S01E05 - The Dragons of Krull

In this episode of the Krulltimate Podcast, host Professor Krebs welcomes special guests Keith D and John Gleisner, the musical duo behind the two-man band Dragons of Krull. Together, they created a heavy metal concept album that ecocatively recalls the events of the 1983 sci-fi fantasy film 'Krull.' The episode delves into their creative process, inspiration behind song titles, and the deep love for the film that guided their musical composition. The discussion expands to their personal connections with the movie, favorite characters, memorable quotes, and explores the deeper mythology and lore of 'Krull.' Fans also learn about Keith and John's other musical projects, and the possibility of a sequel album to further celebrate this underappreciated cinematic gem.

Transcript

Professor Krebs: 0:05

Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the Krulltimate podcast, where I have a couple of incredibly awesome guests.

Dragons of Krull: 0:12

Yeah. We are Dragons of Krull. We are a two man band who made an album about the movie Krull. It's a heavy metal record that pretty much follows the events of the movie from beginning to end. So Keith wrote all of the the lyrics well, we, we kind of watched the film a couple of times together to, to cherry pick different lyrical content. And then Keith wrote the lyrics and all the guitars, bass, stringed instruments, and I played the drums. So my name is John. Obviously, that's Keith.

Professor Krebs: 0:46

Excellent. And guys, it's an honor and a pleasure to have you here. I, I found your album quite by accident. I'm trying to remember exactly how I came across it, but accident or no, it was a happy one. I'm going to open up immediately with the same question that I get asked when I tell people I have a podcast about Krull. Why?

Dragons of Krull: 1:11

That's a good question. Why did we make a heavy metal album based on the movie Krull.? It hasn't been done before that I'm aware. I don't think anybody else has made a heavy metal album based on the movie Krull. I think there has been some concept albums that were based on films. Here and there. Here and there. So, it was kind of kicking around the idea of doing a heavy metal record based on a movie. And yeah, wanted it to be one that wasn't terribly popular. You know, you don't want to make a heavy metal album based on Star Wars or whatever. Lord of the Rings. Yeah, Lord of the Rings. That's been done. I know for sure. So yeah, Krull a little bit out of left field. Maybe people weren't. It's something nobody was expecting. It was something that people didn't realize that they needed, but uh, they needed. So Keith and I played together in a band some years ago called Arctic Sleep. I was sort of the fill in attempted touring drummer. And we would, when we were driving to practice, we were always kind of like spitballing ideas for, you know, just metal concept records to do. And after we stopped playing together, in that context, I saw a Craigslist ad looking for somebody to play drums on a Krull record and I texted him, I'm like, this is you, isn't it? He's like, yeah. I'm like, well, yeah. You should just texted me. You didn't need to put out the Craigslist ad. So I mean, it really, you know, it was a way for us during the the sort of opening salvos of the pandemic to kind of get something going that we could record at home where we didn't have to be coughing into each other's open mouths or whatever. And, and it also, I mean, just, I, I love him as a musician. So it was, It was kind of a no brainer for me because I tend to, you know, I, I like to be able to, to, to help sort of bolster music and sound really. I'm not much of a songwriter myself, but I feel like I can contribute rhythmically to stuff for really talented people. So anytime I can ride coattails. I just, I climb on. All right.

Professor Krebs: 3:29

So then, so then John, your contribution to the album was obviously rhythmic then. So you, so you're on drums. Were there any other instruments or backup vocals or any other elements that you threw into this album?

Dragons of Krull: 3:40

Nope. No, I, uh, I took my time. I would say I probably dragged my feet a little bit. Really getting some quality drum parts together. So like pretty much by the time I was able to start recording what would become the final tracks, almost everything was in its near final state because Keith is a machine. So it was really just like, Oh, well, yeah, I you know, I've got lyrics for all this stuff. Here's the guitar stuff. Just play it. Here's the, here's the beats per minute, just load it into your software and send me some stuff. I was like, okay. When two weeks later, he's like, you got anything yet? I'm like so yeah, no, I, I, I probably had, I've been a slightly more proactive. I probably could have contributed something along those lines, but no. He's got, he's got it all handled.

Professor Krebs: 4:27

So then that brings me back to Keith then, can you enumerate for the audience what your contribution to the album was?

