Review Summary: No one should be made to feel alone
After spending the early 2000s cycling through a series of decent but misguided efforts, King’s X seemed to experience a second wind with 2005’s Ogre Tones. The trio elected to release the album through prog hub InsideOut Music and brought in Michael Wagener as their first outside producer in a decade. What better way to express this heightened sense of purpose than the opening “Alone,” which comes crashing in with a distorted shout and hard-hitting chords that settle into an optimistic but still driving anthem.
From there, the album proper takes on a lightly somber demeanor that feels like the missing link between Ear Candy and Tape Head. While this formula has yielded unspectacular results on albums past, the production helps the performances feel more vibrant and the hooks are conveyed much more effectively. Songs like “if” and “Mudd” are particularly successful instances of this in action, the former offering a sweet chorus and upbeat rhythm while the latter has an especially mournful edge.
There’s even room for the experiments seen on the last couple outings to be given more focus. “Bebop” is one of the heaviest tracks, juxtaposing off-time bass heavy rhythms during the verses with another pounding chorus while “Get Away” reaches back to the more abstract side of their earliest works with its hazy guitar, subtle percussion, and layered vocals questioning the nature of the divine. “Sooner or Later” may be the album’s biggest outlier as its seven-minute length sees an effective cycle of softly shuffled verses and meandering swirls.
Also worth noting are the two older songs that got worked onto the album. “Freedom,” an Ear Candy-era bonus track, is classic King’s X with its trudging groove giving weight to the catchy vocal trade-offs detailing a series of deliberately edgy lines. The re-recording of “Goldilox” toward the end of the album is also surprisingly effective as the downtuning gives it a weathered feel that ends up enhancing the original’s nostalgic air. I might even prefer this version because of it but that might just be due to me having heard it first.
Overall, Ogre Tones is easily the best King’s X album in a decade and might even brush up against some of their classics. While it retains a workman quality that’s somewhat easy to overlook compared to their flashier early efforts, a combination of stronger production and more focused songwriting brings their best qualities to the forefront. Perhaps established fans would still be the ones to get the most out of it, but it’s a strong comeback that rewards their patience while also welcoming any new listeners along the way.
