Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard–Album Review
Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard–Album Review
Who is King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, and why are they following me? This humorous anecdote from the 1980s originally referred to the Grateful Dead due to their seemingly endless and contagious concert tours. However, over the past few years, this phrase could be equally applied to the highly ambitious Australian group King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, also known as KG&LW or “the Gizz.” The group is increasingly omnipresent in the world of psychedelic music this decade, and in the post-pandemic years, no band has reached higher to ascend to the top tier of psych bands.
In 2022, KG&LW released no less than five long-play albums, three of which were released in October alone. Each of these LPs is unique, well-varied, and deserving of mention; however, we simply can’t review them all. While Omnium Gatherum and Changes are also stellar
No band has reached higher to ascend to the top tier of psych bands.
releases, the album that stands out the most is Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava. Though several months have passed since its release in October, this is an album that is better reviewed belatedly than not at all, noted in Psychedelic Scene’s year-in-review as one of the best psych releases of 2022.
It is important to note that the album’s abbreviated title IDPLMAL is intentionally an acronym for the seven Greek modes of music – Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Locrian – each of which are explored in order on this concept album.
It begins innocently with “Mycelium,” a carefree, radio-friendly jaunt featuring a flute, rotary organ, a decidedly Phishy guitar riff, and warm saxophone by Ambrose Kenny-Smith. Vocalist/guitarist Stu Mackenzie’s falsetto fondly croons about the root-like structures that form fungal colonies and typically spawn mushrooms, while describing experiences often associated with the consumption of psilocybic “magic” mushrooms. Despite the song’s subject, it is deceptively poppy, rooted in the dominant major scale that is standard in pop rock. The opening track and the overall album contain the frequent exaltations of “woooo!” that have become commonplace in the Gizzverse, with four of these outcries in this song alone. “Mycelium” serves as an accessible and ambivalent appetizer for the musical journey to come.
The “woooo’s” are occasionally effective to kick the band into an energetic instrumental bridge and are more potent live in concert as a rallying cry for the crowd.
“Ice V” signals the band’s descent into the maelstrom and crepuscule of Dorian minor-driven rock. Lyrically, Ice V refers to a rare and complex crystalline phase of water that is formed under high pressure, also referencing Jupiter’s massive moon Ganymede which likely contains a massive liquid water ocean with large quantities of naturally-formed Ice V. “Earth-born cities stripped away as the ice queen hypnotically sways. Queen of ice suffice to say, engulfing all in crystal dismay.” The polyrhythmic staccato jam builds in intensity to simulate the increasing pressure until “ice five has arrived,” prompting the band to ponder “will we survive?”
Jazzy undertones ring in the shamanistic “Magma,” driven by Michael Cavanaugh’s percussive drumming. Equally catchy and unsettling due to its Phrygian flavor, “Magma” is highlighted by a fiery, fuzz-laden guitar lead, groovy bass, and luminescent lyrics written by Mackenzie, Kenny-Smith, and multi-instrumentalists Joey Walker, Cook Craig, and Lucas Harwood.
Jason Galea
As the volatile themes persist in “Lava,” Kenny-Smith’s sax and Mackenzie’s flute return to provide an airy, atmospheric intro that soon crashes into a trance-inducing tribal beat with escalating guitars. The pulsating yet poignant lyrics are a stark reminder of the inevitable death and destruction of everything within the lava’s reach, recalling last year’s volcanic eruptions in Indonesia, Hawaii, and the South Pacific.
“Hell’s Itch” features a fluttering flute and pleasant piano which contrast the breathy yet violent lyrics. The protagonist tears into his own skin to exorcise an indiscernible insect, leaving us terrified to discern whether the bane is real or imagined. The accompaniment contains musical hints of a “Mind Left Body” jam as well as Grand Funk Railroad’s “I’m Your Captain.” The album’s longest song stretching over thirteen minutes, the centerpiece of “Hell’s Itch” is a glorious, hypnotic foray with guitar theatrics and an off-beat bass line, intensifying to a rave-up crescendo.
“Iron Lung” starts with a hip, fluid beat by drummer Cavanaugh, colored by mellow piano and jazz guitar. Kenny-Smith delivers each verse with growing vivacity, building to a brazen rap cadence. After the requisite “woooo” the group breaks into a brash jam, effectively elevating the musical tension which is contrasted by organ-driven semitones, and frantic guitar fraught with wah-wah and fuzzy distortion.
At some point, while listening to this release or the Gizz in general, you may find yourself wondering: what is the deal with all the “woooo’s?” After all, this album contains no less than thirteen of these jubilant exclamations voiced by Mackenzie, at least half of which are superfluous. The “woooo’s” are occasionally effective to kick the band into an energetic instrumental bridge and are more potent live in concert as a rallying cry for the crowd. However, when overused in the studio as often as every two minutes – as is the case with “Mycelium” and “Iron Lung” – the “woooo’s” become parodic, and could be dismissed as pedantic if not for the musical complexity that lies within.
Related: The Top 100 Neo-Psychedelic Albums
The band’s metal influences and microtonal inclinations, absent from the album until now, suddenly burst through in the climax of “Iron Lung” and continue in the concluding track. “Gliese 710” describes a distant star that is gradually approaching our sun, while also lyrically recalling each of the album’s themes. “Melt the ice. Reheat the dead. Terraform the planet. Compress the lungs. Eat the mushroom. Cool the lava. Watch the new star dance upon the night sky.”
It wouldn’t be a King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard album without atypical time signatures, which are included at long last on “Gliese 710.” While the opus is initially grounded in 7/8 time (seven beats per measure), the rhythm section subtly switches to 9/8 time (nine beats per measure) during the frenetic, metallic jam, escalating to an apocalyptic finale and mortal end.
Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava is a thoughtful concept album that is a total geek-out – lyrically rooted in earth sciences, while mellifluously exploring each of the seven classic modes of music. The album depicts the timeless, epic skirmish of man versus nature and its primal forces, a desperate struggle that quickly becomes futile when faced with its most intemperate and elemental extremes.
Jason Galea
Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava is available as a digital download on the group’s Bandcamp page at https://kinggizzard.bandcamp.com/album/ice-death-planets-lungs-mushrooms-and-lava , and also on Spotify and Apple Music
A limited number of vinyl LPs have been sold online at https://gizzverse.com/collections/home-page-vinyl/products/ice-death-planets-lungs-mushrooms-and-lava
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