King Gizzard releases unique album

In June of 2022, fresh off the release of their first double album “Omnium Gatherum,” Australian experimental rock band King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard announced their momentum will not be slowing down. As the band gears up for their long-delayed North American tour, they will have a ton of new material, as they’ll release three albums in October. The first of the three, titled “Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms, and Lava,” was released on October 7. The title’s acronym, which stands for the seven modes in western music, represents the seven tracks of the album. With only a title and a tempo to guide their recording process, “IDPLMAL” is an album that proudly showcases the talent of King Gizzard. The record opens with “Mycelium,” an ode to the psychedelic state that falls on the more tame end of King Gizz’s spectrum. The breezy, playful jam perfectly transitions to the next track “Ice V,” which was the first single released from the album. The song is reminiscent of 70s bands such as The Mothers of Invention or Santana, with its latin-inspired groove and jazzy chords. After “Magma,” a nineminute, jazzy jam session, its twin song “Lava” follows. Clocking in at over six minutes runtime, it is the shortest song on the album, but definitely not one to be overlooked. The 13-minute epic that is “Hell’s Itch” is next, with the lyrics following the psychedelic theme that was introduced at the beginning of the album. In a statement released by frontman Stu Mackenzie, he says that everything about the recording process was a collaborative effort, even down to the lyrics. This is shown to be accurate, as for the entirety of “Hell’s Itch,” it feels as though someone is telling a trippy story. “Iron Lung,” the second single to be released, is definitely a highlight. It is a groovy and intense psychedelic rock song that has influences of Parliament-Funkadelic and WAR all throughout. Its accompanying video, which features an abundance of moving, colorful visuals, perfectly captures the essence of the song. The album ends with “Gliese 710,” a song that is darker lyrically, but compelling with its uneasy tone. “Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms, and Lava” is an album that has so far shown to be a highlight in King Gizzard and the Wizard Lizard’s discography. The band will release two more albums in October, those being “Laminated Denim” on Oct. 12, and “Changes” on Oct. 28. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard is a band that is showing they will not be slowing down anytime soon, and fans will be ready to consume their next masterpiece.