KING WOMAN

I was having a slight panic attack while waiting, in a fancy cafe that I’ve previously ignored, for Kristina Esfandiari of King Woman and Miserable. 

The night before had been a little harsh on my sleep. It was also the hottest day of the year so far, so my whole being was a little out of whack. I even got to the cafe early to prepare my thoughts and try to mentally wake up. I had met Kristina at a house show a couple weeks before. Before this, however, I had already decided that I wanted to write about her. 

Full article via The Bay Bridged. 

King Woman 

Sounds Like: A supernatural nervous breakdown 

For Fans of: Mazzy Star, Melvins, Royal Thunder 

Why You Should Pay Attention: Since forming in 2009 as a solo project for ex-Whirr singer Kristina Esfandiari, King Woman have congealed into a raging tour de force of gloom and woe. Since releasing their debut EP, 2014's Doubt, the foursome has gigged with Blonde Redhead and True Widow, and they've become more of a collaborative songwriting unit. Esfandiari says the stark, shimmery, glacial atmosphere of their latest album, their first for metal label Relapse, Created in the Image of Suffering, was a group effort and stronger because of it. "It took a while for us to get into our groove and trust each other and get comfortable with each other but now I feel we're in such a good place now," she says. Now Esfandiari feels comfortable singing personal lyrics about what she describes as a "very graceless" time in her life. The record was a cathartic experience that has elements of doom metal and shoegaze, but which she feels ultimately transcends genre. "To me, it's just spiritual music," she says. "Some people call it ethereal, transcendental or mystical, but for me, when I'm singing, I just go to a place where I don't feel like I'm there anymore. It's my way to connect to myself and to my own sense of spirituality." 

Full article via Rolling Stone.

Created in the Image of Suffering 

Long live the king 
dB rating: 8/10 

Release Date: February 24, 2016 
Label: Relapse 

Full review via Decibel Magazine. 

When in doubt, open big. “Utopia,” the first track on King Woman’s debut album does just that, with Kristina Esfandiari’s somber voice coexisting alongside a huge boulder of a guitar riff. The song is heavy as hell, and has the swing of the best doom anthems. 

Created in the Image of Suffering navigates a path between the crushing ambiance of atmospheric metal and the filigreed mood of shoegazey Goth—this won’t surprise fans of producer Jack Shirley, who helped birth Deafheaven’s Sunbather and Oathbreaker’s Rheia. 

Full article via Bandcamp Daily.

On King Woman’s debut LP, band mastermind Kristina Esfandiari finds her own path to redemption in doom—and it’s enough to inspire new believers outside of metal circles. 

Full article via Pitchfork.

Created In The Image Of Suffering is out on February 24th via Relapse Records. 

There’s no two ways about it, San Francisco’s King Woman are one of the most hypnotically powerful and thunderous outfits we have heard in years. Musically, molasses thick sludgy riffs vie with pummeling drums for centre stage. Ever note is carefully considered and slowed to craft an atmosphere of exquisite tension. Despite the wondering of the swirling soundscapes, this is simply just the foundation that plays second fiddle to Kristina Esfandiari’s spectral and ethereal vocals. Contrasting wonderfully with the furious distortion, her vocals also contribute indelibly to the foreboding tone of the music on offer. 

Full article via Overblown.

Back in January, King Woman‘s Kristina Esfandiari did something that’s exceedingly rare this day and age: She helped breathe new life into a Nirvana song. Performing with Louisiana sludge metal brutes Thou, Esfandiari lent her uniquely mournful vocal talents to a pretty devastating take on “Something in the Way,” a song that ordinarily would be the sleepiest of the Nevermind bunch. It’s a rare accomplishment in itself, but then again, Esfandiari is a unique voice in heavy music. She has a unique voice, literally, her lower register a powerful complement to the shoegaze and dream-pop-influenced style of doom that King Woman plays. But on a more figurative level she represents a counterpoint to the stereotypical escapist image of a metal singer. It’s emotionally intense; it’s honest. 

Full article via Trebel.

“Everyone’s will be different, because we think different, lives are different — so the color will be different.” 

Aura portraits, anyway. 

Full article via CLRVYNT.

One of the oldest creation stories in history holds that God created mankind in his image. But what of woman? Is she not worthy of being conjured from a vision, a likeness, the stuff of greatness? King Woman, the mighty Bay Area-bred solo-project-turned-full-band helmed by vocalist and guitarist Kristina Esfandiari, grapples with this glaring omission on its forthcoming album, Created In The Image Of Suffering. On the album, out later this month, King Woman commands a particular terrain where doom-laced rock, shoegaze and sludgy metal converge in compositions that aren't so much songs as they are reckonings, laments, eulogies and exaltations. 

Full article via NPR.

Incorrigible doom provocateurs and earnest grunge obsessives Thou played three (!) shows in Brooklyn this past weekend, including two sold-out nights at Saint Vitus Bar and a snowy matinee at the Silent Barn alongside Noisey faves Vile Creature and Cowardice. The Baton Rouge-ish (in actuality, members are scattered between LA, BR, and New Orleans) outfit busted out old favorites, a multitude of covers, and, perhaps most excitingly, a handful of intriguing brand-new songs. A good number of them (including one with some very unexpected clean vocals) appear in the following live footage of their second Saint Vitus show, captured by Pit Full of Shit's Frank Huang. 

Full article via Noisey.