King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard is a band that is in constant motion. The Australian psych-rock outfit passed the 20-album milestone on Friday with Omnium Gatherum, which is also the group’s first double LP. With a world tour already in progress, the band used this 16-track collection to look back at some ideas that maybe weren’t finished yet. The result is one of the more well-rounded King Gizzard albums in recent years.
The tile is Latin for “a collection of miscellaneous people or things”, says frontman Stu Mackenzie. Like a Jackson Pollack splatter painting, however, Omnium Gatherum‘s beauty comes from its lack of conformity.
Starting off with the mammoth 18-minute “The Dripping Tap”, King Gizzard serves up a microcosm of what to expect on the album. The sprawling epic of a lead single shuffles from vintage soul homages to underground psychedelic decadence, eventually droning on into oblivion. A precursor of things to come, Omnium Gatherum surveys over the vast expanse of stylistic territory that KGLW has already claimed while also setting a path toward new realms.
In the two slot is “Magenta Mountain”, a bouncy, synth-driven composition that induces whiplash to last year’s Butterfly 3000. At the album’s announcement, the band stated that the songs on Omnium Gatherum began as unfinished pieces from previous works, but quickly snowballed into new songs in some of the band’s first communal recording sessions post-lockdown.
“This recording session felt significant,” Mackenzie said at the time. “Significant because it was the first time all six Gizzards had gotten together after an extraordinarily long time in lockdown. Significant because it produced the longest studio recording we’ve ever released. Significant because (I think) it’s going to change the way we write and record music – at least for a while… A turning point. A touchstone. I think we’re entering into our ‘jammy period’. It feels good.”
Another prime revisitation is “Gaia”, which could have easily been lifted from the thrash metal contemplation on environmental sustainability, Infest The Rats Nest. Immediately following that is “Ambergris”, a late-night funk groove that floats along like the sperm whales whose digestive tract produces the titular substance. As the album carries on, darting between stylistic poles, the band breaks new ground on tracks like “Evilest Man”, “Persistence”, or the closing world music death march, “The Funeral”.
Tonally, Omnium Gatherum displays the best of the artistic diversity that has made King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard such an underground sensation. The approach was a novel one for the band, who normally commit to one concept or genre for an entire album. Though ostensibly a clearance sale of the band’s lingering back catalog, Omnium Gatherum fits together as a cohesive recap of the band’s latest chapter, while also dropping hints as to where the story may lead next.
Stream King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s new album Omnium Gatherum via the player below. The band is currently in the midst of a world tour, performing on Sunday in San Luis, CA. For tickets and a full list of tour dates click here.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Omnium Gatherum