they stated a while back this next albums going to be another synth album, then a few months ago they stated they would be doing a ying and yang kind of thing with them. people are theorizing they lead into each other to create a perfect loop
It's cool but it also feels like it had so much more potential to go into even further directions. Would've been cool if they leaned harder into the digital electronic math thrash combo, rather than just do a little tease at the end. I get theres this whole "ying yang" concept but to me it felt like a bit of a missed opportunity to make the album even better and push the experimentation EVEN further into something that's less a sequel to ITRN and more of a progression for the band's entire sound in general.
@SmallvillenerdTwo yeah but they like a do da chugga chugga and mixing the two is very difficult to do live since a majority of their newer synthy shit is either played or arpeggiated live with modular synths etc.
Thanks for reviewing PetroDragonic Apocalypse, Anthony! Now, when are you going to review Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation?
Even if KGLW was just making average music, it's crazy that they can keep up decent quality at _least_ for this long on this many albums. The fact that they often give us very good to great material is absolutely awe-inspiring.
Motor Spirit is an absolute ripper of a track. So glad Infest The Rat's Nest wasn't a one-off thrash album from Gizz, really hope they continue to drop a thrash album every few years.
Anthony- “2023 has been a mid year for music.” Also Anthony in June- “YOU GET A YELLOW FLANNEL! YOU GET A YELLOW FLANNEL! EVERY ALBUM GETS A YELLOW FLANNEL!”
I just saw them tonight at the hollywood bowl and holy fuck. these guys deserve all the praise in the world. their diversity and consistency are one of a kind. cannot wait to see the next banger they drop in 3 months lmao
Wow, that was 6th show of King Gizzard in the past year. It probably was their best concert that I’ve heard! They are all such talented musicians in so many different genres of music. One of the most exciting bands in recent memory!
Guilty of jumping into the album at Witchcraft and riding through Dragon - that sequence of tracks is just hitting all the sweet spots for me right now. And by golly the psychedelic-mystical-apocalypse themes in the lyrics are on another level.
They played the vinyl exclusive track at red rocks and I think it’s a shame that it isn’t on the current releases of the album. It adds a lot narratively being a spoken word track like they did with murder of the universe, but it clarifies that the themes are actually literal. There is a giant ass lizard eating witches
I’m surprised you didn’t mention the breakdown at the 6 minute mark of DRAGON. Literally the heaviest riff they’ve ever done. Makes me want to drive into oncoming traffic every time (but like in a good way) lol 🔥
Drive into oncoming traffic whilst bobbing and weaving and avoiding every single car, but only by millimeters Edit: it elicits that feeling, I’m not telling you to lol
This album is a 9 for me. They improved a lot in many ways of making metal without sounding like an attempt experiment of that genre. So, it made Gizzard a top tier genre-fluid band ever.
Cavs didn't even start out as a metal drummer at heart. Yet the fact he was able to completely grasp metal drumming in less than a decade later (Infest) and subsequently, managed to keep up w. the pros and legends out there in the course of just almost 4 years is nothing short of fantastic feat!🤯😆
It might be because I was so hungry for another thrash album from KG, especially with the teases we got on Omnium Gatherum, but right now this is my favorite Gizz album. To me this improves on Infest, my former favorite, in nearly every way, I think hugely in part to the elevated performance that came from a solid three or four years of band improvement. My main issue with Infest was it felt like they just never quite hit those soaring heights of intensity that you find on this record, like the Dragon breakdown, the Flamethrower intro, or all over Supercell. This is punchy, groovy, catchy, and brutal. I love it so much.
It is crazy how elder and "professional" bandas like Metallica take yeeeears to take out and album and it results being something like '72 Seasons'... which in my opinion is pretty souless, but KG&LW are constantly putting music out and most of it turns out to be really interesting... or killer, like this one in specific.
I just started listening to this band yesterday and I am astounded at their output as I learn more about them. Do they not tour and only release albums? I can't think of any other way this level of output is humanly possible while still delivering amazing material
@@conormurphy4328 Metallica has been around for 42 years, has only 11 studio albums and their latest one is dogshit. KGATLW has only been around for 13 years, yet in so much less time they have already released 24 albums and their latest is just as good as the rest of their material, all of which has been well-received. The boomer bands have nothing on them.
The fun thing about their metal albums is how organic and fun they feel. They genuinely sound like Australian indie nerds goofing around and parodying a metal style. Rat's Nest felt very much like this, but this album totally verifies that these guys genuinely know what they're doing.
