King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard: Infest the Rats' Nest review – A harsh test on the ears

Infestation: Scares rather than inspires
Getty Images
Harriet Wolstenholme16 August 2019

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard are a busy bunch. With 15 albums in seven years, the Melbourne seven-piece are making music with a sense of urgency that pairs well with social commentary on Infest the Rats’ Nest.

The Gizz dabble with apocalyptic “cli-fi” that mirrors our current anxieties about the planet. Where on-the-pulse sentiment wins, the instrumentals lack appeal — unless you’re a fan of head-banging thrash metal.

It scares rather than inspires; a rogue detour from their blues-rock predecessor Fishing for Fishes.

Planet B opens on an aggressive note with slapdash guitar riffs and the doomsday line: “There is no Planet B.” The lyrically arresting Mars for the Rich is equally pessimistic through a guttural slur: “Mars for the privileged, Earth for the poor.”

Admittedly, their sweltering sound fuelled by oily electric guitars will have you on the edge of your seat and conveys a fitting sense of climate emergency, but the listening experience is an effort.

The Gizz’s disturbing prophecy has a traumatic pace best reserved for death pits or Armageddon. Their anxiety-inducing formula may suit the current zeitgeist but it’s a harsh test on the ears.

The London gigs you absolutely have to see in 2019

1/16

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in