Dragons of Krull: 4:35

Yeah, yeah. So I, I think it was Pre pandemic, wasn't it right before we, yeah, we actually, we got together at John's house and he has like a big movie projector screen in his living room. It's really cool. So we actually got together and made some coffee and we watched Krull from beginning to end and kind of just took notes, a little bit on, You know, like where there'd be a line or something and be like, Ooh, we should write a song about that or Ooh, that would make a good song title right there. And so we watched Krull. We discussed it as we were watching it, kind of like Mystery Science Theater 3000 style. And yeah, took notes and just kind of gathered a little notebook of ideas. And I just went from there and actually throughout the entire writing process was watching Krull multiple times. So I would you know, when I was coming up with like the guitar riffs and the song ideas for a certain song, I was watching that part of the movie. So like Emerald Seer, that song, for example, you know, that guitar riff, I was coming up with it as I was watching the scenes with the Emerald Seer, conjuring the, the visions out of the, the flames and whatnot. Yeah, a lot of a lot of watching Krull was involved in during the creation of the music and also the lyrics as well.

Professor Krebs: 6:08

Well, absolutely. Because the, the second thing that grabbed my attention about you were the titles of the songs and the lyrics in each track. The first thing that caught my attention was, of course, the name of the band under which this was published. Because the first of all, like the last episode I put out here was a collection of factoids. And the very first factoid I put out there was well, it has to do with your name. Do you want to explain the significance of your name?

Dragons of Krull: 6:40

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. We were kicking around ideas for what to call the project for a while. I think the first idea we had was to call it The Glaive. Wasn't that one of the ideas? Yep. And It was taken. Yeah, there's already a band out there called The Glaive.

Professor Krebs: 6:57

Way to go, Atreyu Ripoff.

Dragons of Krull: 6:59

there might even be multiple bands called The Glaive, you know, as we googled it, but we wanted something that hadn't been taken already. So in doing research we discovered Dragons of Krull, which was, turns out was the initial title for the film. Yeah. We, we actually, we, we found a copy of the script. The original script online because we were going to try to, like, you know, sort of plow through it to see if we could find other lyrical concepts and just lines and stuff to steal from it. Because, I mean, you know, just verbally so much of that has its own kind of cadence and character. Like, it was, it's not, I was, I mean, I was listening to the record again last night because it's been a minute. And, I mean, just like. Things like,"Each to his fate," or,"This was given me to know," like things like that, just have a real flow and cadence to them that, you know, a, I think really only would happen, you know, in the early eighties and sort of like these sort of salad days of of sci fi and everything, but, it really, it made it easier, I think, to construct sort of the narrative and the flow of the record. I mean, I'm speaking for Keith in this case, but you know, when I listened to it, really just sort of a life of its own that doesn't sound like we just came up with it in 2023 or 2020 or whatever, you know. It's it's really just sonically, it just makes it makes more sense to have sort of cribbed a bunch of like, you know, lines and ideas from it as opposed to just be like. I saw a movie one time and it was awesome. It was a nice nod to that, that Easter egg to that only like you know, big fans of the movie would probably recognize. And as we're all aware, there's, there's no dragons in the film. So you can kind of understand why they changed the title, but yeah, I thought it would be cool to borrow something from deep within the, the Krull lore there. Yeah, for sure.

Professor Krebs: 8:54

Yes, it was an exceptional choice. The moment that I saw the name of your band, I, I like shouted out loud. I, I squeed out loud because like, to your point, it's only recognizable by those of us who care enough about the film to look into more of the film, right? And when I saw the name Dragons of Krull, I was like, these guys are real. These guys know exactly what they're doing. They're a hundred now. Now for me, part of, I'll be honest with you. A little bit of the illusion is shattered for me because I'm just like, these guys are diehards. They have loved this film since they were four. And then it's like, oh, well, we watched it. In my living room like one time we're like,"Hey, that's a cool line." But like, but no, I mean, all fairness, though, I mean, you guys knew about the movie So when was the first time that each of you saw the film in its totality?

