Murder of the Universe
Murder of the Universe | ||||
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Studio album by King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard | ||||
Released | June 23, 2017 | |||
Recorded | Early 2017 | |||
Studio | Flightless HQ | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 46:38 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer | Stu Mackenzie | |||
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard chronology | ||||
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Singles from Murder of the Universe | ||||
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Murder of the Universe is the tenth studio album by Australian psychedelic rock band King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. It was released on 23 June 2017 by Flightless Records in Australia,[1] ATO Records in the United States, and Heavenly Recordings in the United Kingdom. It is the second of five albums released by the band in 2017.[2]
The album was nominated for Best Hard Rock or Heavy Metal Album at the ARIA Music Awards of 2017, despite controversy over the band's win the previous year with Nonagon Infinity.[3]
Concept and storyline
Murder of the Universe is a concept album split into three separate stories, each containing elements of spoken word to carry a narrative.[4] The first two chapters feature Leah Senior's narration,[5] while NaturalReader's "UK, Charles" text-to-speech application narrates the final chapter.[6]
The first chapter, The Tale of the Altered Beast, explores themes of temptation and tells of a human who stumbles on a mystical human/beast hybrid dubbed the Altered Beast. The story starts with the pursuit of the human being, who slowly takes an interest in the idea of being altered – something considered taboo in the human's society. The perspective then changes to the Altered Beast itself, who is filled with murderous intentions. Confronted by the Beast, the human experiences a craving for power and slowly succumbs to the temptation of becoming altered. Accepting their mutual fate, the beast and human merge, creating a newly altered beast, who now craves even more flesh. However, the Altered Beast suffers greatly from absorbing another consciousness – it loses track of its identity and eventually dies of insanity, decaying into the earth.
—Stu Mackenzie[4]
The second chapter, The Lord of Lightning vs. Balrog, focuses on a big battle between two entities dubbed The Lord of Lightning and Balrog, who represent the forces of light of darkness, respectively. The chapter starts with a foreword from the perspective of a storyteller who recalls the battle. The action begins with the track "The Lord of Lightning," which is about the general destruction caused in a town by lightning fired from the entity's finger. He is perceived as evil and malevolent by the townsfolk. However, when he fires lightning at a corpse, it is somehow reanimated as a creature known as Balrog. This creature chooses to ignore the Lord of Lightning, and instead wreaks further havoc on the townspeople. The Lord chooses to fight the Balrog and confronts him, eventually leaving him as a burning corpse. The Lord of Lightning immediately departs, choosing not to harm the townsfolk anymore.
The third and final chapter, Han-Tyumi & The Murder of the Universe, is about a cyborg in a digital world who gains consciousness and, in confusion, decides to strive only for what a cyborg cannot do: vomit and die. He decides to create a creature dubbed the "Soy-Protein Munt Machine" whose only purpose is to vomit. When the creature rejects his love, Han-Tyumi decides to merge with the machine, which causes it to lose control. This machine explodes and infinitely expels vomit, which eventually engulfs the entire universe: and so the universe is murdered.
Reception
Professional ratings | |
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Aggregate scores | |
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 73/100[7] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Clash | 8/10[9] |
Exclaim! | 6/10[10] |
Pitchfork | 8/10[11] |
Murder of the Universe received positive reviews from music critics. On Metacritic, the album holds an average critic score of 73/100, based on 15 reviews, indicating "generally favourable reviews".[7]
AllMusic's Tim Sendra wrote in his review for the album that, "King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard's second album of 2017 is a rampaging, feverish blast of sci-fi prog punctuated by whizzing synths and robotic voice-overs."[8]
Exclaim!'s Cosette Schulz commented that "The 21-track album is certainly the strangest and most draining release that King Gizzard have made to date; not as ambitious as the seamlessly looping Nonagon Infinity, or this year's earlier release Flying Microtonal Banana, but a feat nonetheless."
Accolades
Publication | Accolade | Year | Rank | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Rough Trade | Albums of the Year | 2017 |
24 |
Track listing
All music composed by King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard; all lyrics written by Stu Mackenzie; stories written by Mackenzie, except "Murder of the Universe" written by Joey Walker and Mackenzie.
