Korol i Shut


Korol' i Shut were a Russian horror punk band from Saint Petersburg that took inspiration and costumes from tales and fables. In Russia this band has an iconic status.

History

The band was formed in 1988 by school friends in Saint Petersburg around founder members Mikhail Gorshok Gorshenev, Alexandr Balu Balunov and Alexandr Lieutenant Shchigoliev. Singer Andrei Kniaz Kniazev joined the band in 1990 and guitarist Yakov Tsvirkunov in 1997. The band's name, which means The King and the Jester, was adopted in 1992, its previous name was Bureau.
Korol' i Shut's lyrics are written by Kniazev and feature horror stories and folk tales about pirates, trolls, ghosts and vampires, as well as Slavic mythology. Many of their songs, despite their intimidating appearance and style, are actually humorous, sarcastic or ironic. The band members wear Misfits-inspired horror make-up onstage.
The band recorded for the first time in 1991 in a semi-professional studio. It was programmed on the radio soon after and began to tour around Saint Petersburg's clubs. They began rehearsing in the club :ru:Tamtam|Tamtam in which started performing Chimera and Tequilajazzz. From 1993, it started touring also in Moscow.
In 1994, the band's released a few copies of a tape named Bud' kak doma putnik. In 1997, the songs from this tape were re-recorded and released as band's second official album under the name Korol' i Shut.
The first official album was 1996's Kamnem po golove which was distributed by "Melodiya". Many other albums were released since then. The first music video was released in 1998 for the song Yeli miaso mujiki.
The band's lead singer Mikhail Gorsheniov died of heart failure at the night from 18 to 19 July 2013. After a farewell tour during the fall and winter of 2013, Korol i Shut officially broke up in January 2014. Surviving members have founded a new band named 'Severny Flot'.
However, due to the numerous requests of the fans, the former band members decided to keep the name of the band, 'Korol i Shut' exclusively for the release of the unfinished rock musical "TODD".

Former members