One of the most surprising acts I caught at Psycho Las Vegas last month (read the first post HERE) was ethereal doom-rock outfit King Woman, led by the hypnotic and breathy vocal dramatics of Kris Esfandiari, who founded King Woman as a solo project after stints with shoegaze bands Whirr and Miserable.
Kris Esfandiari, King Woman
King Woman released a popular cover of “I wanna Be Adored” by The Stone Roses as a single in 2018 which I was vaguely familiar with but that was pretty much all I knew about the band. That was until several of my music nerd friends at the festival strongly urged me to catch their performance (despite death metal legends Carcass performing at the same time on another stage!). So I did. And I wasn’t sorry I did. Not one bit
King Woman released their first successful EP, ‘Doubt‘ in 2015. The EP was inspired by Esfandiari’s experiences of trying to leave her religious upbringing. Born to an Iranian father and a Serbian mother who raised her in a Charismatic Christian church in Sacramento and often held church at home, Esfandiari was exposed to exorcisms, spiritual warfare, and sermons about heaven and hell.
“As a teenager I was pushed into the world of music when I started singing at church,” said Esfandiari in an interview with GATA Magazine. “A few years later people started buying me guitars out of the blue saying I should pursue music. I took it as a sign.”
King Woman signed to Relapse Records and released their debut LP, ‘Created in the Image of Suffering‘, which was labelled by Pitchfork as one of the best rock albums of 2017. King Woman’s second album, ‘Celestial Blues‘, was announced in June 2021.
“King Woman remains a vehicle for emotional expression and ritualism, and ‘Celestial Blues’ certainly succeeds in that regard”, stated Metal Injection Magazine in their album review. “Grit and earthiness grounds this album in its spacious atmospheres and crushingly sludgy riffs. King Woman’s kaleidoscopic take on doomgaze and ritualistic folk has never resonated this profoundly.”
Awash in garish red light, King Woman put on one of the most dynamic sets I witnessed at Psycho. Catch them on tour at a city near you (and give them a listen on Spotify!) – and enjoy the rest of the photographs…
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