My dislike of King Diamond’s voice and – to a lesser extent – poor album-spanning storytelling is fairly well-documented on these pages, but despite that, the music on his albums is right up my alley. So theoretically, an album by a band of four musicians that played with him during his late-eighties heyday featuring a different singer should appeal to me. Theoretically, since King Diamond wrote a majority of his own music as well. Guitarist Andy LaRocque’s departure from his band after forty-one years shines some extra light on Lex Legion’s self-titled debut album, which is chock-full of excellent, dark heavy metal.

It might be unfair to compare Lex Legion to King Diamond, but the history the band members have with the Danish ear-piercer is inextricably linked with the music. Their self-titled is a bit more straightforward, but likely to appeal to the same audience. LaRocque and Pete Blakk play equally dark riffs, but they don’t have to go along with a ridiculous story, though there are a few key changes. What I love is how the riffs accompanying the guitar solos are treated as an integral part of the composition and aren’t necessarily the verse or chorus riffs repeated.

Singing on the album is Nils K. Rue, who has emulated King Diamond to an almost scary degree on covers with Pagan’s Mind and Eidolon. Fortunately, he takes on a different approach here, resulting in what is in my opinion his greatest recorded vocal performance thus far. While he does do a handful of high-pitched screams, he actually spends more time in his mid-range than he typically does, employing an almost gothic timbre occasionally reminiscent of a more powerful and aggressive take on what James Rivera did on Helstar’s ‘Nosferatu’. Genuinely an amazing fit for the music on the album.

Consistency is the name of the game on ‘Lex Legion’. Every song has a number of crunchy, memorable riffs and cool guitar themes. However, there are a few stand-out tracks. The gloomy ‘Sleep Eternally’ is likely the perfect way to kick off the album, while the awesome, vaguely Arabic-sounding main riff of ‘Lost Inside’ leads into a fantastic song, with probably the best vocal melodies on the album. Another outstanding track is the somewhat ominous, quasi-gothic majesty of ‘When the Stars Align’. The dynamic ‘Dreams of Darkness’ is another highlight. Only ‘Gypsy Tears’ feels like it never really takes off.

Tempting as it is to say that ‘Lex Legion’ is the work of seasoned veterans, the album is much more than that. There is more spirit behind it, and the playing exudes power rather than pure expertise. It’s just about everything I personally could have wished for from these musicians with a better singer than the frontman they are generally associated with. Hopefully, the busy schedules of the musicians involved won’t keep this band from writing and recording more great material. One thing I will say is that an album this good would have deserved a better cover.

Recommended tracks: ‘When the Stars Align’, ‘Lost Inside’, ‘Sleep Eternally’