King Diamond guitarist Andy La Rocque has given an update on the band's long-awaited horror trilogy, Saint Lucifer's Hospital 1920.

The first installment remains on track for a potential 2026 release, though La Rocque is cautious about the timeline.

La Rocque spoke with Reckless Rexx Ruger on the Pod Scum podcast and explained how he approaches playing new King Diamond material as a guitarist.

He noted that when writing his own songs, he doesn't care what other people think about the style or whatever, but rather just writes his stuff based in the '80s standard tuning.

La Rocque also broke down the band's songwriting and recording process in detail.

He explained that King Diamond typically records a complete demo with a programmed drum track and some keyboards on and rhythm guitars before sending it to the other members of the band for them to add their own parts.

"When it comes to King's stuff, he's a little more basic with a few of the things," La Rocque said.

"For example, the guitars — he lets me re-record the guitars.

And then I put solo on, and then Pontus [Egberg], the bass player, puts the bass on and all that stuff." La Rocque emphasized the importance of melodies in King Diamond's songs, saying that it's so important to have melodies in the songs and create space for melodies too, for the vocals.

He also noted that the band's process is a little different when writing their own songs versus working with vocalist King Diamond.

"We send that out to the other members in the band so they can start recording," La Rocque explained of the band's procedure.

"Matt [Thompson, King Diamond drummer] has his own recording studio in Dallas, where he lives.

So when he gets the demo from us, he just mutes the drums, puts his drums on, and sends it to me so I can fix the drums and set up a good sound on everything.