You Won't Be Sleeping Tonight, Thanks to King Woman's 'Deny'

Looking forward to a blissful night’s sleep? Forget about it, because after hearing King Woman’s “Deny” and watching the track’s new video, you’ll feel too haunted to face your dreams.

The 2010s has really been a phenomenal decade for doom. Pinnacle releases from bands like Yob, Pallbearer and Windhand have brought one of metal’s most inaccessible genres back to the forefront of critical and fan acclaim. King Woman have already set the tone for 2017 with “Deny” from their second studio album, Created in the Image of Suffering.

King Woman’s “Deny” video tackles the subject of humankind’s struggle with religious tyranny. In fact, the band’s new album deals with “catharsis for years of religious and mental torment” as a whole. Kristina Esfandiari’s withered vocal delivery is gorgeous through its anguish, infecting the listener from spiritual realms both above and below.

The video for “Deny” showcases a Christian preacher entranced by his own position. After a few swigs of absinthe, he strips down from his sermon garb and begins cross-dressing. Once his transformation is complete, the preacher becomes overwhelmed by deep-seeded guilt and panics.

“In the video you see this portion of the mind surfacing and coaxing the preacher into his truest form; drawing out the aspects of himself which he loathes because it doesn’t fit in with his beliefs,” Esfandiari tells Consequence of Sound. “In church, I saw others being raised with a rod in their backs, trying to fight their own carnality — buried in shame and guilt. The belief was to deny anything inside of themselves that was considered ugly or wrong, and instead attain a pristine image. With this video we aimed to paint a picture of how tormenting and exhausting it is to wrestle with your true self.”

Check out the video for “Deny” above. King Woman’s Created in the Image of Suffering is due out Feb. 24 via Relapse Records. Click here to pre-order the album and check out King Woman's upcoming tour dates below.

King Woman 2017 Tour Dates:

02/17 – Oakland, Calif. @ Starline Social Club
02/18 – Olympia, Wash. @ Obsidian
02/19 – Portland, Ore. @ Bunk Bar
02/24 – Sacramento, Calif. @ Starlite Lounge
02/26 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ The Echo
03/14 – Brooklyn, N.Y. @ St Vitus
03/15 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ Underground Arts *
03/16 – Washington, D.C. @ DC9 *
03/17 – Asheville, N.C. @ Mothlight *
03/18 – Nashville, Tenn. @ The End *
03/19 – Orlando, Fla. @ Backbooth *
03/20 – Atlanta, Ga. @ The Earl *
03/22 – Dallas, Texas @ Three Links *
03/23 – Houston, Texas @ Walter’s *
03/24 – Austin, Texas @ Sidewinder *
04/08 – Linz, Austria @ Kapu ^
04/09 – Vienna, Austria @ Arena ^
04/10 – Leipzig, Germany @ Felsenkeller ^
04/11 – Berlin, Germany @ Musik & Frieden ^
04/12 – Dresden, Germany @ Beatpol ^
04/14 – Antwerp, Belgium @ 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, France @ La Malterie ^
04/21 – Tilburg, Netherlands @ Roadburn
04/22 – Hattiesburg, Luxembourg @ Out of the Crowd Fest
04/23 – Karlsruhe, Germany @ Dude fest
04/24 – Lyon, France @ Le Periscope ^
04/25 – Nantes, France @ Le Ferraileur ^
04/26 – Paris, France@ L’Espace B ^
04/27 – Brussels, Belgium @ VK ^
04/28 – Groningen, Netherlands @ Vera ^