Dragons of Krull: 9:46

I have a hard time remembering the exact time that let's see I must have been six years old I think when that movie came out, but at the time I was just obsessed with anything that was within that genre. So I was really into like Conan and Beastmaster and Dark Crystal and just anything that was within that early eighties sci fi fantasy genre was just right up my alley and just. Clicked all the buttons for me. So yeah, I, for me, it, I'd never caught Krull in the theater, but it must have been when it was first on TV or something that, that I caught it and I was just at, at the perfect age to to just really be drawn in by that, the whole atmosphere of that movie. So any, anything that had swords and lasers and monsters and all that good stuff, I was into it. Oh yeah, for sure. I when I was a kid grew up in a house that didn't have cable TV. So when I would sleep over at my buddy's place, he had cable and like when he would pass out, I would just watch HBO until like three in the morning. And I remember seeing Krull, you know, I must've been probably nine or ten years old and I was a super huge fantasy sci fi geek, still am. But I mean, like that was all I was doing with my time is just reading fantasy novels. So, you know, just seeing everything play out. I mean, I, I know when I first saw Rell running through the swamp with his spear and everything, it was just mind boggling. To me, just like the sort of inexorability of this giant Cyclops just powering through, about to do some stabbing. But I mean, you know, from the shape shifting to, you know, the lasers and the, the, the Glaive itself. I mean, I, I remember as a kid watching[Colwyn] take, like, try to call the glaive back from the from the, you know, the goo that it was in after he slew the Beast. And just feeling really sad. But he couldn't get it back out, even though like, you know, in retrospect, he doesn't have the Glaive for that long. I mean, they go on the quest to get it. He gets it. He uses it maybe twice, chucks it into the Beast and then he can't get it back. And you're still like heartbroken a little bit. Like it's his buddy. It's his tiny little five pointed buddy. What's he, how's he going to get it? He was trying so hard. It was trying so hard. It was rough, but yeah, I mean, it had, it was formative for me. I know. You know, back in the late 80s, you know, I used to just have sleepovers with my friends. We would just rent a pile of movies. And I know Krull was like on that list, you know, with like Delta Force and some of the other like stuff where somebody with a Mac 10 is spraying a bunch of terrorists or whatever. But yeah, I, I've, I've loved it a long time. Do you remember So there used to be these toys called constructs. They were kind of like Legos, but more like, I guess construction or they looked like little eye beams and stuff. Yeah. They had little six pointed like spheres that you can clip the yeah, I remember I made a glaive out of those around that same time. I was throwing it around the house and knocking pictures over. sure I, I doodled it you know, in like fourth grade instead of doing my homework. You know, just, it was, like I said, it was formative. I mean, I definitely, like, It sort of set the bar at the time for how fantasy science fiction, you know, combination stuff could go, you know? So, yeah, I, just cause we watched it just to, just to make sure we knew what sorts of words and stories we wanted to help tell through the record. It wasn't like we were like, just kitchily deciding on a film that we had no knowledge of. We both loved it as kids. And I think that it helps, you know.

Professor Krebs: 13:34

Well, it absolutely does.

Dragons of Krull: 13:36

We wanted to approach this as seriously as we possibly could, in a way, so we're not trying to make fun of it in any way. We're literally just saying, we know how to write metal records, so why don't we write a metal record that celebrates this stuff? Which, you know, maybe not a lot of people know about, maybe people have weird kind of ideas about or opinions of. And just like, I think that the, it's like the record itself is like a good primer for the film because you don't have to have seen it to listen to the record, but the record makes the film sound like it's going to be the most amazing ride of your life, which I think could be helpful. Yeah. It's it, it was kind of a nostalgia thing as well. You know, just writing a, an album about Krull and let's face it, the, the movie is very metal. It's a very metal movie. It has like the look and the atmosphere and it just, it lends itself really well to having a traditional heavy metal record made about it.

Professor Krebs: 14:39

Yeah, well, when you consider that Torquil is wearing a spiked choker and prisoner's manacles because they're comfortable. Yeah. It's pretty metal. I like it. I like that. Going to the, to the album itself, the track titles are also things that really stoked the, the flames of my fandom as I read through them because you can kind of like see the, the film in its in its totality as you go through these titles, right? You've got"No Time for Grief","Prophecy of Krull","Thieves, Bandits, Fighters, and Brawlers". Every time I say that line, I don't know if this is me or if this is you guys too, but I hear that really weird whip crack right after brawlers every single time in my head."Emerald Seer","Into the Great Swamp","Widow of the Web","Journey by Firemare", and"Each to His Fate". One of the best lines in the film anyway.

