Soundgarden released King Animal in North America on November 13, 2012. Their sixth studio album ended the gap that followed 1996’s Down on the Upside, but the reunion hadn’t begun with a new record in mind. By the time “Been Away Too Long” opened the album, the four musicians had worked their way from sorting out band business to writing together again.
Guitarist Kim Thayil told Guitar World that their initial concerns included merchandise, an online presence and unresolved business matters. Soundgarden had broken up in 1997, leaving those responsibilities without an active band to oversee them. Reconnecting in 2010 led to offers for shows, and getting ready to perform put the musicians back in a room with their instruments. Rehearsals gave them opportunities to improvise and exchange ideas. The desire to record grew out of playing together.
Chris Cornell described another important change in a 2012 SPIN interview: Soundgarden were making the album without a label. The musicians chose their producer, worked on the packaging and completed the record before finding a company to release it. Cornell connected that independence to better communication within the group, something he felt had suffered as their operation expanded during the earlier years. “It’s almost like it was in the beginning of the band,” he said. The reunion gave them control over the work as well as a reason to make it.
They co-produced King Animal with Adam Kasper, with sessions at Seattle’s Studio X. Kasper’s understanding of drummer Matt Cameron was a practical reason for choosing him. In a 2012 Music & Musicians interview, Thayil explained that the drum sound established the space the other instruments would occupy. His own parts also depended on making room for unusual sounds. As he explained to Guitar World, a T-Rex delay pedal helped shape passages in “Worse Dreams” and the introduction to “By Crooked Steps.” Alongside his familiar Guild S-100, he used Gibson ES-335 guitars, including Kasper’s Trini Lopez model. Its sensitivity to feedback and the playable lengths of string beyond the bridge and nut suited the noises he wanted to make.
The writing moved between different combinations of members. Cornell supplied complete songs, while bassist Ben Shepherd, Cameron and Thayil also contributed music. Shepherd wrote the lyrics to “Attrition,” and Thayil contributed lyrics to “Non-State Actor.” Thayil’s account of the sessions emphasized the other musicians as the first listeners a new idea had to interest. “We’re our own audience,” he told Music & Musicians. Familiarity gave them a shared reference point, but he said repeating the same ideas wouldn’t impress his bandmates.
That range extended to the lyrics. Alongside the political concerns of “Non-State Actor,” Cornell’s “Bones of Birds” dealt with the vulnerability of being a parent. The album had room for concerns that reached beyond the circumstances of the reunion.
King Animal debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200. The following year, the band also made the writing process available to listeners in a different form: King Animal Demos collected six preliminary recordings on a 10-inch release for Record Store Day 2013. Those demos had been recorded at TNC Studios in Los Angeles and Deke River Studio in Seattle.
