With a title that will surely go down in the history of incredibly appropriate titles, Soundgarden have dipped in to their upcoming sixth record to release the single ‘Been Away Too Long’. The album, King Animal, will mark the first full release from the band in over sixteen years, following 1996′s Down on the Upside.
The Washington four-piece have been slowly edging back in to the public consciousness over the past few months, releasing the compilation album Telephantasm in 2010 and playing this summer’s Download Festival. You may also have heard them serenading the Hulk as he pummelled aliens in to the concrete of New York - ’Live to Rise’ having been contributed to Marvel’s ‘The Avengers’ soundtrack.
This new release however, is certainly not the sound many will think of when they hear the name ‘Soundgarden’. Far from the oddly-tuned, grungy guitars and furious-but-brooding vocals of Superunknown and Badmotorfinger, the song is built around a sturdy hard rock riff and follows a fairly basic structure.
Hints of the band’s classic sound come through with the bridge’s atonal solo-work, but overall, if ‘Been Away Too Long’ is comparable to anything, it’s the crooning rock n’ roll of head-banging veterans AC/DC. Come to think of it, it’s actually managed to get Highway to Hell‘s ’Beating Around the Bush’ stuck in my head.
But to each their own. Let us know what you think of Soundgarden’s latest effort in the comments. Worth the wait? Well time will tell, as King Animal is due for release November 13th.
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