King Animal was also the final studio album released by Soundgarden prior to the death of frontman Chris Cornell in 2017 and the subsequent dissolution of the band in 2018.
He had recorded a demo of the song for his solo album In Deep Owl (2013) before the band's reunion, but then decided it deserved a full-band treatment.
"[25] Cornell said the art was inspired by Graham's interpretation of the songs, and he felt it was a good fit, given the band's frequent moody lyrics with an outdoor theme.
[20] Thayil revealed that the band asked for art that featured white and other lighter colors, as "most of our album covers have had a darker pallet".
[29] On October 31, 2012, a video for "Non-State Actor" was posted on the official Soundgarden YouTube channel, the visuals consisting of a waving American flag with the King Animal logo in place of the stars.
"[39] Luke Turner of BBC Music was also positive, saying: "King Animal undeniably draws its strength from the band's accessible Superunknown era, but also takes Soundgarden somewhere fresh.
"[41] Richard Trapunski of Now gave the album four out of five stars and wrote: "King Animal doesn’t sound like a nostalgia-fed cash grab, nor is it poisoned by the desperate commercialism of Cornell's post-Soundgarden projects.
Instead, it picks up where 1996's Down on the Upside left off, layering Cornell's distinct howl over psychedelic textures, off-kilter time signatures and heavy, chugging riffs courtesy of way-underrated guitarist Kim Thayil.
"[47] Michael Christopher of The Phoenix gave the album three out of four stars and wrote: "On the whole, King Animal is a welcome return, and though it doesn't reinvent the wheel, it reminds us why these guys were considered the architects of the Seattle scene.
While this record lacks the canonizing tracks like 'Jesus Christ Pose', 'Black Hole Sun', 'Spoonman' and 'Burden in My Hand', Soundgarden deserves to be commended for recapturing the feeling of grunge and reintroducing it today.
"[48] Matt Melis of Consequence of Sound gave the album a C− and said: "Production issues aside, this record proves that Soundgarden still have their muscle but also hints that they are in the process of figuring out how to flex it again.
For every realized track like 'Worse Dreams', with its circular vocal phrasings and slippery riffing, there's a jam like 'Eyelid's Mouth' that completely loses its identity — in this case, via an almost painful chorus that asks, 'Who let the river run dry?'
Still, there's more than enough merit found in King Animal to ensure that any future tweets by Chris Cornell about new Soundgarden music will confidently be filed under #reallygoodnews.
"[50] Jonathan Keefe of Slant Magazine gave the album three out of five stars and said: "King Animal doesn't contain any standout tracks that justify Soundgarden's comeback or which rank as essential additions to the band's very strong catalogue.
"[51] Stuart Berman of Pitchfork Media gave the album a 5.9 out of 10 and wrote: "The best hope for King Animal was that Soundgarden would be inspired enough by their spiritual successors to want to outdo them, and set a new benchmark for ambitious aggression.