I didn't pick up the first King James disc because I had gotten so bored with Whitecross. After hearing this new one I think I'll have to go back and get it. It is not at all what I expected.
This album, without having heard the first one, demonstrates a very tight band. The guitar tone is as mean and heavy as I've ever heard from Rex Carroll. Spell it C-R-U-N-C-H! It sounds a lot like he's been listening to Metallica's self-titled album. Though the music is not as ostentatious as some of the earlier Whitecross material you can still recognize the Rex Carroll sound. But let's not be one dimensional. The vocals here are very pleasing. Singer Jimi Bennett carries himself like a Don Dokken or Ken Tamplin but doesn't wail uncontrollably. Imagine Scott Wenzell losing the nasal sound and imitating Ken Tamplin. That's pretty accurate.
The lyrics are somewhat cliche-ish but not nearly so as a Petra album and occasionally you figure a line was written because it rhymed with the last one. But they are mostly straight forward. The real highlight on this disc, though is the killer sound. Especially good is the song "Pale Beyond The Door". This song is really cool with the heavy rhythm backdrop and a classical guitar solo. It is awesome! This is 90's Metal that doesn't bore. (I would be interested in knowing why this American band's disc is an import from a Swedish label).
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 1998Reviewed by Tony LaFianzaSomewhere around 1600 A.D., King James of England brought together scholars and manuscripts to give us that version of the Bible which has endured for centuries as the definitive English language translation. About 400 years later, we have another King James, a group of musical scholars studying the rock manifestos of the ages, and they have given us a rock record of Biblical proportions. Well,…Similar sounding releases
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