King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Nonagon Infinity

'Prolific', 'psychedelic' and 'Aussie' are all ways to describe King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. You have to put all those words together to get the full picture though, and on this year’s output, Nonagon Infinity, we get to see a band putting everything they’ve learned so far into one album.

Where last year’s Paper Mache Dream Balloon left a lot to be desired in terms of the developing cult status in their preferred mode, this album quenches the thirst. An energetic, conceptually never-ending album, Nonagon Infinity is a fantastic listen. It especially warrants repeat listens to appreciate the links between tracks.

‘Robot Stop’ screams into ‘Big Fig Wasp’, but not all tracks flow quite so heavily. It’s the turn down of the pace, a carrying bass line or even the dying of guitar which gives birth to the next song. “Nonagon infinity opens the doors” is the crucial message, with each song a door into another song, slightly menacing, but at the same time hypnotic.

You can easily peg this as psychedelic rock, with the two halves of that formula taking turns to run with the pack. ‘Gamma Knife’ is a sleek and driving example of the mixture, with hooting harmonica and double drumming to rip through the track. There is even some classic galloping metal in ‘Road Train’, making the rock sounds of old vogue once more.

Matching the wandering, but hooky melodies to the guitaring lends a lot of repetition and charm to what you’re hearing. “The universe has an invisible face” in ‘Invisible Face’ shows up some of the themes here. Whatever you can unpick, it will usually be done so as an attempt to wrap your head around the world and our existence.

Whether they’re trying to make a statement or not, the overriding feeling you get is that everything cyclical, interlinked. A variety of clattering rock is available to soundtrack this voyage and it’s a great one to take if you’re ready to run around chasing your own tail. A sci-fi, psych-rock masterpiece, this is the kind of album which will be overlooked, only to gradually gain an epic status.