King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation (2023)

After a few listens, I have begun to feel like this album is a significant step forward for King Gizzard's sound. The obvious comparison here would be to their 2019 album Infest the Rats' Nest, which also pays homage to the classic thrash metal sound. But on PetroDragonic Apocalypse, they are also clearly drawing upon the prog metal elements of, say, Murder of the Universe while also bringing the intensity and tightness of their playing, and the inventiveness of their songwriting, to the level beyond the next level.

This album prominently features complicated time signatures and time signatures changes, as well as a few polymeters. Drummer Michael Cavanagh has really honed his skills here, especially compared to ITRN, on which I felt the drums were a little loose, if not sloppy in parts. The guitar riffs meld really well with the drums, and together, they flow with seeming effortlessness from high-octane section to high-octane section. The songs 'Converge' and 'Dragon' really stand out to me in this respect.

And amidst the complex, proggy stuff, there is also no shortage of catchy material. I think thrash metal lends itself to this with how you can always swap in a simple, d-beat drum groove over even the most complicated riffs and it immediately makes for a glorious, head-banging ear-worm. This technique also lends a vaguely polymetric feel to some of the stuff.

That said, I don't think the album is perfect. For one, I think singer Stu Mackenzie relies too heavily on that monotone, half-harsh vocal delivery. Usually it enhances the sheer intensity of whatever section it is used for, but at times it seems a bit ungainly when trying to tackle more melodic sections (around 5 minutes in 'Converge' for instance). I feel like Stu could benefit from learning how to do true harsh vocals; this would give him the option to explore shaping his tone/delivery/timbre, and so he wouldn't have to rely on melody for these weaker parts.

I also think the album as a whole relies too heavily on simple pentatonic or blues riffs. There are major exceptions - 'Witchcraft' really excels in its use of harmonic minor and Phyrgian scales - but I was hoping I'd see more of the diminished, whole tone, or chromatic style riffing you hear prominently in, say, death metal (you hear it to an extent thrash metal too, of course). In particular, I think the song 'Gila Monster' is the weak link due to its lack of harmonic complexity, worsened by its relatively simple rhythmic features.

These are pretty minor criticisms, though, and as a whole the album really excels and has a ton of memorable moments. I find myself wanting to listen to this album over and over, and if that's not the mark of a good album, I don't know what is.

I really like King Gizz's more thrashy stuff! It's good fun!

I wonder when we're going to just get a short story or novel as an album name one day.