Dragons of Krull: 15:27

Oh, yeah.

Professor Krebs: 15:28

Each to His Fate. So here you have eight tracks, and every song is gloriously inspired by the film. It has to do with the film, but it also has to do with, I think, more than just the film. Is there a single track on here that you consider sort of like, the ultimate piece for you personally, as far as this album is concerned.

Dragons of Krull: 15:50

For me, that would be"Widow of the Web", for sure. They don't really touch on, you know, the history of those two characters in that scene a whole lot, but in that song, I wanted to kind of you know, dive into the emotional aspect of the characters and just that, that sense of, of loss and a you know, a long gone relationship and, and you know, how does the widow of the web went to through, you know, the metamorphosis to become this, this different character and everything. And so, yeah, just kinda, I really wanted to get into like, like the emotional feel of the, the relationship between those two characters and make it into like just a, a just a really emotional sounding power ballad, I guess The, the songs, the album's gotta have a power ballad, honestly. Right? Yeah. That would be widow of the web. Yeah. I mean, what else? You can play after Saigon Kick at the at the seventh grade Dance But for me, I, I, my favorite is"Emerald Seer". I think that song just rips on a fundamental level. And as you know, a rock drummer, I feel like that one is probably the coolest thing I've ever played. At least on record, I mean, for sure. It just, there's so much power and it's just so much dynamism in that tune in particular. And then also it's just the concept of it. Is just, is, is so darkly specific to this kind of genre of, of sci fi, you know, like there's some dude in, in the swamp, basically just like, you know, prognosticating on the future and trying to help you figure out how to solve your, your quest, essentially, it's just, it's so cool.

Professor Krebs: 17:42

Absolutely. And obviously metal is your wheelhouse. Were there any other musical genres that you considered for this project?

Dragons of Krull: 17:53

It could only be heavy metal. And yes, specifically wanted to tap into like that kind of early to mid eighties style of heavy metal. Cause the, there was a lot of albums in the metal genre of that time that also tied into the whole swords and sorcery thing as well when you look at a lot of the album covers and the artwork and the lyrical subject matter. So yeah, listening to things like you know, Ronnie James Dio and even, even some Judas Priest and Iron Maiden and things like that. So, that time period of heavy metal and that style of just traditional metal with the, you know, the occasional galloping riff and everything like that just, Seem to seem to be the appropriate sub genre to get into. I think maybe like a grind core record about Krull maybe wouldn't have worked so well in that regard. It would have been less intelligible. Yeah. I think we, we discussed it at the time really wanting to to sort of have a, have it be a love letter to early eighties power metal because, because of the way that, you know, those songs are kind of sweeping and majestic sounding, but also deal with this, like, you know, like rescuing maidens and, you know, sci fi type elements. I think we, we never really considered like making a country album about it. I think that would have been a little weird. It always had to be metal. And I don't think it's just because, you know Keith knows what he's doing around a metal guitar.

Professor Krebs: 19:27

Not just because

Dragons of Krull: 19:29

It helps.

Professor Krebs: 19:31

it helps immensely. So let's talk about the film then for a moment. One of the things that I said before we started recording was I didn't know how much I loved this film until I started talking to people about it. I always knew that I liked it. I always knew that I really enjoyed it. I saw it in theaters when I was a little kid. And I had very much the same experience that that John did where it's very formative and it's part of like my, my imagination play. And, you know, it's those kinds of things. But then it wasn't until I was an adult having conversations with other adults about this film that I realized just how literally fantastic this film is and that it was sort of underexplored and underappreciated in its day for sure. Let's, let's have a little fun with it first, which is to say are there any lines or quotes in the film that you just resonate with, love, or sometimes will just shoot out offhand in, in plain conversation, maybe to the complete ignorance of the person you're talking to?

