Album review by: Josh Drespling

Three Sides of One is the newest effort by the immensely influential and long-running King’s X. The twelve track release is the first from the band since their 2008 XV album. With a September 2022 release date it will have been over 14 years since the band have had a formal release of new music.

At first listen, I was taken aback and frankly did not like much of anything I heard on this album. It quickly became background music and I lost interest. To set the stage, I am a long-time fan of King’s X. Gretchen Goes to Nebraska sits firmly on my list of desert –island albums, along with the bulk of the tracks from Faith Hope Love, and Out Of The Silent Planet. I loved that they had a hybrid mix of heaviness, melody, and just enough mathiness to keep it interesting. Not to mention the wonderfully produced vocals and guitar licks.

Being unwilling to so quickly dismiss a new album, I dove in and gave it multiple in depth listens. With each run through Three Sides of One slowly began to latch itself into my consciousness, It’s bathed in honesty and purity, with each and every track it dives deeper and deeper in your soul. On the surface the album could be described as a stripped down version of the band, however the album swoons with grit and is laden with the odd time signatures we have grown to love and respect from King’s X. With music existing between the notes, one may say that Three Sides of One sound is equal parts grunge, Beatles and punk rock laden with gospel and metal overtones.

The album opens with the riff heavy “Let It Rain”, that gives the visual of a scene from a movie where the cool kid is introduced. He pulls up in a vintage sports car as dust flies. A low camera angle shows his leather boot hit the dirty pavement as the school or wherever he is heading is out of focus in the background.

Track two entitled “The Flood Part 1” starts with a crunchy guitar rhythm. Vocalist dUg Pinnick exclaims “I used to say that all we needed was love, now I’m thinking that what we need is a flood.” Referring the Beatles’ song penned by John Lennon and Paul McCartney about peace and love, and how juxtaposed with our current climate we may be in need of a biblical style flood to cleans the planet. But that;s just my interpretation.

May of the tracks have Evangelical and/or religious buzz words scattered thorough. The previous song “Flood” not withstanding, there are various other subtle lyrical references to spirituality and god or God if you will.

“Nothing But The Truth” enters the mix as the third track on the album. It is a more simple balled style song with clean picking of the guitar cords and the low rumble of the bass in the background. Dug croons and raises the energy as he exclaims “I want to hear from you. No spin, no lies.” As he soulfully layers in backing vocals that remind you of his gospel music roots. At the 3:40 mark the song fades, until the squeal of guitar feedback brings the track back to life and guitarist Ty Tabor lays down a blistering solo that fills out the remainder of the six minute song.

Another standout track is “Give It Up” starts with a bluesy intro lick and has a crazy break mid-song with fun, yet wacky production. “All God Children” has a lucid feel with lyrics that seem to be pointed at misguided Christians. When asked about his thoughts on the song and subject material, Tabor, simply answered;“I have nothing to say about it. The song is what I have to say about it”.

“Festival” is a track that sees King’s X breaking form while still putting out a top quality track. This song would be the envy of nearly any pop-punk band from th main stage or the last incarnation of Warped Tour. Not to be out done “Swipe Up” gives off a straight ahead sludge rock / stoner metal feel reminiscent of Mastodon or Queens of the Stone Age. The lyrics seem to be a commentary on our social media obsessed society.

Over all this outing by a legendary and immensely respected band is a top quality and fits nicely with their existing catalog. Hopefully the next installment will not take 14 years.

Check back with Empire Extreme for our interview with singer and bassist dUg Pinnick.

About Author

Josh Drespling

Josh is the Publisher and creator of Empire Extreme and it’s sister publication Kingdom Extreme Magazine. He is an accomplished writer, photographer and graphic designer. He is always conjuring up new ideas and has a amazing passion for the music industry and all the things that surround it.

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