King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Omnium Gatherum Review

Regardless of where you fall, this album is one more piece in the ever-evolving story that is the Gizzverse.

Any band would be proud to be where King Gizzard finds themselves in 2022.  In only 12 years, Gizz has released 20 fully-realized albums that span numerous fanbases of psych rock, jam band, metal, and everything in between. Beyond the albums, the band can pride themselves in the creation of a bootlegger program which has allowed for record companies and diehard fans to gain exposure and a physical connection to a band they love. Beyond the music, Gizz can pride themselves in continuously using their music and influence to raise money for charities, local to Australia and abroad.  Additionally, the band's artist Jason Galea, has expanded the importance of imagery in music, creating masterful music videos, album covers, live visuals, and posters that have brought the music and lyrics to life like Dr. Frankenstein.  All the while, the band has held true to their musical roots of experimentation and unorthodoxy which keeps Gizz from falling into career-musician predictability.  It seems they can do no wrong.

The band’s prolific nature seems to be propelled mostly by the urgency to create records for the sake of the art itself and to then share the music with fans. This is further driven by an extremely hungry fanbase that devours each new release with an ever-growing intensity. Always awaiting the next release regardless of the time passed since the last release. In a supply/demand paradox, it’s hard to tell if the band’s musical supply is increasing to match the fans’ demands, or if the band is supplying so much that it makes the fans consume more. At any rate, Omnium Gatherum comes less than 2 months since the release of the last album, Made In Timeland. As a Gizzhead, I am admittedly spoiled. Gizz’s first double album, Omnium Gatherum is a collection of unreleased songs that didn’t find a home on previously released albums. This marks the band’s third album of this design, following 2014’s Oddments and 2017’s Gumboot Soup. In the trivial world of musical criticism, this design makes the album extremely hard to “evaluate” on a holistic level, as the album was never intended to be a cohesive idea. 

For simplicity, Oddments can be described as a charming collection of mostly lighthearted songs that span from micro-songs, surf rock, to a pop song about Australia’s favorite condiment. The general fan consensus is that none of these songs were ever intended to have a home on previously released albums. Conversely, Gumboot Soup is solely composed of songs that were intended for the four other 2017 albums, but didn’t make the cut. Most Gumboot tracks are strong, standing on their own, as can be seen with their reoccurring live appearances.

Omnium Gatherum’s structure seems to overarch these two previous smorgasbord releases. Numerous tracks are cut from the same cloth as previous albums, while other oddball tracks seem to be homeless from inception. While the album features strong tracks like The Dripping Tap, Magenta Mountain, Evilest One, Gaia and Red Smoke, it also features numerous oddball cuts like Sadie Sorceress and super-fusion The Grim Reaper which sound more like experimental Beastie Boys tracks than Gizz. Still, many of the tracks like Kepler-22b, Ambergris and Presumptuous appear to come from a lounge album (a kin to Sketches of Brunswick East) that was never fleshed out…or maybe has yet to be released. Many songs on this album also find strength in their potential to be woven into live medleys and transitional segues between other live standards. This can most notably be seen with The Evilest One’s synth line which is extremely reminiscent of Cyboogie. With the release date coming at the beginning of the band’s first world tour since 2019, it will be interesting to see how the band incorporates Omnium Gatherum’s tracks into the constantly changing setlists.

As a superfan, the only real obstacle in appreciating a Gizz album is being in the right frame of mind to appreciate the genre they are delving into with that release. (i.e. it's difficult to listen to their pop masterpiece Butterfly 3000, if I'm in the mood for metal a la Infest the Rats Nest.)  Without casting them into a genre, Gizz is arguably a "post-genre" band. They are never stuck within one style or one method, yet they seem to always pull it off. It's as if they have a secret sauce that has allowed every album to be special and identifiable in their vast discography. However, for many tracks on Omnium Gatherum, Gizz seems to have either misplaced the special sauce or couldn't figure out a way to apply it. As easy as that is to type, it's extremely hard to pin down how some of the tracks could've been more effective. How could Gizz have made hip hop experimentation, rapping, swoony Amby solos, etc. feel more valid in the legacy that is Gizz?  Maybe that's why these songs struggled to find a home on any other album. What appears most likely is that Gizz is content with releasing a fun junk drawer album that can be enjoyed by an array of fans. The average Gizzhead shouldn’t have trouble finding a few new favorite tracks on this album. 

The magic of Gizz appears in the fanbase’s extremely varied reception of the music. Depending on the musical preferences of the listener, different sets of comparably devout fans will fall equally as hard for completely different tracks.  While hip-hop fans might love the Beastie Boys stylings of Sadie Sorceress, Metal fans will likely gravitate to the Mastodon feel of Gaia, and the jam band fans have most likely already gravitated to the 18-minute single The Dripping Tap. Regardless of where you fall, this album is one more piece in the ever-evolving story that is the Gizzverse.