KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD

"Willoughby's Beach" is the second EP recording by Australian, Melbourne based experimental music act King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. The EP was independently released in October 2011. Featuring 9 tracks and a total playing time of 22:52 it´s King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard´s first longer release and it´s obviously also a more professional and varied release than the earlier recordings by the band.

Stylistically the material on "Willoughby's Beach" however follows in the footsteps of the psychedelic/garage/surf rock style of the preceding releases. The sound production on the EP is just of a slightly better sound quality than the rehearsal room quality recordings of the earlier releases, although definitely still a bit on the lo-fi side of recordings. The material is nothing out of the ordinary for the genre, and although King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard are obviously a well playing band, they didn´t produce music at this point which made them stand out or be noticed. A 2.5 (50%) rating is warranted.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).

"Teenage Gizzard" is a compilation album by Australian, Melbourne based experimental music act King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. The compilation was independently released in December 2020. It features 10 tracks and a total playing time of 29:17 minutes. All tracks are culled from the earliest releases by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. All material from Their two 2010 singles, the material from the 2011 "Anglesea" EP, the non-album single track "Trench Foot", and the previously unreleased song "Life is Cool".

All tracks are stylistically psychedelic/garage/surf rock featuring a great energy and rock swagger, but also a relatively lo-fi rehearsal room sound production, which is authentic and provides the material with a raw live energy but also makes it all sound a bit chaotic and simple. The idea to release these rare early recordings is still a good one though, but just be aware that King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard have evolved a lot since these early recordings. A 2.5 star (50%) rating is warranted.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).

"Anglesea" is the first EP recording by Australian, Melbourne based experimental music act King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. The EP was independently released in May 2011. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard formed in 2010 and released two singles the same year. The title of the EP refers to the name of hometown of lead vocalist/guitarist Stu Mackenzie.

Stylistically the four tracks on "Anglesea" more or less sound like they were recorded at the same sessions as the material found on the two 2010 singles. It´s a similar style of psychedelic/garage/surf rock, played with great energy and skill, and packed in a relatively raw and lo-fi sounding production job. It´s neither the most unique nor the most interesting music in the genre, but like the case was with the preceding single releases, there´s promise here and a 2.5 star (50%) rating is warranted.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).

"Sleep / Summer!" is the second single recording by Australian, Melbourne based experimental music act King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. The single was originally an independently released CDr, which was initially released in a limited number of copies and which wasn´t initially available in a digital format. It was released in 2010. In December 2020 the two tracks from the single were included on the "Teenage Gizzard" compilation album.

The two tracks from the single sound like they were recorded at the same sessions which spawned the two tracks from the other 2010 single from King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard titled "Hey There / Ants & Bats". A raw and lo-fi recorded psychedelic rock/garage rock style with surf rock leanings is what you get here. The band are well playing and the lo-fi recording quality is not a huge issue. It actually provides the material with some nice rehearsal room authenticity. A 2.5 star (50%) rating is warranted.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).

"Hey There / Ants & Bats" is the first single recording by Australian, Melbourne based experimental music act King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. The single was originally an independently released CDr, which was initially released in a limited number of copies and which wasn´t initially available in a digital format. It was released in 2010. In December 2020 the two tracks from the single were included on the "Teenage Gizzard" compilation album.

Stylistically the two tracks on the single are psychedelic rock/garage rock with surf rock elements. They feature a relatively lo-fi recording quality, but are still pretty well sounding and the raw sound production values actually provides the tracks with a feeling that you´re in (or maybe just outside) the room where they are rehearsing the songs. There´s definitely a live rehearsal feeling to the recordings and I wouldn´t be surprised if the tracks were recorded live in the studio.

It´s obvious from the performances that the band are well playing and although the material isn´t particularly unique at this point, there´s definitely promise of something greater here. A 2.5 star (50%) rating is warranted.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).