Dragons of Krull: 20:26

I, eh... Each to his fate. I know that might make a good tattoo. I'm sure somebody's got it. But that one in particular is something that I've tried to work into everyday conversation you know, on the way to the grocery store or whatever. Each to his fate. It's a, it's such an epic thing to say. And I know that quote in particular was like before we even watched the movie to you know, refresh ourselves for writing the album, I, I knew that had to be a song title for sure. Yeah. I mean, I, I wish I could, I could get away with saying,"Each to his fate," more in my everyday life. We gotta start saying that. Man, you know, I just feel like it, it takes a conversation someplace to just start off with like, you know, No time now for grief. Like, okay, alright. You know, I've tried to start meetings at work with, you know,"This it was given me to know," but no one's no one's super stoked about it. And I, I hate to have to spend five minutes like doing a plot synopsis. I mean, next time

Professor Krebs: 21:35

I, I want you

Dragons of Krull: 21:36

call at work, I'm going to, I'm going to sign off for that. Good call you guys. Yeah. Each to his face. End meeting. That's

Professor Krebs: 21:49

I personally am not above slinging a quote or a line or a song lyric very casually, even if the other person doesn't recognize it. It's almost like a joke just for me kind of thing. And as a parent, plenty of opportunities to use that. I like when we have like a big trip planned and we're going to leave early in the morning. And then the kids are like, wait, dad, what time are we leaving? And if I'm, if I'm an appropriate distance, I will go"At sunrise..." and I will just,

Dragons of Krull: 22:17

That's awesome.

Professor Krebs: 22:18

Is there a particular character in the film that you find incredibly interesting or that resonates with you as a person? Like they're, you know, secretly they're your spirit animal or, or is there, is there a single character in the film that you would be interested in enough to explore more?

Dragons of Krull: 22:37

I've always been a huge fan of Rell. I mean, not just because, you know, he's such a badass, but because, you know, like the sacrifice that he makes, you know, getting smashed between the rocks as he's trying to hold them open. And just really like the, like I said, the power and sort of inexorability of him just running through the swamp, and coming to the rescue when the Slayers attack, like that when we had talked about maybe doing this, you know, as a, as a live show, which would be kind of difficult. I had always, you know, like thrown around the idea of like getting a, making a Cyclops mask and just playing as a Cyclops behind the drums because it just, you know, I, while I really I enjoyed, you know, Colwyn, you know, as just like this sort of prototypical dashing handsome hero. I never saw myself in him. Yeah. I really thought more like, as I've gotten older especially, I'm definitely like way more inclined to just be a dude in the mountains hiding in a cave that somebody needs to come get something from. And maybe I'll lift something for them or stab something with a spear if I, if I need to. But just really the reclusive, like, quiet giant is super rad for me. Yeah, I was always obsessed with the Cyclops as well. I think Rell is an aura of mystery about him. There's, you know, from early on in the movie, you don't really know much about him. You see him lurking in the shadows, and you're not sure if he might be a good guy or a bad guy. You know, then his, his spear takes out that slayer and you know, he's the real deal. Yeah. Yeah. I was always bummed, that Rell got crushed by a, a door at the end cause I was, I was hoping, I was hoping he'd make it through the whole movie. He was one of those characters like, like like Hudson in Aliens where I just, I I was really bummed when they didn't make it to the end of the movie, you know, I think I, I, I'd be down with like a Rell prequel, maybe him farming sharpening his spear for like half an hour. Sure. Perfect.

Professor Krebs: 24:52

It, it would be nice to see where he got all those skins from, you know,

Dragons of Krull: 24:56

For sure. Oh, true. The pelts.

Professor Krebs: 24:58

Let's jump on that piece of lore for just a second, because I, I like to, I like to ask the what-do-you-think, the what-ifs, and the whys, you know. There's a point where the first time that we really talk about Rell Ynyr tells us the story of the Cyclops. Do you clearly recall how that whole sort of like legend and backstory goes?

Dragons of Krull: 25:20

Not particularly Lay it on it. us.

Professor Krebs: 25:23

One of the things that really got me into talking about Kroll was this very piece of story bit right here that we're discussing, because it was one of those things where I realized I had just taken for granted what the movie was giving to me via exposition, but I'd never stopped to ask, like, what more that could mean, or like, what does that imply? You know, I, I just never gave it any deep thought. I just accepted it. As, as fact, right? So, Ynyr explains a couple of things. First thing he says is the Cyclops are, first of all, they come from another planet entirely, right? So the Cyclops is an alien to Krull, which all, all by itself brings up a host of questions, not the least of which is, how did he get here? You know like, it's one of those things that ever since I was a kid, I just never questioned. But then when I started asking questions as an adult, I was like, Oh my gosh, he's an alien. How did he even get here in the first place? He explains that they're from a planet far from Krull, and that they had made a bargain with the beast, that they would sacrifice one of their eyes in exchange for the gift to see the future. But they were, but they were deceived. They, I think the way Ynyr says he, he's like, they, and they had two eyes like, like other men, but they sacrificed one eye for the gift to see the future, but they were deceived by the Beast and the the only future they were granted to see is the moment of their own death. And that turned them into these sad, solitary creatures, right?

