by Otohiko » Thu Mar 16, 2006 12:18 am
Korol' i Shut ("King and Jester")
Yes, a Russian band. I've got a whole bunch of their material, and really didn't think that much of it at first other than being amused by it - but it's just so damn catchy, it's grown on me a lot.
Here's the deal which, in my view, is what makes them a real standout:
-Go with Hardcore as your basic starting point.
-Throw in some Trash Metal and other general elements belonging to that area of music.
-Now over all that, put a consistent medieval/fantasy thematic to songs.
-To which you immediately add great storytelling - each of their songs is really an anecdote, a tale, a character portrait, not just a song.
-To which you also add an unexpected duo of lead vocalists with vastly different personalities who can act out an even greater number of distinct characters in their songs.
-And, finally, you keep in mind that all of that is told through wonderful tongue-in-cheek sarcasm that, rather than being pretentious, laughs at itself and its themes - but in a great, jestful taste. Nowhere else does angst of vampires and necromancers sound right to me!
Hats off to Knyaz' & Gorshok and their crew. I think they hit on a formula of awesomeness that's all their own.