By far some of the best instrumentation they’ve laid down. Great album from start to finish. Really looking forward to the follow up or the “yang” to this album they’ve been working on!
I honestly just think Metal is their best format, they are fun in a way that Metal is. Fun in a way that is strange and asks you to be scared but does not want you to be scared. It is just being epic.
@@hornyconvict I said *I honestly just think Metal is their best format, they are fun in a way that Metal is. Fun in a way that is strange and asks you to be scared but does not want you to be scared. It is just being epic.*
This is 10/10. It's stupid to grade music like this anyway, but this record is really good. I've been listening to it since the singles dropped, and I can't get enough. Fucking masterpiece.
I love that King Gizz experiments a lot with their style, I heard the next album’s gonna be techno, honestly just love that experimentation for an artist in general. Des Rocs got a string section for his new album, Dream Machine and I’m so excited to hear what that sounds like on rock songs when it comes out in August!
I put this on randomly out of curiosity and LOVED IT every song flows seamlessly together and because it's only 7 songs for 40+ minutes of thrash, this album does a lot with that time. My favorite track has to be witchcraft but every song is going on my liked playlist. Its a banger
At 37 years old I will admit that I entered metal music young but artists like Gizz is why I stick around and still poke my head in from time to time. Glad to see solid performances.
We think of King Gizz as like these genre nomads, and they definitely are, but their forays into metal really are something special. Between this and ITRN it’s clear they have a reverence for metal as a genre and put effort into exploring and dissecting the themes and theory of it, beyond what they’ve done in folk and blues and synth. I hope they keep revisiting it every four or five years and we get to see how they progress as musicians. Speaking of which, this was absolutely a showcase for Cavs as a drummer. That guy can fucking rip a kit to shreds, it’s incredible how far he’s come.
the 2020s Gizz albums may be a mixed bag for some, but damn, the band are clearly improving as musicians on basically every front, even using more keyboards live
I agree, the only problem I have with their sound is the bass. When the entire band switches to a heavier style, their bassist still keeps his vintage beatles tone, which absolutely disappears in the mix
20 years from now I feel like king gizzard will be remembered as one the greatest groups ever, their creativity, experimentation, raw talent, and ability to just constantly spew out new and exciting work is completely unmatched
My favorite bit of this album is all the riffs from other songs on the album, tucked gently into other songs on the album. Little pockets of sugar for your ears
It’s so cool. I don’t even think of a certain riff “belonging” to one song or another and others borrowing. They’re more like motifs shared among all of them equally. It makes the whole album feel like some sort of sprawling apocalyptic classical symphony in a way!
I was beyond impressed with this record easily a 9 for me they always pull out all of the stops when they dabble in metal. Every minute on this album really sucks you in and the ride it takes you on is so dark and gloomy that it’s awe-inspiring. Easily top 3 KGLW album for me.
maybe it sounds stupid but we need to start considering these guys as one of the best bands of all time, right? I mean they don't have a Dark Side of the Moon or Master of Puppets under their belt yet, but the sheer amount of good and amazing music is starting to get ridiculous
So much of this reminded me of Mötorhead in the best of ways, especially Michael’s Drum performance absolutely nailing Philthy’s Double Bass Kick. Never disappointed with these guys!
I just got back from 3 Gizz shows in a row (+ I caught them at Boston Calling), I’m glad I got to hear several songs off this album live, they’re so fun and it was so worth flying out to the other coast for. I’ve only flown to concerts for Gizz & Des Rocs, it’s a high honor from me
heard from a friend that those Gizz shows a few days ago were so much fun :) also OMG did i hear Des Rocs?! hello, huge fan here too 🐀 if i had the money i would travel anywhere for his shows, they’re that good
@@joaquin5929What's interesting this year is how condensed this year's big hits have been over the past few weeks. Usually the quality output is more spread out.
If every Needledrop score for an artist/band were added up, I think KGLW might be the highest ranking just from sheer consistency and quantity of releases.
i feel confident in saying that king gizz is already a top 20 band ever. Between their consistency, their ability to bend boundaries and push themselves, live performances and sheer volume of phenomenal albums, its all there. If they keep up this pace, at the end of their career they might legitimately have 10+ classic albums. What they're doing is simply unprecedented.
Great review. I've actually never listened to King Gizzard but I've just been loving this album. I was shocked when I saw how poor of a rating Pitchfork gave it. I really think every song is a banger and it doesn't overstay its welcome, which is probably good for how intense it is. I definitely am a fan of the Tool vibes. Hoping we get a few more albums of this vein from them.
