That… is a fucking album title.
Let’s get this out of the way off the cuff. I am not what you would call a King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard aficionado. At this point, to say you are a fan of King Gizzard is like being a fan of some long run anime series. This fucking band cuts like 5-6 albums a year. That’s a whole lot.
I will listen to whatever album either piques my interest or what album gets the big positive reviews for the year. Its an easy way to parse.
And I guess that is a testament to the band’s quality. Everyone can get what they want out of King Gizzard. The stoners get their fucking psychedelic noodling for an hour and half. Pretentious hipsters get their album that is going to do something complex and different.
Then you have people like me. I have enjoyed what I have heard from KG, but I am here for one reason. Every fucking stoner band goes metal from time to time. And I fucking love it.
I LOVED Infest the Rats Nest. Still listen to it regularly. And while we have this renaissance of metal going on, I want to take in all that is available until it goes away again. So, as soon as I heard KG is going back to the well again, I jumped on board.
From the beginning, you already fucking know what this is.
It’s fucking metal and holy shit we out here. If Infest the Rats Nest was their Leviathan. This album is their Blood Mountain.
We have given up the sort of straight forward rift work and solos of Infest to build this sonic metal landscape of complexity. We are all over the place. Time signature changes. Key changes. The composition is insane.
Musically, we are in a much more advanced place.
KG is bringing in their psychedelic knowledge into thrash and just pushing that as far as they can take it. It’s a journey, and its one worth taking.
Like, I don’t know how many other ways to say it’s Infest the Rats Nest but more complex and better structured.
So, lets jump right into the negative. The lyrics, story, and concept of the album. It’s basically Fury Road but…lazier. And dumber. But the band must LOVE the plot, they had someone read a story version of it out loud for a b-side on the album. Plus they plan to make a companion plot record to this one.
Like songs that fucking kick ass and are just dope to jam to are…weakened…as soon as they start talking about lizards and oil worship.
Don’t get me wrong. I agree with their perspective and message. But, they just did a similar message on Infest the Rats Nest but better.
I hate to keep coming back to the record, but it has to be the thing to compare it to. This is their second time they have done thrash and they have now created a waypoint to look at. And honestly, the concept of going to space to try to follow the rich (who are already gone), only to get dragged to hell is just better.
Like look at Gila Monster. You just can’t get anyone who isn’t a massive KGLW fan to yell GILA GILA.
Overall, we are left in an odd place. I WANT to recommend this album. But it’s contents are almost too silly to recommend. I still think this record is a fantastic musical trip. And is worth going into. But, I want to laugh every time the witches talk about their lizard.
Like maybe I have gotten to old. But I am at a place where like man….get off the weed when you are writing lyrics. If being on the weed gets you this music, fucking do it, but when it comes building a story… stay off the weed.
3/4 – I still think this is a great record. But Infest has the bigger spot in my heart. If you took Infest’s lyric writing and brought it here, we are talking masterpiece territory. As it stands…Ill end up back at Infest, and only come to this one from time to time.