It never ceases to amaze me that in a more stereotypical and monotonous era full of formulas, there are nevertheless increasingly stronger hints that music as a living force that experiences, mutates but not to adapt but to make people adapt to it, exists , only it is not fashionable or seen as in the past but you have to look for it, on the web, in stadiums, or pubs...or the Australian desert. To say that King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard fuses genres is an understatement, because in my opinion they go further. Just as the Coen brothers in cinema reinvented and reinterpreted genres, thus creating something good (at least in their early days), the Aussies have tackled psychedelia, hard rock, krautrock, progressive rock, funk, soul, pop , electronic, thrash metal...and the list goes on, in this monumental album they review three days of shows in Chicago, where they once again leave their versatility, and what may be lacking in compositional perfection or interpretive they make up for it with a free spirit full of feeling, of happiness for playing and sharing with their audience...and nothing is missing from that, always present. They have been compared to the Grateful Dead, but for me that is underestimating the Australian idosincracy, with its own personality as Peter Weir, Bruce Beresford in the cinema or Nick Cave himself have shown... and this great little universe with such diverse climates It has space for everything. Because the King Guizzard challenge the listener in this era where everything has to be brief to listen to changes of rhythms, long passages that reveal meaning when crossing them, I forgot bossa nova and jazz, but far from settling, the Residency Tour, as they called This tour continues its nomadic journey, making us feel like we are there with them and the audience, being part of the work. This "Live in Chicago" leaves no album or genre unreviewed and works as a good gateway for those who don't know them, as well as an essential collector's item for those who are already lifelong members of Joey Walker's synthesizer, guitar Cook Craig, Stu Mackenzie's flute, or when they and the rest of the sextet change instruments!

A beautiful piece of hard/soft rock of 70s. It's not a masterpiece neither disruptive like Flying Microtonal Bananas or Nonagon Infinity, but this album is more acessible to general rock listeners.

I see Eagles, UFO, Fletwood Mac, Bob Dylan, even folk influences in whole album. All musics are a decent mix of a bunch recognizable pop rock pieces between 60s and late 70s.

There 2 or 3 amazing musics, maybe masterpieces, as Field of Vision and Le Risque, with a immense bluesy influence of Alvin Lee and Joe Bonamassa, absolutely stunning.

What an funny album, above medium of all thrash and junk pieces of rock that we've seen in mainstream in all last years.

Advertised as a return to the band's bluesy roots, this album is fun and energetic but also deceptively deep. The sound is reminiscent of lighthearted 70's rock (think Steve Miller, ZZ Top, or Little Feat), but the performances get uncharacteristically technical, which I find helps alleviate any boredom the tired style might cause. There's always something interesting underneath the swaggering blues harp and the tried and true 12-bar basslines. It's also a very collaborative record, with all members sharing more or less equally in lead vocals and songwriting. It all comes together in a package that sounds like one big party, a band having a great time cruising along (without ever feeling like they've set the cruise control). One could be forgiven for considering this one of their "take a breather" moments the band often slides in between more serious periods in their history (think Fishing for Fishies). But under the façade of whimsy the lyrics create as dark a concept album as KG have ever made. Each song meditates on the methods we use to endure the existential anguish that seems to define life in 2024, especially the unhealthy ones (addiction, thrill-seeking, extremism, developing online identities?). Add that lyrical depth to the retro 70's style, and the album becomes a surprisingly prescient meta-satire on escapism and its pitfalls. Will this band ever make a bad album? Maybe when pigs fly?

Track Rating: Mirage City (9) Antarctica (6) Raw Feel (9) (my personal favourite). Field of Vision (8) Hog Calling Contest (9) Le Risque (7) Flight b741 (7) Sad Pilot (8) Rats in the Sky (6) Daily Blues (8)

Overall Rating: 7.7/10, or, 4 Stars (rounding up)

This is a particular style of music that they haven't really touched since this album, but I think this album works perfectly, blending the jazzy chords and melodic notes with the indie rock that they oh-so-love. I'll be honest, I wasn't thinking that I'd be as fond of this album as I am now, I was definitely considering 4 stars, but didn't think I'd bump it to 5. In the context of listening all the way through, this album flows so well, blending the acoustic and electric instruments with ease all the way throughout the entire album. The mood is consistent, yet has diversity when it comes to specific songs, and the songs hold up really well by themselves. This diversity is definitely aided by the fact that they worked with Alex from Mild High Club who certainly influenced the album in a more jazzy direction with the instruments and chords especially. The synths that they use are really fun to listen to, especially the mellotron, microtonal synths, and the various electric keyboards that they use. Harmonically this is one of their strongest albums because of how experimental they got with them. In previous albums like Nonagon Infinity were pretty straight forward with their chords, but this one uses a lot of alt chords to match the chill, jazzy aesthetic. They also went with a more city vibe on this one, using street sound effects throughout that make it sound like you're listening to this outside, which is awesome because it actually feels like you're in Brunswick East. They pull inspiration from some of their previous albums like Paper Mâché Dream Balloon, a little bit from Flying Microtonal Banana, and Oddments. This album features a return to some microtonal music which works amazingly in the sections it's used. It features a lot more instrumental interludes throughout, and flows all the way through like one long recording which works really well.