Chapter 1: The Tale of the Altered Beast | ||
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No. | Title | Length |
1. | "A New World" | 0:57 |
2. | "Altered Beast I" | 2:23 |
3. | "Alter Me I" | 0:45 |
4. | "Altered Beast II" | 4:28 |
5. | "Alter Me II" | 1:25 |
6. | "Altered Beast III" | 2:14 |
7. | "Alter Me III" | 1:26 |
8. | "Altered Beast IV" | 5:10 |
9. | "Life / Death" | 0:59 |
Total length: | 19:47 |
Chapter 2: The Lord of Lightning vs. Balrog | ||
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No. | Title | Length |
10. | "Some Context" | 0:16 |
11. | "The Reticent Raconteur" | 1:05 |
12. | "The Lord of Lightning" | 5:07 |
13. | "The Balrog" | 4:29 |
14. | "The Floating Fire" | 1:54 |
15. | "The Acrid Corpse" | 1:00 |
Total length: | 13:51 |
Chapter 3: Han-Tyumi and the Murder of the Universe | ||
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No. | Title | Length |
16. | "Welcome to an Altered Future" | 0:55 |
17. | "Digital Black" | 2:46 |
18. | "Han-Tyumi, the Confused Cyborg" | 2:21 |
19. | "Soy-Protein Munt Machine" | 0:30 |
20. | "Vomit Coffin" | 2:19 |
21. | "Murder of the Universe" | 4:09 |
Total length: | 13:00 |
Personnel
Credits for Murder of the Universe adapted from liner notes.[13]
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard
- Stu Mackenzie – vocals, Hagström F12 guitar, Roland Juno-60 synthesizer, Yamaha DX-7 synthesizer, Mellotron flute, Mellotron choir, Yamaha Reface YC organ, Fender Mustang bass, Natural Reader UK Charles
- Michael Cavanagh – '62 Maxwin drum kit, '61 Yamaha Tiger Red Swirl kit
- Joey Walker – Yamaha SG-3 guitar, Yamaha Reface YC organ, Roland JX-3P synthesizer, Roland Juno-60 synthesizer
- Ambrose Kenny-Smith – Hohner Special 20 harmonica, Yamaha Reface YC organ
- Cook Craig – Rickenbacker 620 guitar
- Lucas Skinner – Fender Mustang bass
- Eric Moore – management
Additional musicians
- Leah Senior – spoken word (tracks 1-9, 11-15)
Production
- Casey Hartnett – recording
- Stu Mackenzie – recording, production
- Michael Badger – recording, mixing
- Joey Walker – recording
- Joe Carra – mastering
- Jason Galea – artwork
Charts
Chart (2017) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (ARIA)[14] | 3 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[15] | 139 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[16] | 115 |
New Zealand Heatseekers Albums (RMNZ)[17] | 9 |
Scottish Albums (OCC)[18] | 58 |
UK Albums (OCC)[19] | 94 |
US Billboard 200[20] | 106 |
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[21] | 15 |
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[22] | 20 |
References
- ↑ "King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard". Retrieved 14 April 2017.
- ↑ Perry, Kevin EG (2016-11-12). "King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard: can the psych band release five albums in one year?". The Guardian. Retrieved 2017-02-27.
- ↑ http://tonedeaf.com.au/aussie-heavy-bands-slam-king-gizzards-aria-win/. Missing or empty
|title=
(help) - 1 2 "BBC Radio 6 Music – Stuart Maconie's Freak Zone, King Gizzard & and Lizard Wizard, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
- ↑ "King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Murder Of The Universe". Clash Magazine. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
- ↑ "Free text to speech with Naturally Sounding Voices Online Demo – Free NaturalReader". Retrieved 2017-06-23.
- 1 2 "Reviews and Tracks for Murder of the Universe by King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard". Retrieved 2017-06-22.
- 1 2 "Murder of the Universe - King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard : Songs, Reviews, Credits". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2017-06-22.
- ↑ "King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Murder Of The Universe". clashmusic.com. Retrieved 2017-06-08.
- ↑ Schulz, Cosette (23 June 2017). Exclaim! http://exclaim.ca/music/article/king_gizzard_and_the_lizard_wizard-murder_of_the_universe. Retrieved 21 July 2017. Missing or empty
|title=
(help) - ↑ "King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard: Murder of the Universe Album Review | Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
- ↑ "Albums of the Year". Rough Trade. November 14, 2017. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
- ↑ Track listing and credits as per liner notes for Murder of the Universe album
- ↑ "Australiancharts.com – King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard – Murder of the Universe". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
- ↑ "Ultratop.be – King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard – Murder of the Universe" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
- ↑ "Ultratop.be – King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard – Murder of the Universe" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
- ↑ "NZ Heatseekers Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 3 July 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
- ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
- ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
- ↑ "King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
- ↑ "King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
- ↑ "King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 5 July 2017.