After sitting with this album for a month, I can say it’s one of my favorite King Gizzard albums and I like it more than Rats’ Nest and I loved that record.
this is seriously just a banger, i have just listened and listened to the album and it is just brilliantly made prog metal, my favorite track is probably Supercell or Dragon, this is a 9 for me tbh.
Crumbling Castle, KGLW, and anything from the first half of Nonagon Infinity are some other great heavy cuts from their discography. Murder Of The Universe also has some heavier stuff on it, so it might be up your alley if you're cool with the spoken word parts.
@@honeycomblord9384I still don't understand why some people throw a fit about the spoken word parts. It's not constant and I think it fits the vibe and gives a fun story to the album.
This was my first experience with KGLW and really metal in general, for me it’s a 9 and makes me want to listen to more of their stuff and more metal in general
Just saw Gizz live at the Hollywood Bowl last night, greatest concert of my life. Plus they had this album selling early, so of course i had to get it. PLUS it's an exclusive version just for that night. Cheers ya'll
The GIZZ! My fellow Melbournians!!! Back with another album. Yeehhh!!! Looking forward to hearing Tony’s review of the new Queens record. I don’t think it will be overly complementary?!
The vinyl exclusive track is spoken word and adds a lot narratively to the album. It was played early in between shows at red rocks along with the whole album and it’s a shame that the track didn’t make it to digital
I just saw them live at the bowl and I will say, they are one of the best, if not the absolutely most incredible bands I have ever seen live. If you haven’t given them a chance, you’re missing out.
Love the energy on this album, also the percussion work, which adds so much vibe and is so beautifully drivy. A perfect "metal" record, if you need something refreshing out of that corner.
I have honestly fallen a bit out of the loop with King Gizz in the last several years, but their two metal albums have made me a fan of theirs all over again. This is up there with their best, for sure, IMO
I really love Ambrose's vocals on Gila Monster. Sounds like High on Fire mixed with Cattle Decapitation. Such a great style that works well with Stu's voice
there was a thunderstorm going up to Mammoth Mt. California last week when this album dropped. Having this on repeat in a thunderstorm was the best listening experience I have had so far.
dragon's lyrics are evocative of nuclear weapons, and so i think the dragon is an allegory for nuclear weapons, maybe not in the context of the whole album, but at least in the context of the song itself
Yep, seemed to me the "witches" were a bunch of scientists who split the atom and made a nuke to stop the war represented by storms. Won't be surprised if the second album which is meant to be a parallel/sequel will deal with the post-apocalypse
@@zacharygibson-brown1459 for me it was lines like "a shriek from space", "dragon descends, welcome to hell", "atomic space", and "scrambling jets and ballistic lies burned underneath lidless eye" that all really make me think of nuclear weapons, plus some of the content of the music video of this giant mechanical dragon destroying everything in its path. i know, probably shouldn't use the music video as reference, but galea is generally pretty good about making the videos match the intent of the song.
@@yoosh9034 lol possible, but given they've done albums in the past based on anxieties about the world like both KG and LW, as well as flying microtonal banana, it wouldn't surprise me if some anxieties from now slipped into petrodragonic apocalypse
as someone who loves classic thrash like kill 'em all and also king gizz but didn't love infest the rats' nest at all because to me it sounded like a combination that just sounded wrong even though it shouldn't, petrodragonic fixes every problem i had with the previous one. for me ignoring that it's a new album and i'm obsessed i think i'll like it as much as paper mache and mind fuzz, which are my favorite after the great nonagon, poly and motu.
Why? the only flaw this album has is that it is essentially retelling the story on Infest The Rats Nest but you could argue the same thing about several other KGLW album e.g Fishing For Fishes. However, they turn that flaw into a strength with an album that is even more conceptual than Infest The Rats Nest, all while every member of the band is has improved in leaps and bounds as musicians when mind you, they were already known as being versatile. I mean holy shit, Cavs drumming on this album holy shit!
@@danielirohto be fair I’d also add that the vocals for this album were just decent, not massively impressive, and there was a lot of song titles being repeated in choruses which gets a bit annoying. Especially in Gila Monster.
Great review. It gets a 9 from me, but that is partially because they are not really a metal band, yet they've pulled it off TWICE now. I still like Flying Microtonal Banana and Nonagon Infinity and I'm in Your Mind Fuzz better, and I still miss the dual drummers.
I've known of them for a while, but hadn't really listened to their stuff until a few days ago. Needless to say, I've been binging/indulging the fuck outta their music.