Sketches of Brunswick East I This one does a great job setting up not only the tone of the album in its entirety but also the melodies heard on each of the 3 self-titled songs. The melody is set up great, and I love how it develops over the course of the songs. I love the vast difference that this album has with its predecessor, especially seen in this song as it's very chill and collected. The delicate acoustic instruments on this one like the flute (and the cool effects they layer on it) as well as the piano. Overall this song is a great opening to the album!

Countdown Now I love pretty much everything about this song except for the vocals. Stu's strained vocals on this one just don't really work for me, I used to absolutely hate them, now I'm just not fond of them. When the song layers the vocals on top of each other at the end, that is pretty cool and works for the song. This song does make up for it for having some really cool time signature changes and the flow of the song harmonically works great. The vibraphone on this one is a great addition to the song and adds the acoustic vibe that they have going. Also the electric keyboard solo on this one is really good, I love how it pans between ears mimicking the dizzying nature of the solo itself moving quickly.

D-Day The counting down lyrics on this one and the bass line stand out for me the most on this track, as well as the return of some microtonal synths and guitars. They blend the instruments really well on this track and it sounds really good with just how much is going on rhythmically. The little synth solo sounds really great, and I love how cool some of the effects on these synths are to get these sounds. The ending playing Tezeta but slowed down is pretty cool, and another trend on this album of imitating a record skipping sound.

Tezeta The varied vocals on this one really make this chorus especially sound very chant-like. I also enjoy how it uses Joey, Stu, Han-Tyumi, and other people to tell the story, not just one person in typical Gizz fashion. This one is certainly one of the more catchy songs on this album and it can be a little hard to follow on the verse, but it works so well seeing how playful it feels. The chord progression moving from i-iiø compliments the vocals a lot as well, and once it finally resolves to the V it sounds great. The second verse switching up to 6/8 illustrates the amount of creativity these guys have, really wanting to play with the time signatures in these songs to assist the storytelling. Also when they bring it back to 12/8 it sounds super resolved. I'm not sure of what synth they use at the end of the solo but it sounds great. Also this song supposedly gives us more lore so points for that as well!

Cranes, Planes, Migraines Probably my favourite of the instrumental interludes on this album. The 7/8 feel on this one especially stands out, and when it bounces between 4/4 it creates a really fun song to count out in your head. The bass line is great on this one, which seems to be a trend on this album. They definitely focused on a lot more of the instrumental stuff going on, not that they don't on other albums, just that this one seemed to get a lot of love. Also the harmonised flutes sound awesome.

The Spider and Me Certainly the silliest song on this list and the most absurd lyrics wise. I mean it's literally about being in love with a spider so uh, yeah. Pretty strange. Doesn't deter me from this one, honestly it's really fun to sing this one, and the lyrics have some really pretty moments like the "Laze in the afternoon sun, gazing at each other's beauty". The mallet percussion really aids the rest of the song on this one. Also the wah pedal sounds really good, especially with the various strumming patterns throughout. I like to think that they accidentally made the section that sounds very 'bow-chicka-wow-wow' in mood and just decided to roll with it, but who knows. Definitely one of my favourite songs on this album.

Sketches of Brunswick East II Another really good interlude, and listening all the way through, it's nice to get an album with more instrumental moments. The old timey intro is a fun change of pace for the songs, and transitions pretty well with another record switch kind of moment. It helps that this song is also in a different key, aiding with some of the change that's needed between the 3 songs. The flute melody sounds great once again, bringing back the familiar theme. The chordal electric keyboard solo is such a cool addition especially with how it moves out of key. I'm pretty sure the tonal centre is like an F phrygian, and the piano moves between Bb, B♮, Eb, Db, to resolve to Fmaj7/C, which can certainly be given credit to Alex from Mild High Club and his input. Along with those keyboard additions, the electric flourishes in the background are a really great detail on this track especially. All the instruments on this track blend really well, and create a great atmosphere.

Dusk to Dawn on Lygon Street I enjoy the beginning and the end of this song a lot, they set up an entirely different riff and it's a lot of fun. Also the intro/outro are really interesting chordally. The bass line is really front and centre in portions of this song which is really cool to listen to, especially with how melodic it is. The lyrics are so cute, and have some of the prettiest imagery on the album. The extra vocals that Cookie does are a great addition, and add to the silly nature of the song. When the bass does the minor modulation with the added sound effects, it really puts you in the location that they set up, and actually feels like the sun is setting and rising. Honestly this song is probably my favourite that Cookie has made.

