We Stood Like Kings are an

instrumental rock Instrumental rock is rock music that emphasizes musical instruments and features very little or no singing. Examples of instrumental rock can be found in practically every subgenre of rock, often from musicians who specialize in the style. Instr ...

band formed in 2011 in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. They have released five full-length albums through the German label Kapitän Platte. Their purely instrumental music combines elements of post-rock, neoclassical rock,

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. In ...

with a prominent use of the piano. Their approach consists of mixing their own music with other art forms: silent cinema and classical music.

Live scores

In 2014, the band released their first album BERLIN 1927, conceived as a new score for the

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 ...

German silent documentary Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis by

Walther Ruttmann Walter Ruttmann (28 December 1887 – 15 July 1941) was a German cinematographer and film director, an important German abstract experimental film maker, along with Hans Richter, Viking Eggeling and Oskar Fischinger. He is best known for dire ...

. Amongst others, the band performed the project at Dunk!festival in

Zottegem Zottegem (, Sotteghem and Sottegem in older English and French language sources) is a municipality located in Belgium and more particularly in Flanders, in the province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the town of Zottegem proper and ...

, Belgium, RITCS School of Arts in Brussels, Belgium, Theater Aan Zee in Ostende, Belgium. "The contemplative dips and climactic surges of post-rock enhance the viewing experience.". A year later in 2015, the band released their second album USSR 1926, conceived as a new score for the 1926 Soviet silent documentary

A Sixth Part of the World ''A Sixth Part of the World'' (russian: Шестая часть мира, ), sometimes referred to as ''The Sixth Part of the World'', is a 1926 silent film directed by Dziga Vertov and produced by Kultkino (part of Sovkino). Through the travel ...

Dziga Vertov Dziga Vertov (russian: Дзига Вертов, born David Abelevich Kaufman, russian: Дави́д А́белевич Ка́уфман, and also known as Denis Kaufman; – 12 February 1954) was a Soviet pioneer documentary film and newsre ...

. The album was reviewed by online magazine Echoes And Dust as being "a masterpiece, incredible, consuming, tumultuous, visceral, and inspiring". In 2017, the band released their third album USA 1982, conceived as a new score for the 1982 American movie

Koyaanisqatsi ''Koyaanisqatsi'' (), also known as ''Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance'', is a 1982 American experimental non-narrative film directed and produced by Godfrey Reggio with music composed by Philip Glass and cinematography by Ron Fricke. The f ...

Godfrey Reggio Godfrey Reggio (born March 29, 1940) is an American director of experimental documentary films. Life Reggio was born in New Orleans, Louisiana to an old and distinguished Louisiana family descended from Francesco M. de Reggio, an Italian noblem ...

. This project was premiered at BOZAR, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels and included in the Best Post-Rock Albums of 2017 list on Reddit. The track ''Night Owl'' was included on the Open Language compilation by American record label A Thousand Arms : "The track is an eerie post rock diatribe, haunting piano and faint electronics mingling with punchy drums to create one hell of an atmosphere." In 2022, We Stood Like Kings released a new live soundtrack for the Latvian animation movie Away by Gints Zilbalodis.

Classical music

In 2020, the band put out their fourth album Classical Re:works with new arrangements of classical music from all eras including composers like

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

, Antonio Vivaldi,

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

, Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy. "Classical Re:works has become a real showpiece", wrote the independent musical magazine Vinyl Keks.

Side projects

* La Reine Seule We Stood Like Kings's pianist Judith Hoorens released the piano solo album Visages (2022) under the monniker La Reine Seule. * Chatte Royal Chatte Royal is a math-rock band led by We Stood Like Kings's guitarist Diego Di Vito. They have released two EP's: Septembre (2020) and Petit Pansement (2022).

Discography

Studio albums * ''Away'' (2022) * ''Classical Re:works'' (2020) * ''USA 1982'' (2017) * ''USSR 1926'' (2015) * ''BERLIN 1927'' (2014)

Members

Current

* Judith Hoorens -

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

and synthesizer * Diego Di Vito - guitars * Colin Delloye -

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* Lucas Vanderputten - drums

Former

* Mathieu Waterkeyn - drums (2011-2021) * Philip Bolten - guitars (2015-2021) * Steven Van Isterdael - guitars (2011-2015) * Marijn Cobbaert -

(2011-2013)

References

Belgian rock music groups Year of birth missing (living people) Living people

External links

BandcampOfficial WebsiteYouTube
{{Belgium-band-stub