Dragons of Krull: 26:58

So I think that's one of the things that as we were, we were sort of seeking out the script and sort of reading more stuff. We also Kind of found that like they didn't have enough budget to really execute some of the things that they wanted to do. But the, yeah, you're absolutely right. The, the world building, they definitely thought like way outside of what the story they were trying to tell. And yeah, I, I, until you brought it up just now, I never was really like, Oh yeah, I guess having an entire sub world of space faring Cyclops who are also kind of bummed because the only thing they can see is their, their own death. I didn't need to do that. He could have just been just a random Cyclops, just like in Greek myth. Like I was just, here he is, he's out here in the woods, he's got a really nasty spear and he's, he's going to do some stabbing. Yeah, I, I think the, the, the thing about the, the movie mythology to me, you know, in light of that is really how much more expansive it is than the story they tell on the screen.

Professor Krebs: 28:04

Yeah. So Keith, Keith, any thoughts on the, on the backstory of the Cyclops?

Dragons of Krull: 28:09

I learned more in the last couple minutes about that than I think I, I ever knew. It's, it's wild. I, I suppose I never thought about it that much. I guess, yeah, in watching the movie, I was kind of, I just thought there was a cyclops, you know.

Professor Krebs: 28:30

weren't wrong. You know, there, there was

Dragons of Krull: 28:32

There, there, there wasn't much more to it than that. Just happened to cross paths, but yeah, you're right. It's a, it's a lot more complex than than I gave it credit for. I suppose.

Professor Krebs: 28:44

The thing you just said, I think is at the core of why so many individuals think incorrectly that they don't like this movie, right? And I have talked to some people who don't like the movie. And for some of them, it is the modality of storytelling, which, okay, I can, I can accept that you don't like the way the story is told. The question becomes, do you not like the story or do you not like the modality? And I think the vast majority of people think they don't like the story. And I would wager, again nine times out of ten, they're wrong.

Dragons of Krull: 29:19

I mean, it's a very classic hero's journey. I mean, they, you know, for all intents and purposes, they, they essentially took that, that. Joseph Campbell style arc where it just, it kind of goes up. You can introduce the characters. He has a dark point in the middle. He goes through the darkness and comes out the other side victorious. And I, you know, as a, as a classic bit of, of myth making and storytelling, I mean, like it really, I I've yeah, I, I would, I would tend to agree. Maybe some of the, the modality of the storytelling can be a little clunky here and there. But overall, I mean, you can't really argue with the structure of how everything unfolds, you know, really just the journey to, to find the weapon to slay the beast. And then the actual, you know, you know, the escaping Death's clutches multiple times while, you know, I mean, I, it, I think it does get a little bit of a bad rap as a film. And you know, again, in, in reading about it, part of that seems to me that it's, it's you know, because of the time and the technology they had to execute the special effects and all that kind of stuff. Like, it feels like they had more story to tell than they could accurately tell with the, the, the budget and the cast that they had. But it nothing like it was being done at the time and you know, I mean even if you've got you know Like the Beastmasters of the world. It's not really There's no there's no world building that happens even though they made three Beastmasters And I feel like we could have gotten at least a second Krull. Yeah. Yeah

Professor Krebs: 30:59

that's true. Do you think, as the, you know, as the Dragons of Krull, you guys are part of multiple bands and projects, but as the Dragons of Krull, do you think that you would come back together to pursue a second album, a sequel to Journey to the Black Fortress.