The Book This is my favourite song that King Gizz has ever made. Easily it takes first place and I would honestly rate this song 11/10 just for how good it is. The microtones in this one and the riff that plays at the beginning with the synth sounds amazing, it adds to the eeriness of the story, and hearing it return throughout the song is so effective. I love how the story reflects the fact that every city has its problems and dangers. In this case the theme about religious insanity is so cool and really creepy. Hearing this song for the first time gave me chills for how well it worked for me. Especially when the instrumentation thins out and he says 'God, gave me a knife' is SO good. The sirens in the background as well, still reflecting the street sounds we hear in the album but a lot more ominous. Stu's vocals on this song are some of his best in my opinion, mainly because his voice is gravely enough and in the style that he does his metal songs in, but also because it fits the character he's singing as. Also the vocals in the background of this one work really well especially in the 'So I set up my sign, and told the passers by' section. The instrumentation is perfect on this one, utilising the microtonal synths alongside the bass, wah pedal, and excess synths with the latin style drumming. Every instrument gets its own highlight on occasion, especially the Latin percussion. The solos on this one work incredibly well, the back and forth between the toms and the keyboard is just so perfect. Chordally the song mostly just moves from E- to E diminished and it works so well, especially with the microtones thrown in. Also the chromatic bass when heading back into the chorus is amazing, and a fun switch up in the progression. The form of the song and especially with how it breaks down after the solo's and strips down to just drums and melody works really well to set up going back into the final chorus. Genuinely my favourite bits of composition from them ever, merging simple and complex ideas when needed and it flows so well. I will never forget the first time I heard this song and immediately adding it to my playlist.

A Journey to (S)hell Not a super amazing song, and it's especially overshadowed by the much better songs on this one. Also in terms of transition songs, this one is definitely the weakest one to me. It's got a really good bass line, some different synths (some work better than others, but they get a bit pitchy on this one). The funny little sound effects on this one are good, as well as the ending that teases You Can Be Your Silhouette using the distorted record skip style cuts.

Rolling Stoned Now in contrast, this one is probably the best transition song on the album. The melody is fantastic on this one, really catchy and really fun to count with the added time signature stuff. The instruments on this one are really well balanced and offer a lot in the way of rhythmic and harmonic interest. The use of the synths is much better on this one, featuring more interesting solos and just a really great vibe all in all. The acoustic piano on this one adds just an extra bit of instrument diversity, plus the kind of lo-fi jazz vibe works really well, and everything blends incredibly nice. The ending as well is great with how it cuts off before starting another A section.

You Can Be Your Silhouette This song especially is incredibly reminiscent of Paper Mâché Dream Balloon it is. It really pulls back the mood to an even more calming tone and melody throughout, even with the various riffs. The use of harmonica amplifies this, it's just very well formed overall. The boss drums really stand out and make this one unique, plus the really great chord progression in the first section. The transitions to the phrygian section near the end works great seeing as how different the riffs are, they just make it work so well. I like the super ambiguous ending, but I think I would've preferred a return to the A section, that's just me though.

Sketches of Brunswick East III This one is just another wraparound to the beginning theme, and sort of acts as the sun setting on the town as the album finishes. The theme feels finalised and complete, repeating the same progression and melody that we've heard, except maybe a little more calming. I enjoy how it's shorter and doesn't dwell super long, but once again this final instrumental doesn't really top any of the other ones on the album either. However it serves its purpose as the final song on the album.

Issues: The album has so many instrumentals that some get overshadowed compared to others, and some of the synth choices I consider to be a bit questionable. Really minimal complaints honestly.

Strengths: It's well formatted, interesting, unique, and brings a lot to the table seeing as how they worked with an outside person to help make this album. It has some really great melodies and lines, and keeps its ideas fresh and consistent. A really amazing entry in their catalogue.

This album after sitting on it for a while grew on me so much. I hold King Gizzards calm and collected albums in high regard, mainly with the level of balance and interest that they produce. This one's probably around the 4.7 stars for me, with it being one my favourite albums they've ever released.

