Chris Cornell – Photo by CC Hua (via thevine.com/au)

November 13^th was a particularly good day for rock fans who enjoyed a simultaneous release of full-length albums from both the Deftones and Soundgarden. Naturally however, I only knew about the former. It turns out that I almost missed out on one of the more surprising musical releases of 2012.

As soon as I got up to speed that Soundgarden was back after a 16 year hiatus, I jumped on iTunes to buy their recently-released “King Animal” album – albeit with relatively low expectations. But what I didn’t anticipate was the band’s unbelievable maturation since the mid 90’s.

The band has always been progressive, but always under the aegis of nouveau-classic/punk-inspired rock. Songs like “By Crooked Steps” or “Attrition” fall in line with this established oeuvre, but the inclusion of unfamiliar stylings and genres throughout “King Animal” is a particularly striking improvement. Perhaps the best example lies in the continuous bluesy refrain of their closing track “Rowing,” which recalls the repetitive chants of African American slave songs both in harmony and subject matter. Ironically it is the most progressive song on the album, but it is complemented by the two preceding tracks (“Worse Dreams” & “Eyelid’s Mouth”), which also feature their own soulful and chromatic nuances.

All in all, the album is a great release that goes to show the potential benefits of taking time to do something right. It would be great if other musicians would show interest in growth of this kind.

You can listen to “Rowing” in the space above, but also be sure to check out the rest of King Animal. It’s easy to stream the album on Spotify or Grooveshark, but it’s also worth visiting Soundgarden’s website for more insights and information.