MELT REVIEWS

Artist: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard 

Album: Polygondwanaland

Genre: Progressive Rock/Psychedelic Rock

Rating: 7/10

Very few bands would set a goal to release five albums in one year like King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard has. Then again very few bands are like King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. Okay, no one is like King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, but what seemed like a flat out crazy idea is turning out to be the most sane idea for the Australia based band. Why wouldn’t they release five albums in one year? Even if these albums were flops it’s still astonishing that in between touring these guys are able to create five albums worth of material in one year. Do these guys ever go home? Do they sleep? Maybe they truly are magical entities like their name suggests.

The band’s fourth album of the year Polygondwanaland is another victory. It’s as Psychedelic, Prog heavy, and bizarre as we want our Gizz to be. Though it may not be as hypnotizing as their first album of the year Flying Microtonal Banana, or as conceptual as the following album Murder of The Universe, it still has that sense of zany psychedelia with much focus and dedication. The balls out jam sessions of elevator music on LSD that were present on their previous and third album of the year Sketches Of Brunswick East force their way into Polygondwanaland, but this time around they demand our attention instead of humbly providing music for background. Along with lead singer Stu Mackenzie’s usual otherworldly lyrical content that for the most part was absent on that previous record is back in full force and is more cryptic than ever. What exactly is the crumbling castle he speaks of on the opening track Crumbling Castle, a ten minute odyssey that can be in the running for best Prog Rock song of the year. Whatever he’s going on about he definitely adds narrative to this other dimension the instrumentation puts us in, and from there on the bulk of the songs all run together with very little room to breathe, and it’s pulled off effortlessly.

This album may not be as obnoxious or hallucinogenic as some of their previous work, but it solidifies the band’s leading status in the world of Prog Rock. We’re less than two months away from the end of 2017, and the band has one more album to release to make good on their promise. Can they do it? There’s no doubt in my mind.

Written By: Steven Sandoval

Date: November 17, 2017

These past couple of months have been a treat for fans of A Perfect Circle, (unless you were one of the concertgoers who got kicked out for taking a photo at one of their shows) the band have embarked on a new tour, and they’ve recently released a brand new song titled The Doomed. The band have now released a brand new music video to accompany it. Watch the video below:

Street Sects have been on a roll lately, and the duo don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. The band is set to release a new 7 Inch single titled Things Will Be Better In Hell on February 9th. Check out the cover art below:

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard are two albums away from accomplishing their goal to release five albums in one year, and the band have unveiled the title and release date of album number 4. It’s titled Polygondwanaland and it will be released for free this Friday. That’s right, free. Check out the cover art below:

 

Check out out their newest track Crumbling Castle:

There has been much speculation about a possible new Eminem album. With cryptic posts from the rapper which look like ads for a new album titled Revival, and the just released new track Walk On Water featuring Beyoncé, a new album seems imminent. Check out the track below:

Björk’s follow-up to Vulnicura will be released on November 24th, and she has finally revealed the tracklist. The album was produced by Arca, who co-produced her previous album. The album will feature the previously released single The Gate. Check out the tracklist below:

Utopia Tracklist:

1. Arisen My Senses

2. Blissing Me

3. The Gate

4. Utopia

5. Body Memory

6. Features Creatures

7. Courtship

8. Loss

9. Sue Me

10. Tabula Rasa

11. Claimstaker

12. Paradisa

13. Saint

14. Future Forever

 

 

 

 

Industrial music’s most exciting new band “Street Sects” have unleashed a new music video for their track “Blacken The Other Eye,” and unsurprisingly, it is very dark. Watch the music video below:

Australian Electronic duo The Presets have returned with their first piece of new music since 2012’s Pacifica. Is there a new album on the horizon? There’s a huge possibility. Check out the track below:

 

 

Post-Punk legends Wire have been at it for a very long time, constantly experimenting and refusing to be pigeonholed in a corner. From their Art Rock days to their explorations in the world of Electronic music, to their recent releases of Alternative goodness, the band will go on as long as they can, but it all started with their groundbreaking debut Pink Flag, an exercise in Punk Rock and a sign of what was to come after. Happy 40th birthday.

 

 

   Here is a quick roundup of the album’s released this month that I didn’t get a chance to review. Everything from King Krule’s moody new album to Fever Ray’s return, October was a busy month.

Artist: Lou The Human

Album: Humaniac 

Rating: 7/10

Lou The Human may not be riding the Trap wave that is dominating the Hip Hop world at the moment, but his impeccable skills as an MC  (that’s right he can actually rap) make him an up and coming force to be reckoned with. Packed with minimal production very reminiscent of the 90’s simple but enthralling Boom Bap era and borderline  Horrorcore lyricism filled with themes such as drugs, murder, and sex, the MC’s debut project Humaniac finds him utilizing the influences worn on his sleeve to create a psychotic hybrid. According to Lou, his new music is even colder, and if that’s the case then we’re in for a Hellish ride.

 

 

Artist: Marilyn Manson

Album: Heaven Upside Down

Rating: 6/10

Following 2015’s surprisingly good album The Pale Emperor, Mr. Manson has returned with yet another album buried in it’s own nostalgia. What made Manson so intriguing in the 90’s was his fearlessness to touch on taboo topics, and with a sense of introspection his style separated himself from the Shock Rock forefathers that preceded him such as Alice Cooper and Kiss, but what worked for him then doesn’t quite work for him now. The same ol’ Manson cliché’s are tired at this point and this album is another flop that finds the aging rocker moving backwards instead of forward.

 

 

Artist: King Krule

Album: The Ooz 

Rating: 7.5/10

Noir soaked Punk Jazz, Archy Marshall’s gruff vocals, who would’ve thought this would be such an enticing combination? The Ooz is Marshall’s second full length album under the King Krule name, and it is a dark world of eerie sounds topped with Marshall’s moody and very personal lyrics of loneliness and despair. Though this album may be a little too self-indulgent at times, the impeccable attention to detail keeps the listener interested, and it is further proof that Marshall is shaping himself to be one of the most important songwriters of this generation.

 

 

Artist: Fever Ray

Album: Plunge 

Rating: 5/10

After 8 years Karin Dreijer of The Knife has returned with her follow-up to her critically acclaimed debut album under the Fever Ray name. Plunge holds back on the dark ambience that filled that first record and adds a lot more Synthpop into the mix, but unfortunately the result is a downright ridiculous sounding record filled with instrumentation that sounds like it’s imitating The Knife’s Deep Cuts album while Dreijer delivers cringeworthy lyrics plagued with annoying vocal effects. This thing tries to be eccentric but falls flat on it’s pretentious face.

 

Artist: Beck

Album: Colors

Rating: 4/10

The critic’s darling known as Beck has proven with his new album that yes, he can do wrong. This is uninspired watered down Indie Pop music that finds the beloved artist toning down his creativity to cater to the millennial radio standard. It’s forgettable and atrocious. Beck should know better.

 

 

Artist: John Maus

Album: Screen Memories 

Rating: 5/10

John Maus wasn’t kidding when he claimed that not much has changed with his new album. Delivering the same ol’ same ol’ all Maus is doing is showing us that he is a one-trick pony, and this isn’t even among some of his finest work under his usual style. Was this really worth the wait?

 

Steven Sandoval