It took 14 years, but we finally got the follow-up to the 2008 King's X album XV this year and it's fantastic. So what took the band so long? In an interview with MetalSucks, King's X frontman dUg Pinnick explained that it was mostly due to the band's members not being on the same page.
Pinnick said he was ready to move forward with new material, while drummer Jerry Gaskill and guitarist Ty Tabor were a little unsure about doing a record. Or as Pinnick puts it, "we could have made a record at any point over the years, but it would have been us going through the motions." Which is a great way to approach new material – why make something you're not sure needs to be made?
"Yeah, man. [Jerry and Ty] didn’t want to make a record at first. They didn’t feel like we had anything to say that would be better than we’d already done. And we didn’t want to do something for the sake of it or just because everybody expected one. We wanted to make sure that all three of us were behind it. But I’m the kind of person who is ready to go all the time. I’m ready to make a record whenever, I don’t care. [Laughs]. I write songs all the time, but Ty and Jerry aren’t like that, at least not in the same way I am.
"Ty and Jerry were more concerned about how we’d be perceived. Because, yeah, we could have made a record at any point over the years, but it would have been us going through the motions. So, that’s not something we wanted to do, and it took a long time for us to get on the same page where we could make a record. So, I waited for them to decide when they were ready, and I went out, got three or four side projects going, and kept doing what I do. But in King's X, we work well together, mostly because everybody gives each other freedom and space to do whatever they want. It’s less stressful that way, and it keeps us moving forward."