Ask a Dungeons and Dragons player about their most memorable adventure and you’re sure to hear an epic, emotional, and most likely long-winded tale of imagined heroism and real inspiration. For Hamstank, the in-house producer/engineer for local music and arts collective HipStory, one such campaign about a long-slumbering evil served as the jumping-off point for his newest album “Rise of the Giant King,” which he’ll be performing from start to finish at Somerville, MA’s Pink Noise Studios this Saturday, January 13.
Whatever you’re thinking a concept album about a giant king might sound like, think again: there’s no power-metal cheese or prog-rock indulgence to be found here. On RotGK, Hamstank blends electronic beats and synth textures with the work of some of Boston’s best local singers and instrumentalists for an engulfing and cinematic experience. Like any good story, it has its rising and falling action, taking you from gently-fingerpicked acoustic passages to rousing, clap-along chants, eventually calling down a Giant King’s wrath in waves of pummeling guitars.
As cool as the album is, this night is even more special for the who’s who of local rappers, singers, and bands who’ll be playing their own sets as well as guesting in the Giant King’s song cycle. Local synth’n’B duo Radclyffe Hall, party rockers John E. Funk and The Skunks, and a crew of HipStory’s finest including Oompa, Cliff Notez, Forte Pops and VQnC are all scheduled to perform. The Giant King of Hamstank’s D&D game might have slumbered for thousands of years, but there’s no excuse for you to sleep on this lineup!
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rise-of-the-giant-king-release-show-tickets-41062974462