Dragons of Krull: 31:14

Gosh, I think it would have to be based on fan fiction at that point, wouldn't it? Yeah, I, I mean, we talk about other ideas and stuff fairly regularly. Yeah, we've kind of joked about doing albums based on other movies from around the same time, but it's, it's interesting cause I, I don't know. I mean, one of the things that we were talking about while we were making the record was whether or not we, we sort of captured the entire flow of the film. Cause it really wouldn't have done any good to be like, yeah, we found the fire mares and then just call it. You know, you have to have some sort of resolution generally in any storytelling you do. So, I don't know like where we would get more information, enough more information to be able to come up with 35 minutes of, of, what do you got there, Krebs? I feel like you've got,

Professor Krebs: 32:05

Oh, no, I'm just, I'm just volunteering to tell you about other things that while I enjoy your first album, I can think of a few things that didn't make it in that would make a great second album. And then you can make an anthology where you interlace the tracks.

Dragons of Krull: 32:19

we, we did, we did at, I think one sort of aborted idea that we had was, you know, like a Dark Side of the Moon, Wizard of Oz kind of thing. I feel like, I feel like there's, we are not talented enough for that. So that would be cool, but I'm not sure, not sure we could do it. We'd have to make the album about an hour long. Yeah. And get, get some synthesizers probably. Sure. Some sort of Out of all the songs on the album, do you think there's anything important that we may have missed singing about?

Professor Krebs: 32:54

Good. Wow, that's a good question. I didn't expect. I think exploring Rell specifically is something that would be good here. I think maybe some aspect of Ergo is something that we could explore.

Dragons of Krull: 33:09

Sure

Professor Krebs: 33:10

And, and actually, as I have considered, where would the story go after the film, I think that not to give away too many of the thoughts and the theories that I've had in the past, but I think Titch is a pinnacle character that is underexplored.

Dragons of Krull: 33:24

sure.

Professor Krebs: 33:25

Torquil, Torquil's another one. I mean, you've got Thieves, Bandits, Fighters, and Brawlers, but Torquil as a singular character poses some very interesting angles, especially with sort of like his philosopher's education, that we could talk more about. But in terms of like, actually like what is concrete in the film, not covered in your album at this point I think if you did a focus on the wedding with a tragic conclusion, I think that would be a good track. And also they talk about the raids that they don't show this much in the film, but they talk about it a lot where they talk about the raids of the Slayers and the Slayers are going through the countryside, just just absolutely razing villages and things of that nature. But then one starts asking the questions. Okay, cool. So when. When a Slayer dies, there's that weird headworm pilot thing, and it can go into the ground, no matter what surface it's on, where's it going? And where did the Slayers come from in the first place? And why do they just seemingly have an endless army? And,

Dragons of Krull: 34:23

God. Take it easy. Yeah, I mean, that's a wedding would be cool. So have to your knowledge, have there been like attempts to extend the mythos of Krull? Like I mean, have people written things that are, you know, try and try to tell a further story because I, to me it seems like, know, I, I know my understanding was that that they wanted to try to create. you know, a saga that they could do multiple installments of. So I'm, I'm just, I'm, I'm curious to know, like, it seems to be relatively neatly tied off, you know, they've essentially, they slew the Beast, Lyssa and, and Colwyn and are back together. They're gonna, you know, go rule the galaxy. So what happens? Are there, is, is like, is the Beast's cousin Ted, like, mad? And he's, is he going to come to Krull then? And like, try to pick up where his cousin left off? I mean, but to your knowledge, has, has there been any like meaningful attempts? Cause I mean, obviously anybody with you know, a computer can type some, some nonsense into a text editor, but like, has there been any meaningful attempt to extend the mythology?

Professor Krebs: 35:41

So that is a fantastic question. I haven't come across any fan fiction per se. Right? I avoiding the answers that include people who are like, and then that's when they entered the Iron Desert. And they found, you know, I don't, I don't want, I don't want to get into that kind of stuff. Right? However, to answer your question more directly. The novel by Alan Dean Foster is based on the fullness of the script, including the parts that didn't make it into the film. And even though it gives every character a far more, forgive the expression, British tone than the characters in the film might suggest in some cases, the information that is laid out in the exposition is exceptional. So, and it's not very long, it's not a very long book. I would highly recommend the novelization by Alan Dean Foster. Second, there was a special edition soundtrack of which they only, they only printed, but 2000 of these, which isn't very many, but the liner notes, the liner notes on this are exceptional, both with behind the scenes information, as well as lore and mythos that didn't quite make it into the film.

