King Woman

Born in San Francisco around the singer-songwriter Kristina Esfandiari, King Woman formed in 2009 first as a solo project before becoming a full-fledged band through its early recordings. Its music sits between doom metal, post-metal and shoegaze, with slow tempos, thick guitars, an often austere tension and vocals that alternate fragility, restraint and intensity. After the singles Degrida / Sick Bed in 2013 and Dove / Fond Affections in 2014, King Woman sharpens a more collective identity with the EP Doubt in 2015, released on The Flenser. The band then continues its journey with Relapse Records with two albums, Created in the Image of Suffering in 2017 and Celestial Blues in 2021, which extend this dense writing where the heaviness of doom, ethereal resonances and an almost liturgical approach to the voice intersect. Around Kristina Esfandiari, King Woman has undergone several lineup changes, notably with Peter Arensdorf and Joey Raygoza, while remaining anchored in scenes on the border of experimental metal, dark rock and abrasive music. King Woman thus maintains a singular trajectory, tied as much to the tradition of heavy music as to more vaporous and introspective textures.