King Woman – “Shame”

Through her band King Woman, Kristina Estfandiari presents a new, necessary icon of female power for the current day. Informed but unfulfilled by a prior legacy of women’s music (folk’s room of one’s own, the greater visibility permitted by alt-rock,  riot grrrl’s clarion rage), Estfandiari magnifies an intimate voice of pain through suffocating blocks of metallic force. “You can’t even look at me/Hide the shame that’s in your eyes,” she sings in “Shame.” Sadly, in 2017, railing against theocratic patriarchy remains a goddamned evergreen topic, yet Estfandiari’s choice of musical weapons speaks to the growing desperation and emerging complexities — we’re talking King Woman, not Queen Woman — in advancing the pursuit of emancipation.

King Woman create their arresting sound out of two reference points. From doom metal the band draws on the crushing dynamics, creeping tempos and sense of dread, but there are no riffs here to speak of, never mind the sausage party of metal’s traditional gestures. From shoegaze they inherit the projection of emotional withdrawal and melodic instinct against disorienting walls of sound. In this moment of epidemic addiction and civil discord, however, the stakes of withdrawal are now much starker, much higher. King Woman’s debut album Created In The Image of Suffering points listeners toward horizons of hurt and anguish that not everybody may be ready for. But ultimately this destination promises healing — or, at the very least, a satisfying sense of vengeance.

Created In The Image Of Suffering is out now on Relapse Records.

KING WOMAN, ON TOUR:
02/24: Sacramento, CA @ Starlite Lounge
02/26: Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo
03/14: Brooklyn, NY @ St Vitus
03/15: Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts
03/16: Washington, DC @ DC9
03/17: Asheville, NC @ Mothlight
03/18: Nashville, TN @ The End
03/19: Orlando, FL @ Backbooth
03/20: Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
03/22: Dallas, TX @ Three Links
03/23: Houston, TX @ Walter’s
03/24: Austin, TX @ Sidewinder
04/08: Linz, AT @ Kapu
04/09: Vienna, AT @ Arena
04/10: Leipzig, DE @ Felsenkeller
04/11: Berlin, DE @ Musik & Frieden
04/12: Dresden, DE @ Beatpol
04/14: Antwerp, BE @ Het Bos
04/15: Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
04/16: Glasgow, UK @ Saint Luke’s
04/17: Manchester, UK @ Gorilla
04/18: London, UK @ Heaven
04/19: Brighton, UK @ The Haunt
04/20: Lille, FR @ La Malterie
04/21: Tilburg, Netherlands @ Roadburn
04/23: Karlsruhe, DE @ Dude fest
04/24: Lyon, FR @ Le Periscope
04/25: Nantes, FR @ Le Ferraileur
04/26: Paris, FR @ L’Espace B
04/27: Brussels, BE @ VK
04/28: Groningen, NL @ Vera