I was very excited to make this review, I haven't listened to this one in a while, and I think letting it sit for a while has helped me gain more appreciation for it. However... I think this album still has some major issues, it's certainly not all bad, but not my favourite by any means. This album was especially difficult to review based on how it's formatted as well, and just how much goes on both musically and in the story. This was an ambitious project, and I can commend them for trying this approach to creating an album, and at least partially succeeding. But it just feels like this one didn't quite stick the landing for me. This was made at the point where they had promised 5 albums by the end of the year, and possibly by this time constraint had pushed this album out maybe a little too early. This is the 2nd of the 5 albums that were released during 2017, and to me it's clear they had some creative drains. I do appreciate the fact that this album sort of absorbs some of the compositional techniques used in their previous albums, showing some improvement by incorporating elements they've used before (such as microtones, garage rock style riffs, and increased use of synths). This album is certainly better listened to in full (which proves to flounder and thrive in various ways). To make this easier on the formatting, rather than organising by songs, I'll organise by parts.

Altered Beast: This section has some really great bits however the focus is all over the place. Considering there's sometimes melodies, counter-melodies, 2 different drums, synths, narration/vocals sometimes all at the same time, it can be a tricky task to balance. I think it does well in some cases like Altered Beast I, II, and IV, but in III especially when yet another melody is added onto the pile it gets difficult to follow what's happening melodically. Because of how this section is chopped up in various sections, there's just a lot happening plus the addition of the bouncing between the narration and the vocals, the section can't pinpoint exactly what it wants. Also because the section continuously jumps back to the Alter Me theme, you kind of just have to go along with its peculiar formatting. This is further pushed by the fact that the songs aren't very individual and have to be listened to all-in-one to even understand what's happening in the lyrics. I enjoy concept albums a lot, however this one just has too much going on. Now where I think this section shines is the blending of the instruments. If you approach each individual section and riff, they are genuinely really cool. The section at 1:29 in Altered Beast I is awesome with how it uses the really aggressive synths to play that melody. The mix of using distorted guitars and clean guitars (sometimes palm muting or using various pedals/effects) is a really cool effect I haven't really seen done simultaneously before in metal, though that might just be me. I also really enjoyed the use of synths in this entire album, even just the intro "A New World" uses the 'I think I see an altered beast by the tree' melody but using only synth, which works great as a setup. As well as that song introducing the aggressive nature of the rest of the album. The double panned drum kit will always be a favourite of mine, especially in these complex time signatures. Finally, the harmonica trading in Altered Beast II at 1:46 is a great highlight and I think adds onto what Nonagon Infinity did really well, incorporating the instrument in a more aggressive setting (also the ending of that song kicks so much ass). Rhythmically speaking this section definitely has the most interest, with it flipping between various time signatures and themes. They definitely challenged themselves with this album to work with more difficult rhythms and time in a hard rock context, using a lot of 7, 9, 11 based time signatures across the album. Altered Beast II is based in 9/8 and 9/4 generally and has a really fun continuous rhythm that plays nearly throughout. The riffs in the entire album don't give a lot of breaks, and are always doing something, which keeps the intense feeling for a while but can get pretty draining especially near the end of the album. Sometimes we get tempo changes like in Altered Beast III, but I'm not a fan of those particularly. The stop and start again in Altered Beast IV however sounds great using the guitars to build back up. I think that this is an issue that only partially crops up during this section, but the Alter Me theme gets tedious to me especially when getting to Alter Me III. What saves it partially is the dynamic change near the end of II and into III, which digs into Stu's falsetto, which I hold very dear to my heart. The story and narration are certainly front and centre in this album, and has something very similar to I'm in Your Mind Fuzz with the idea of mind control and corruption. I think the narration works to some extent during this section, with the voice done by Leah Senior, it can be very amusing to see her talk about such gruesome ideas happening in the story. It can be very distracting however from the melodic ideas happening in the background and vice versa. I'm pretty torn on whether I like or dislike it because of how it's placed in the context of the songs. The outro 'Life/Death' is one of my favourite bits because it hones in a lot more on the narration, and uses some cool effects to accompany it, like the sound of the altered beast dying which sounds awesome.

