Mother’s Finest and Circus of Power had a baby and asked UFO to be the Godfather and they christened it King’s X. Such is the groove that is the 15th release from Texas’s own King’s X entitled “XV”. While Ty Tabor, Gary Gaskill and Doug Pinnick have been putting out one quality cd after another for almost two decades, “XV” may prove to be their seminal release to date.
Keeping true to their signature metal/grunge/soul/funk sound, while adding a beatle-esque, “George Harrison is our Godfather” resonance, “XV” is one of those rare releases that starts off with a core shaking opening track and astro glides its way into a smooth, corporeal rhythm and then knows when to pull you back out to the front of the stage, fist in the air, arena of rock just when you need it. In short, this is a main course meal, no appetizers or filler found here.
Pinnick’s vocals sound like Pinnick - meaning his distinctive vocal powers are and will forever be idiosyncratic and the distinguishing divergence that has always had King’s X in a class by themselves. Gaskill and Tabor provide an astonishing and enormous wall of sound that lifts up well penned and crafted lyrics, another King’s X staple, astonishing the listener that 3 is better than bands twice their number and half their sound. “XV” is a classic example of how Kings X gets into your brain and knows better than you do of when to give more and when to give you less in the sense that a musical canvas can be a masterpiece without having to paint every square inch.
5 Stars
