King's X Please Come Home ... Mr. Bulbous (Metal Blade)

King's X

Please Come Home ... Mr. Bulbous (Metal Blade)

King's X has long been respected for their adventurously composed power trio songs, many of which deal with spiritual maelstroms, but always from an open, human perspective, not a dogmatic fortress. More Last Temptation of Christ and less Sunday church finger-waving. And let's not forget the volume, because you'd be hard-pressed to find a band that rocks harder than King's X. Hailing originally from everywhere USA -- Springfield, Mo. -- and eventually meeting up in Houston, the band has played together for nearly 20 years, experiencing all the disappointments of corporate rock. After being dropped by Atlantic Records, King's X seems to have forged a happy relationship with Phoenix's Metal Blade label for the trio's eighth studio album ... Mr. Bulbous. By now, King's X has earned the luxury of recording in their own studios, giving the 10 original songs and 45 minutes of ... Mr. Bulbous all the energy, uniqueness, and heartfelt lyricism the band is known for -- from the head-bang-o-matic opener "Fish Bowl Man" to the swampy distorto guitar, spidery bass lines, and cinderblock drumming of standout track "Marsh Mellow Field." Heavy music, lyrically and musically, ... Mr. Bulbous is the band's best in a while, if not ever. (King's X plays the Back Room September 16.)