King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard - 'Gila Monster'
King Gizzard complete a long awaited return to their thrash sound in latest track
Four years on from their acclaimed thrash metal album ‘Infest the Rats Nest’, modern rock's most prolific band, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, are once again returning to their heaviest form. While ‘Gaia’ and ‘Predator X’ from last year’s ‘Omnium Gatherum’ featured a thrash metal sound, they were exceptions to the rule on an album that attempted to show the bands full variety. ‘Gila Monster’ has been released in the build up to their 24th full length studio album ‘PetroDragnoic Apocalypse’ and features a signature surreal music video as a companion.
Fans have been eagerly anticipating another full thrash release from the band for a while now, due to KGLW returning to other former styles not too long ago. For example; the band had previously returned to their microtonal sound after a four year break with dual albums ‘K.G’ and ‘L.W’ finishing their release schedule in 2021, featuring the same concepts from 2017’s ‘Flying Microtonal Banana’. It's clear from the singles artwork and album title that it’s not just the thrash metal sound that the Aussies are returning to, but also the themes found in ‘Rats Nest’. Destruction and doom arising from a man made climate disaster is a narrative that will unfortunately resonate as much in 2023 as it did in 2019.
The song itself is undoubtedly a classic King Gizzard sounding track. Stu Mackenzie’s metal growl is back, as well as the shredding guitar riffs, of course. Throw in some zany but catchy hooks, lyrics about giant monsters, and an unhinged vocal passage from Ambrose Kenny-Smith; you then have all the makings of a track that unmistakably belongs to King Gizzard. To a certain extent it feels like something an AI bot may come up with if you asked it to make a KGLW song, due to how many elements the band is using that feel very similar to previous releases… With that being said, what I love about ‘Gila Monster’ is just how fun it is. It's music that makes you want to jump around, a great achievement when considering the grim subject matter that it tackles.
Words by Josh Wilkey
