Murder of the Universe

Murder of the Universe
Studio album by
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard
Released23 June 2017 (2017-06-23)
RecordedEarly 2017
StudioFlightless HQ
Genre
Length46:38
Label
ProducerStu Mackenzie
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard chronology
Flying Microtonal Banana
(2017) 		Murder of the Universe
(2017) 		Sketches of Brunswick East
(2017)
Singles from Murder of the Universe
  1. "Han-Tyumi and the Murder of the Universe"
    Released: 11 April 2017
  2. "The Lord of Lightning vs Balrog"
    Released: 30 May 2017

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 in Australia,[4] 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.[5]

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.[6]

Concept and storyline

Murder of the Universe is a concept album split into three separate stories, called suites, each containing elements of spoken word to carry a narrative.[7] The first two suites feature Leah Senior's narration,[2] while NaturalReader's "UK, Charles" text-to-speech application narrates the final suite.[8]

The first suite, The Tale of the Altered Beast, explores themes of temptation and tells of a human who stumbles on a mystical human/beast hybrid creature 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.

I think it's the most narrative-driven thing we've done – it's three distinct, but somewhat interrelated stories.

—Stu Mackenzie[7]

The second suite, The Lord of Lightning vs. Balrog, focuses on an epic battle between two entities dubbed The Lord of Lightning and Balrog, who represent the forces of light and darkness, respectively. The suite 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 defeats him, eventually leaving him as a burning corpse in "The Acrid Corpse". The Lord of Lightning then departs, choosing not to harm the townsfolk anymore.

The third and final suite, 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 in a type of grey goo scenario: and so the universe is murdered.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic73/100[9]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]
The A.V. ClubD+[11]
Clash8/10[2]
Classic Rock[12]
Exclaim!6/10[13]
The Irish Times[1]
The Line of Best Fit7.5/10[14]
Paste7.4/10[15]
Pitchfork8.0/10[16]
Under the Radar8.5/10[17]

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 favorable reviews".[9]

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."[10]

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."[13]

Accolades

Publication Accolade Year Rank Ref.
Rough Trade Albums of the Year
2017
24
[18]

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.

Vinyl releases have tracks 1–12 on Side A, and tracks 12–21 on Side B; "The Lord of Lightning" is split between the two sides.[19]

Suite 1: The Tale of the Altered Beast
No.TitleLength
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"1:00
Total length:19:48
Suite 2: The Lord of Lightning vs. Balrog
No.TitleLength
10."Some Context"0:16
11."The Reticent Raconteur"1:05
12."The Lord of Lightning"5:06
13."The Balrog"4:29
14."The Floating Fire"1:54
15."The Acrid Corpse"1:00
Total length:13:50
Suite 3: Han-Tyumi and the Murder of the Universe
No.TitleLength
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.[20]

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)[21] 3
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[22] 139
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[23] 115
New Zealand Heatseekers Albums (RMNZ)[24] 9
Scottish Albums (OCC)[25] 58
UK Albums (OCC)[26] 94
US Billboard 200[27] 106
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[28] 6
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[29] 15
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[30] 20

References

  1. ^ a b Clayton-Lea, Tony (21 June 2017). "King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard: Murder of the Universe – prog-rock walks the earth once more". The Irish Times. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d Egan, Liam (5 June 2017). "King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Murder Of The Universe". Clash. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  3. ^ Bains, Callum (20 August 2019). "'Infest the Rats' Nest' Sees King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard Embrace Their Inner Thrash". PopMatters. Retrieved 25 August 2019. While their 2017 progressive metal album Murder of the Universe suffered from unnecessary content,
  4. ^ "King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard". Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  5. ^ Perry, Kevin EG (12 November 2016). "King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard: can the psych band release five albums in one year?". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  6. ^ Moskovitch, Greg (25 November 2016). "Aussie Heavy Bands Are Slamming King Gizzard's ARIA Win". Tone Deaf. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  7. ^ a b "BBC Radio 6 Music – Stuart Maconie's Freak Zone, King Gizzard & and Lizard Wizard, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard". BBC Online. 18 June 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  8. ^ "Free text to speech with Naturally Sounding Voices Online Demo – Free NaturalReader". Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  9. ^ a b "Reviews and Tracks for Murder of the Universe by King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard". Metacritic. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  10. ^ a b Sendra, Tim. "Murder of the Universe – King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard : Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  11. ^ Ihnat, Gwen (23 June 2017). "Big Boi, Jeff Tweedy, Young Thug, and more in this week's music reviews". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  12. ^ Moody, Paul (21 June 2017). "King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Murder Of the Universe album review". Classic Rock. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  13. ^ a b Schulz, Cosette (23 June 2017). "King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard Murder of the Universe". Exclaim!. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  14. ^ Smith, Emma (23 June 2017). "King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard's latest is a no holds barred prog monster, again". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  15. ^ Zimmerman, Lee (20 June 2017). "King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard: Murder of the Universe Review". Paste. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  16. ^ Berman, Stuart (29 June 2017). "King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard: Murder of the Universe Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  17. ^ Dransfield, Scott (23 June 2017). "King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard: Murder of the Universe (ATO) Review". Under the Radar. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  18. ^ "Albums of the Year". Rough Trade. 14 November 2017. Archived from the original on 12 July 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  19. ^ Murder of the Universe at Discogs (list of releases)
  20. ^ Track listing and credits as per liner notes for Murder of the Universe album
  21. ^ "Australiancharts.com – King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard – Murder of the Universe". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  22. ^ "Ultratop.be – King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard – Murder of the Universe" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  23. ^ "Ultratop.be – King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard – Murder of the Universe" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  24. ^ "NZ Heatseekers Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 3 July 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  25. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  26. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  27. ^ "King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  28. ^ "King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  29. ^ "King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  30. ^ "King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 5 July 2017.