K²'s long anticipated debut Book of the Dead has finally arrived to amazing positive reactions. Basically the music is a nice combination of UK & Genesis. The UK part is based in the instrumentation mainly because of Allan Holdsworth’s involvement. The Genesis portion is marked by the late Shaun Guerin’s wonderful vocal parts that remind listeners of Peter Gabriel.
The rest of the band is equally amazing, especially leader/ bassist Ken Jacquess. For years I knew Ken with his involvement with another local LA area prog band called Atlantis and it’s various incarnations. With two albums under it’s belt, it was almost a proto-type band to what K² is. This in no way lowers the value of Atlantis, only that Ken’s musical vision grows stronger with the years of musical experience. He got together some top musicians for K2. While it is a solo project, it has a band feel.
There are 5 songs or chapters on Book of the Dead that range in length from three minutes to the epic 23 minute opener, Infinite Voyage, which is worth the price of admission alone. None of the songs are duds, in fact this is one of the few albums that I can listen to all the way through with ease.
While the music isn’t ground-breaking by any means, it is a solid nod to the past that may or may not be deemed a “classic”. I think that’s up to the individual listener but K2's Book of the Dead is a fun musical journey that will get several listens in the months and years to come. Kudos to Ken for bringing forth this beautiful musical document. This is highly recommended to UK fans as well as fans of progressive rock in general.
Reviewed by Ron Fuchs on May 10th, 2005
