkness (2012)^[5]
• Sandalinas (band) – Power to the Pople, The Raw E.P (2013)
• Dreamland (band) – Exit 49 (2009)
• Darzamat (band) – Transkarpatia (2005)
• Trial- Vessel
• Critical Solution - The Death Lament EP 2014
• Critical Solution - Sleepwalker 2015

Compilations

• Metalmeister, Vol. 2 (1997)
• Deathmeister, Vol. 1 (1998)
• Metalmeister, Vol. 3 (1998)
• Metal Blade Records 20th Anniversary (2002)
• Louder Than the Dragon: The Essential of Limb Music (2004)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Andy LaRocque.

• Sonic Train Studios
• Official website