Korol i Shut (russian: Король и Шут, lit=King and Jester) were a

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

horror punk Horror punk is a music genre that mixes punk rock and 1950s-influenced doo-wop and rockabilly sounds with morbid and violent imagery and lyrics which are often influenced by horror films and science fiction B-movies. The genre was pioneered b ...

band from

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

that took inspiration and costumes from tales and fables. In Russia, the band has achieved cult status.

History

The band was formed in 1988 by a group of school friends in Saint Petersburg. The founding members were Mikhail "Gorshok" Gorsheniov (), Aleksandr "Balu" Balunov (), and Aleksandr "Lieutenant" Shchigoliev (). Singer Andrei "Kniaz" Kniazev () joined the band in 1990 and guitarist Yakov Tsvirkunov () joined in 1997. The band's name, which means "The King and the Jester," was adopted in 1992. Previously, the band was called Kontora (). Korol' i Shut's lyrics are written by Kniazev and feature horror stories and folk tales about

pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

troll A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human be ...

s, ghosts and

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

s, as well as

Slavic mythology Slavic mythology or Slavic religion is the Religion, religious beliefs, myths, and ritual practices of the Slavs before Christianisation of the Slavs, Christianisation, which occurred at various stages between the 8th and the 13th century. The So ...

. Many of their songs, despite their intimidating appearance and style, are actually humorous, sarcastic or ironic (

dark humor Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

). The band members wear

Misfits Misfits or The Misfits may refer to: Film and television * ''The Misfits'' (1961 film), a film starring Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, and Montgomery Clift * ''The Misfits'' (2011 film), a Mexican film * ''The Misfits'' (2021 film), an American ...

-inspired horror

make-up Cosmetics are constituted mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either natural sources, or synthetically created ones. Cosmetics have various purposes. Those designed for personal care and skin care can be used to cleanse or protec ...

onstage. The band recorded their music for the first time in 1991 in a semi-professional

studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design, ...

. Their music was broadcast on the radio soon after and they began to tour around Saint Petersburg's clubs. They began rehearsing in the club

TaMtAm The tamtam, sometimes spelled tam-tam, is a type of gong. TamTam, Tam-Tam, tamtam, or tam-tam may also refer to: * ''Tam-Tam'' (album), a 1983 album by Amanda Lear * Tam Tam (''Samurai Shodown''), a character from the fighting game ''Samurai Sh ...

, in which the bands

Chimera Chimera, Chimaera, or Chimaira (Greek for " she-goat") originally referred to: * Chimera (mythology), a fire-breathing monster of Ancient Lycia said to combine parts from multiple animals * Mount Chimaera, a fire-spewing region of Lycia or Cilicia ...

and

Tequilajazzz Tequilajazzz is a Russian alternative rock band led by bassist Evgeny "Ai-yai-yai" Fedorov () based in Saint Petersburg. Band members also included drummer Aleksandr "Dooser" Voronov () on the drums, Konstantin Fedorov (), and guitarist Oleg Ba ...

also started performing. From 1993, Korol' i Shut started touring in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

as well. In 1994, the band 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 band's first official album was 1996's ''Kamnem po golove'' () which was distributed by

Melodiya Melodiya ( rus, links=no, Мелодия, t=Melody) is a Russian (formerly Soviet) record label. It was the state-owned major record company of the Soviet Union. History Melodiya was established in 1964 as the "All-Union Gramophone Record Firm ...

. 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 Mikhail "The Pot" Gorsheniov (Russian: Михаил "Горшок" Горшенёв, full name given at birth – Михаил Юрьевич Горшенёв; 1973–2013) was a lead singer and composer of Russian horror punk/hard rock band Korol ...

, died of heart failure during 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. The surviving members formed a new band named (). However, due to the numerous requests of the fans, the former band members decided to keep the name Korol' i Shut exclusively for the release of the unfinished

rock musical A rock musical is a musical theatre work with rock music. The genre of rock musical may overlap somewhat with album musicals, concept albums and song cycles, as they sometimes tell a story through the rock music, and some album musicals and conce ...

''TODD''.

Former members

* Mikhail "Gorshok" Gorsheniov (Михаил «Горшок» Горшенёв) - vocals, acoustic guitar (1988-2013) * Andrei "Kniaz" Kniazev (Андрей «Князь» Князев) - vocals, lyrics (1989-2011) * Aleksandr "Balu" Balunov (Александр «Балу» Балунов) — bass guitar, guitar (1988-2006) * Dmitrii "Riabchik" Riabchenko (Дмитрий «Рябчик» Рябченко) — bass guitar * Aleksei "Yagoda" Gorsheniov (Алексей «Ягода» Горшенёв) — drums (1993-1995) * Maria "Masha" Nefiodova (Мария «Маша» Нефёдова) — violin (1998-2004) * Dmitrii "Casper" Rishko (Дмитрий Ришко) - violin (2006-2011) * Yakov "Yasha" Tsvirkunov (Яков «Яша» Цвиркунов) - guitars, backing vocal (1995-2013) * Aleksandr "

Poruchik The rank of lieutenant in Eastern Europe ( hr, poručnik, cs, poručík, pl, porucznik, russian: script=latn, poruchik, sr, script=latn, poručnik, sk, poručík) is one used in Slavophone armed forces. Depending on the country, it is either ...

" Shchigoliev (Александр «Поручик» Щиголев) - drums (1988-2013) * Pavel "Pahan" Sazhinov (Павел Сажинов) - keyboards (1998-2013) * Aleksandr "Renegat" Leontiev (Александр «Ренегат» Леонтьев) — guitar (2001-2006; 2011-2013) * Sergei "Zahar" Zaharov (Сергей «Захар» Захаров) - bass guitar (2006-2013)

Discography

References

External links

Official site

Unofficial forum

RussMus.Net: Korol i Shut Lyrics and English translations
{{DEFAULTSORT:Korol i Shut Musical groups from Saint Petersburg Russian punk rock groups Musical groups established in 1988 Horror punk groups Soviet punk rock groups Musical groups disestablished in 2014