“King Animal” kicks off with “Been Away Too Long,” an appropriately named song considering Soundgarden’s last studio album arrived in 1996. And if this record proves anything, the group has been away too long. Soundgarden is still here in all of its heavy, grunge-tinged glory. Invigorated with distorted riffs and explosive drumming that climb up and leap out from the intro, the album kicks off with conventional grungy metal, but eventually eases itself into the alternative experimentation character of Soundgarden. And of course, there’s Chris Cornell, whose voice still hits a similar intensity as it did in the ’90s. “King Animal” doesn’t present anything groundbreaking for Soundgarden, but it reintroduces the band in a way that implies progress rather than deterioration.

Grade: B+