ANDY LaROCQUE

Bernama asli Anders Allhage, dilahirkan di Gothenburg, Swedia pada tanggal 29 Nopember 1962. Dia lebih dikenal sebagai gitaris dan penulis lagu untuk band King Diamond.

Andy memulai karirnya di band beraliran hard rock di Swedia, Swedish Beauty, yang kemudian berganti nama menjadi Swedish Erotica. Dia juga mengisi gitar di album band Death ‘Individual Thought Patterns’ dan album band IllWill ‘Evilution’, bersama dengan mantan anggota band Mercyful Fate.

Menurut Metal-Rules.com, album Death ‘Individual Thought Patterns’ berada di peringkat 100 di greatest heavy metal album of all time’ dan berada di peringkat 11 ‘greatest extreme metal album of all time’. Di majalah Guitar Player masuk dalam ‘Metal Guitar albums Top 20’.

Andy menyumbangkan solo gitarnya di lagu ‘Cold’, yang terdapat di album ‘Slaughter Of The Soul’ dari band melodic death metal asal Swedia, At The Gates. Yang mempunyai ide tersebut adalah produser Fredrik Nordstorm, dan menelepon Andy LaRocque. Anders Bjorler, gitaris At The Gates, memberikan kaset rekaman lagu tersebut kepada Andy. Rekaman tersebut diputar dengan salah di rumah Andy, maka Andy harus memeriksa rekaman tersebut. Dua hari setelah menerima kaset tersebut, Andy mengisi solo gitar untuk lagu tersebut dalam waktu setengah jam. Anders Bjolner menyebut solo gitar tersebut dengan kata ‘hebat’ dan pada sebuah wawancara di bulan Nopember 2007, dia mengaku belum bisa memainkan solo tersebut dengan mirip.

Permainan gitar solo Andy dapat didengar di banyak album lainnya, seperti album ‘Chapters from a Vale Forlorn’ punya band Falconer.

Andy LaRocque mempunyai sebuah studio bernama ‘Los Angered Recordings’ di kota Angered, Swedia, sejak tahun 1995, tempat dimana dia merekam album-album milik band-band lain. Pada tahun 2007, Andy memindahkan studionya ke Varberg dan memberinya nama ‘Sonic Train Studios’ dimana dia tetap memproduseri banyak band-band lainnya hingga saat ini.

Andy LaRocque dikenal dengan teknik gitar yang menyerap elemen neoclassical ke dalam permainannya, terutama dengan menggunakan exotic scale seperti harmonic minor, phrygiant dominant, diminished minor scale. Pengetahuan Andy tentang teori gitar yang luas membuatnya sanggup menggabungkan neo-classical scale tersebut dengan teknik lain seperti blues atau melodic minor. Dia mempunyai tone yang berbeda di tiap solo gitarnya, dan sering menggabungkan harmoni terhadap scale dan phrasing. Dia seringkali menggunakan campuran antara arpeggio dengan alternate picked yang digabugkan lagi dengan unsure melodic untuk menciptakan gaya gitarannya. Dia menyebutkan nama 2 orang gitaris sebagai pengaruh utama bagi dirinya yakni Michael Schenker dan Rhandy Rhoads. Dia juga menyukai Steve Vai, Tony Iommi, Roni Le Tekro TNT, dan tertarik dengan permainan Chuck Schuldiner saat merekam album ‘Individual Thought Patterns’ bersama-sama.

Discography

E.F. Band

• One Night Stand (1985)

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)

Death

• Individual Thought Patterns (1993)

IllWill

• Evilution (1999)

X-World/5

• New Universal Order (2008)

Maryann Cotton

• ·         Free Falling Angels (2012)

Musisi Tamu/Bintang Tamu :

• 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]

Sebagai produscer

• 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)

Kompilasi :

• 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)

Sumber : Wikipedia & Metal Archives