Dragons of Krull: 36:48

That's a great soundtrack, too

Professor Krebs: 36:51

It is phenomenal. I, I realize people will argue with me on this and that's fine by me, but I think taken as a total body of work, this soundtrack is arguably James Horner's best complete work. His work on Aliens was fantastic. His work on Wrath of Khan was fantastic. Battle Beyond the Stars was enjoyable. But I

Dragons of Krull: 37:12

Good one too.

Professor Krebs: 37:13

Willow, Willow, Willow was exceptional, right? But I would, I would say, as a total body of work, as a whole, I think Krull might be the best thing he ever made.

Dragons of Krull: 37:24

Yeah, that, that opening theme too, especially it's just unforgettable. He's one of my favorite, I'm really into film soundtracks and yeah, James Horner for me is right up there with John Williams.

Professor Krebs: 37:37

Oh, my heart was broken when James Horner passed away. Oh my gosh. Because it was too soon, it was too soon. Yeah. To. So, so with, those are the two things I would point you to first in terms of like garnering extra bits of, of information that are official canon. And I've been I, I've been, I've been meaning to revisit the two issue Marvel comic. That was just the, the comic book version of the film. And I have, and I have them, I just haven't gone through it again in a long time. There's also a children's book that I picked up in recent history. It has photos that are obviously behind the scenes photos that they used as story photos. But I've been reading through that to see if I could find any new nuggets. I haven't I haven't gotten through all of it, even though it's a very, very small book. I just haven't finished reading it, but,

Dragons of Krull: 38:24

I'll tell you what doesn't provide any new insight or nuggets is the Atari 2600 game.

Professor Krebs: 38:33

Which I have played and beaten it, and I love it. I love that

Dragons of Krull: 38:37

There was an arcade

Professor Krebs: 38:38

The arcade game is no better. So, John, to your point, I would go to the novel. I would go to the CD liner tracks and then I don't know, talk to unreasonably obsessed nerds about it and see if there's anything else that could possibly come out of it.

Dragons of Krull: 38:52

I like nerds. They're pretty all right. I'll tell you what, if, if if we make another album ever another Dragons of Krull album, we're going to have to have you on as a consultant. Yeah, for sure.

Professor Krebs: 39:05

That's what I love to hear. That's, that, I, I would be thrilled to jaw your ears off about, about Krull

Dragons of Krull: 39:12

I was like, this guy would have been really helpful when we were making this album. For sure.

Professor Krebs: 39:17

Well, as we get to the end of our time together here, and I'm very sad to say that out loud You guys, obviously there's more to you than just being the Dragons of Krull. Do you have any other projects going on right now? Anything that's coming up in the future that people should be aware of?

Dragons of Krull: 39:33

Not me! I I've got nothing really happening. I I try to play enough enough of my drums to stay limber. But I don't have, I mean, I don't have anything currently active. I do have a a two piece band with my brother in law called Pre Ominor. That is an electric kind of Zydeco hardcore metal hybrid thing. So but we have been talking about releasing an EP for probably five years now, so I wouldn't want to seed too much of the the internet with false hopes. And promises at this point, give me someday. Oh, I've always got an album in the works, always working on something. I have a label that I use to release all my projects called Drip Feed Records. And that's at dripfeedrecords.com. Just put out Panda Kingdom, which was a symphonic heavy metal opera about bread and beer and baking not too long ago. And Currently working on a thrash metal album under the name Thunderkill. That's what we currently got in the works. So

Professor Krebs: 40:37

Fantastic. Well, folks at home, if you want to check out the wonders of the Dragons of Krull, you can hop on over to bandcamp.com. In fact, specifically, you can go to dragonsofkrull.bandcamp.com, where you can find the album Journey to the Black Fortress, an eight track album with all good Krullness throughout. You guys are fantastic. Thank you so very much for being here. And remember folks, you heard it from them first. I will be consulting on the second album. It's a done deal. It's contractual now. Thank you guys very much for being here. Appreciate your time. We'll talk to you guys next

Dragons of Krull: 41:14

thank you for having us. It's been a real pleasure. Thank you so much.

41:18

Thank you so very much for listening to this episode of the Krulltimate Podcast. Now, I would like to hear from you. If you have any questions, curiosities, or comments that you would like to make about this or other episodes, you can send them to thekrulltimatefandom@gmail.com. Until next time I have been your host professor Krebs, and this is the Krulltimate Podcast.