Yes, it's about time! Back to basics here! After several releases departing from their patent sound King's X emerges again. As any King's X fan will tell you their last few albums were strange detours for the band to take, but finally they have made it back.
Not that any of the recent albums were horrible, it just had us worried. The band that had established themselves as one of the most tightest sounding power trios, combining the progressions of
Rush with the aggression of Thrash Metal, aligned with Doug Pinnick's soulful vocals and fuzzed out 12-string bass, providing a rhythm guitar drone behind Ty Tabor's virtuosic guitar work combined with his Beatle-esque vocal harmonies, not to mention Jerry Gaskill's drumming, King's X became a band to be reckoned with.
But with recent albums moving in different directions; such as "Tapehead," which is probably their heaviest album, which moved the band into a more full-blown throttle toward Thrash, "Please Come Home Mr. Bulbous" which scared many fans with it's lighter, pop-ish sound, and then moving closer to their original sound with the progressive and somewhat experimental, "Manic Moonlight," and not to mention several side projects from band members; many fans wondered if the band would move back to their original sound.
They have on Black Like Sunday, and have good reason to, due to the fact that many of the songs were written during their earlier period. Instead of releasing a compilation of old demos and live material, King's X decided to re-record and in many cases rework some of these cuts, in fact, many fans who might have seen the band in their early days might recognize a couple of the tunes, but they don't sound dated at all, to anybody, the stuff sounds new and fresh.
The album itself opens with the title cut and with the first few notes immediately appealing to the listener, this pretty much sets the tone for the whole album being classic King's X, consistently staying aggressive throughout for the most part.
"Rock Pile" gives tongue-and-cheek humor to the whole rock star mentality. The album takes a slower turn with
"Down," a moody ballad with the dark undertones of Pinnick's often-narrative voice while
"Two" sounds like a
Devin Townsend cut.
"You're the Only One" sound like it could have been from Tabor's
Jughead project, complete with power pop sensibility.
Probably their best album since "Ear Candy," in relation to that album as well "Dogman" and self-titled record, casual and hardcore fans won't be disappointed. It is a King's X record, complete with all three guys making the music in the way they only can, with such a sound that amazes you that only three guys created it. This is one band that is highly respected in the musicianship world and has reason to be.
Written by
Hashman Monday, August 4, 2003
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