Blackened Hyperborean post-skramz from the Sunshine State. Named for a classic Conan the Barbarian tale, STAR OF KHORALA a are a melting pot of influences. Traces of doom, crust, and screamo mixed to taste. Opening track reminds of a less adolescent Teen Cthulhu two pre-workout shakers deep. Dueling guitars, sword and sandals screamo. Stygian crust. Heavy bass and diabolically calculated drums. A strong foundation for the kingdoms to come. Today, we’re stoked to give you their quick, in your face track by track rundown for their new crushing s/t EP, as well as some other artists and records recommendations worth a solic check!
This is a low fantasy, high octane album for survivors in a time of pestilence.
Recorded and Mixed by Mark Simpson at JollwoodFL. Mastered by Garrin “Mung” Parker of Smiley Puppy Productions / Logo/profile design by Tristan Jennings / Skull design by Nick Guinta // Star of Khorala is: Alina – vocals, Mark – guitar/vocals, Shaniqua – guitar, Nick – bass, Tristan – drums
Tristan Jennings (former Recreant drummer) and Mark Simpson (Senketsu guitarist) met in Tampa, FL roughly four years ago with some music tastes in common. After sharing tons of early Screamo back and forth via email, they finally got together to jam a little. Many of those songs ended up as Senketsu material. However, the timing never quite worked out, and neither were available to play in the same band until late 2019. Tristan brought his buddy Nick to play bass at those early sessions. After bonding over a mutual interest in the legendary Conan the Barbarian, the three of them got to the business of writing some songs where screamo met post-hardcore, post-metal, a little doom and maybe even some sludge. Not much later, they were ready for a vocalist, and Tristan’s wife Alina was looking for an outlet to focus some rage. While she’d never done vocals in a band before, she quickly got the hang of it, and Star of Khorala (named after a classic Conan short story) was born.
“Our first two shows were in January and February of 2020.” – says the band. “Summer was starting to look amazing, with plans to play alongside a few bands swinging through the Tampa Bay area on tour. We even got lucky enough to add Shaniqua and her classic metal/thrash chops on guitar in March. Then COVID happened. Everything stopped. Hard.”
“It took a few months to process, but by Autumn we were back at it, making up for lost time. Recording started in Winter and finished up in Spring of 2021. Our first single, “Yuengling Priest” was released in May, and Emocat Records (indie label from Vancouver, BC that specializes in cassette and digital releases of sad and/or aggressive music) asked about doing a tape release with them. Obviously we jumped on the opportunity (a little background on Emocat here).
Track by track commentary:
Yuengling Priest – Fuck Judas, go with Yuengling. A sludgy jam with nods to old math rock like Jesus Lizard as well as more current blackgaze. Fun Fact: there is a Yuengling Brewery in Tampa.
I Don’t Understand – This one features Alina in her native Belarusian tongue and some tasty mathcore riffs.
Teacup Trauma – Our first song, and definitely our most skramzy.
Bad Attitude – A journey through the misery that is Florida’s brutal summer – it’s enough to give anyone a bad attitude.
You vs Me – Mature post-screamo. Definitely a turning point in the band’s growth.
Kill Бацька – Pronounced “Kill Batska,” – The first song we wrote with Shaniqua. A protest song about Belarusian dictator Alyaksandr “Batska” (“Father”) Lukashenko.
Florida harcore bands worth a check, by STAR OF KHORALA:
Pipe Dreamer, El Coyote, Horsewhip, Meatwound.
Best records of 2021, by STAR OF KHORALA:
- The Lurch by yautja
- We Are Always Alone by portrayal of guilt
- An Unexpected Reality by Gatecreeper
- Acting From Remote Satellites by Hundreds of AU
- Survive by Aerosol Jesus
- Lys by Nordsind
- Fortitude by Gojira
and an honorable mention to 2020’s
