At the end of this torrid summer wandering among various vinyl stores (not that there are many in Italy, alas) I stopped to look at the covers in the window in one of them. In the midst of all, including the “bombastic” ones, like Megadeath, Blind Guardian And Muse, I was struck by one in particular: Three Sides of One of the King’s x. Not because it is particularly beautiful, but perhaps because it is pleasing to the eye, in any case my mind began to process it, initially without result. King’s X … mmh, King’s X. Then the lighting: yes, the mythical ones King’s X! How long had I seen no trace of it? 14 years … and to say that I know their discography quite well, their contaminations, their uniqueness, their groove, we are talking about 40 years of honorable career, but they are and will always remain a cult group.
Three Sides of One is the band’s thirteenth album and the first after XV of 2008. The trio is 195 years old overall yet Dug Pinnick, Ty Tabor And Jerry Gaskill they wrote some great material again. If I were forced to use a single word to describe Three Sides of OneI would tell you it’s an album strangefilled with relaxed melodies, discordant metal riffs and surprisingly refined solos.
The hallmarks of the King’s X are composed of a mix of hard rock, funk, prog, soul, lyrical spirituality, vocal harmonies, the strident bass of Pinnickthe excellent solos of Tabor and the relaxed groove of Gaskill. Inside this latest release we find reminiscences of the Sixties related to Beatles And Rolling Stonesothers are full of sound and soul of the seventies, still others are really current.
“Let It Rain” welcomes us with one of the brightest moments of the entire work where there are already strong brushstrokes of various contaminations with their unique sound. “Nothing But The Truth“ it is a wonderful piece that delights us in his simple complexity initial, to which is added, after the first 4 minutes, a fabulous guitar-oriented finish. Following the masterpiece of the album “All God’s Children”And here there are no other words to describe it, it is part of those pieces that, once heard, cross the boundaries of the genre of belonging and the type of music, because they are wonderfully beautiful, deep, almost spiritual.
“Take The Time“ is a very Beatlesian piece, delightful in its gait, in its harmonies, in its spirit and in its wonderful voice: they really know how to do everything King’s X. The aura of spirituality that distinguishes “She called me home” it is undeniable, it is a melodic piece, never cloying and also embellished with an instrumental final part as valuable as it is difficult to describe.
In this album the writing of the songs is irregular, each piece is absolutely unique with its own brand and soul that differs from the next, but the union between them is incredibly successful. Never before in this specific work is the curiosity to discover them what will give you immense satisfaction in listening.
“Three Sides Of One“ ultimately it’s another great rock album by the King’s X with its thousand contaminations joined together with accuracy, interpreted with passion by a technically excellent group that however first of all puts the desire to fuck around together with very pleasant and very special results. Listening to him made me go back and revisit my old albums as well King’s X and this latest release continues to raise the value of their entire discography.