Stereogum Premiers Soundgarden’s Crushing New/Old Song “Kristi”

If you like vintage Soundgarden, here’s a song you are going to love and likely never heard before, unless you were at the Reading Festival in 1995, since that’s only time they’ve played it live and it’s been unreleased up until now. And Jesus Christ this song kicks ass.

Kim Thayil gave Stereogum some background on the song:

“This is the original and ultimate studio version of  ‘Kristi’. Recorded and tracked during the ‎Down On The Upside sessions, it was set aside, never mixed or mastered, and until now, never released. It was always considered an unfinished gem from the sessions. Thanks to producer Adam Kasper and Matt Cameron, who kept reminding the rest of us that it needed to be completed and released. Given a brilliant mix by Adam, this song delivers the doom, foreboding and tension that has long been a signature of much of Soundgarden’s songwriting, especially in our earlier works.‎”

Next week, Soundgarden will release the three-CD rarities collection Echo Of Miles: Scattered Tracks Across The Path, which has already yielded the songs “Storm” and “Twin Tower.” One of the set’s unreleased songs is “Kristi,” a crushing riff-rocker that the band recorded during the sessions for their 1996 album Down On The Upside. According to a press release, it’s drummer Matt Cameron’s favorite Soundgarden song, and it seems crazy that it didn’t make the album, since it’s an absolute monster. The band only ever played “Kristi” live once, at the 1995 Reading Festival.

Stereogum is providing a stream of the song HERE

Last month. a few days before Halloween, Soundgarden surprised everyone and released a song called  “Storm”, seemingly out of nowhere and in the middle of the night. Here’s the audio for that one.

Echo Of Miles: Scattered Tracks Across The Path is scheduled for release November 5 on  A&M.