Somewhere around 1600A.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, okay, not quite that big and bold,
but it does
kick!
Powered by the guitar of fret master Rex Carroll, the founding guitar wizard of that pioneer band White Cross, King James blazes through ten clearly Christian but not too preachy songs. Rex Carroll plays with technical mastery, and heavy metal power, but more than that, he can play with feeling, the marks of a true guitar hero. Like White Cross, this band rocks with a catchy sense of melody and pace, but the sound is more updated, at times like Alice In Chains or Soundgarden.
Although the record rocks, it rocks at an intensity level and a creative
level just slightly beneath what I think Rex Carrol is capable of, and
the music is not as potent as some of his previous work. However, even
at that level, he still creates moments of hard rock brilliance that lift
this record a half step above some other hard rock bands. But in this reviewer’s
mind, there are not enough of those moments. The project is also
missing one of those patented guitar solo jams that I used to look forward
to on White Cross albums. But those are slight and picky complaints. This
is a solid record, a worthy CD for fans of this rock genre, especially,
for Rex Carroll fans.
By Tony LaFianza (11/4/98)