Lord of Lightning/Balrog: I think that all in all this section has some similar issues with focus, but it's not as bad as the first section by any means. The themes are more solidified with specific songs generally, and the songs are longer so there's a lot less intense back and forth juggling of themes. It's just the narration once again infiltrating the song a little bit too much for my liking. This section sets up in a similar way with the song The Reticent Raconteur using synths to do the theme before actually singing it, in this case it's the Lord of Lightning theme. There's some fake throat singing happening in this section, which I do like how it bookends the first and last songs of this part. The lyrics in this part are some of my favourites like the 'You made the atom split, it caused a massive rift!' line in Balrog that I love. Floating Fire as well has some cool descriptors like the 'Sky is bleeding hair' line. The lyrics are certainly very well thought out, and are very detailed in their descriptions, which I do enjoy just reading them like a poem-story more than anything. The effects on this part in particular are used really well with the synths and guitars doing a more show don't tell approach. For example the guitar feedback plus the spam tapping makes for a really cool lightning sound effect throughout the songs. That distorted effect is just so neat to listen to honestly, it adds to the intensity in a clever way while aiding the actual story. There's an organ used in Balrog that adds some new colour to the songs interlude as well, giving a very unholy vibe to what's happening. Also the end of Balrog with the callback to Trapdoor using a really strange sound effect I can't even name, but it sounds sick! Speaking of, there's a ton of references to other albums in this album. I didn't mention it, but the Evil Death Roll bass happens in the first part. This part features references to Nonagon Infinity in some really subtle and very obvious ways. The first song of this part 'Some Context' is literally just People Vultures, Lord of Lightning also just straight up has the lyrics 'Nonagon, Nonagon, Nonagon Infinity!'. However, as I mentioned in the Nonagon Infinity review, that line in particular actually uses the same melody as a small section of Big Fig Wasp, just slowed down. That was mind blowing to discover initially, and will still be one of my favourite callbacks they've done. Lord of Lightning also has a bass line from I'm in Your Mind Fuzz at the end. And of course the Trapdoor reference at the end of Balrog. Side Tangent: I'm really curious why the Trapdoor theme was placed there of all places because in this section they talk about the beginning of the battle and not the Balrog itself. I would presume that they kind of shoehorned Trapdoor into the storyline seeing as how ambiguous the lyrics are and how the video isn't particularly relevant as far as I can tell. I think having a returning theme like this was really cool to listen to as a fan, but to me it seems a bit weird to place it on this part of the song specifically. I can brush it off because it actually is a really sick reference. The reason I mention all of these references is to dictate how carefully they will approach these albums. Callbacks are some of my favourite things to hear in music, especially cross-album stuff, so props to these guys for just going at it and adding a bunch in this section for story reasons. Another reason is that they very rarely use the themes head-on (besides Some Context) and will usually change them slightly to be a little bit more difficult to see on a first listen, if you know their other music well.

Han-Tyumi and the Murder of the Universe: Another synth heavy intro, which seems to continue the formula they've set up here in the three parts. It's strange how something so chaotic could be considered predictable under these circumstances. I enjoy it, but hearing a very similar setup 3 times in a row feels like it's pushing it a bit. This part definitely feels a lot better organised, with some songs dedicated to Han-Tyumi, and some to Stu's vocals. The riffs are a lot more consistent, and granted they're not my favourite, the songs tend to hold their own pretty well. The highlight of this section is certainly the bionic voice using the text-to-speech 'UK, Charles'. Han-Tyumi (anagram for Humanity) closes off the 3 parts with a story about vomiting and accidentally killing the entire universe. Honestly, I was kinda disappointed with this ending a little bit. Don't get me wrong, it's certainly an interesting concept, especially with how it delves into the bizarre mentions of sex, pleasure, and galaxies from a self induced munting session. I just think personally it goes on too much of a tangent, and after about the 5th time they mentioned various descriptions of vomiting, I got the point. This section had some really strong moments especially in the beginning of the title track 'Murder of the Universe' and songs like 'Digital Black'. It's just that in comparison to the other sections, it feels somewhat lacking in something new. The voice is great, but it's not enough for me personally. It reuses a lot of the sound effects and synths already heard, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but that's another thing that's holding me back from liking this section as much. Okay I will admit though that the Soy Protein Munt Machine is absolutely hilarious, and especially when the voice kicks in.

Issues: This album tried to do too much in too little time. It can be incoherent and distracting at times with just how much stuff it's trying to accomplish. It somehow also manages to be tedious with its themes on top of everything. To me, especially nearing the end, it just doesn't manage to stick the landing with its final act. This album is great in concept, but they certainly did the best they could under the circumstances.

Strengths: There were some pretty strong melodies on this one, maybe like a 60/40 good to meh ratio. The lyricism could be really interesting and unique at times with how expressive they were. There was really great use of synths and mixing as well. From a purely storytelling point of view, it's really cool! Just maybe needed more fine tuning.

Overall this album has some good and some bad, but it's certainly an accomplishment of the band nonetheless. It was a difficult thing to pull off, and if anyone could even come close to doing something as intensely creative and experimental as this in a hard rock setting, it's these guys. I'm giving it 3 stars, though for me it's somewhere in the 3.4 stars range.