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ALBUM REVIEW: "Murder of the Universe" by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard


   Murder of the Universe is one of the weirdest King Gizzard releases so far, and they have released some weird shit. Split into three parts over 21 tracks, they manage to tackle speed metal, psych, grunge and even glam, never once feeling like a gimmick or cheap trick but rather an extension of their music evolution over the course of 10 albums and 5 years. There's a surprisingly large number of weird voice-overs, too, which is relatively fresh for the band and adds a new element to the head-spinning madness they continue to bring to the table. Notably there is no microtonal instrumentation to be found on Murder of the Universe, separating it from Flying Microtonal Banana in that sense. Other than that, there isn't really much to differentiate musically from their previous effort; they're both balls to the walls insane and headache inducing in the best possible way and a hell of a lot of fun. I personally enjoy this release a little more, simply because of the lack of microtonal intervals which make Flying Microtonal Banana an exhausting listen. With three more albums theoretically being released before the end of the year this kind of madness might start to get a bit much, but for now I'm loving the hell out of King Gizzard.


   Favourite Tracks: The entire first disc, The Lord of Lightning and Murder of the Universe

   Least Favourite Track: The Balrog

   Rating: A

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