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CRITIC REVIEWS
85
Overall, Murder of the Universe is an audacious, wild masterwork by a band who can never rest.
80
An intense, ingenious and utterly insane listen, 'Murder Of The Universe' is another brilliant addition to King Gizzard's already stellar and ever-expanding discography.
80
‘Murder of the Universe’ stands out because it perfects what makes the band special, rather than moving anything forward. Those tired of the joke might not be interested, but for the kind of person that religiously rewatches Black Dynamite, it’s glorious.
80
An ambitious project, King Gizzard succeed into enticing you into fully absorbing yourself into their wild, bizarre universe.
80
In true madcap Gizzard fashion, the band’s proggiest album turns out to also be their most visceral and vital. Murder of the Universe may be built from the band’s now-familiar krautpunk battle plan, but their ability to execute outsized architectural complexity at manic, warp-speed velocity is no less astonishing.
75
Through heavy magical journeys with some of the most intense and explosive rock on a record this year they make an interesting narrative out of their lengthy recording. While it definitely stands out though, the record definitely will split listeners on its overall quality as a record.
75
Murder is hellishly dark, terminally weird and subsequently very funny. Though the Gizz do not immediately seem to be thematically concerned with the dull trappings of earthly reality, the fear and doom-laden intensity characterising the record certainly seem to neatly reflect our troubled times.
74
A creepy conceptual effort that manages to incorporate despair, angst and the apocalypse into one not-so-neat-and-tidy package, it boasts a title that perfectly sums up those sentiments to a tee.
70
Maybe by the end of 2017, five records of this headache-inducing madness might be too much, but, at least for now, those reptilian magicians have got us wanting more. Bring on album number 11. Let’s embrace the weirdness.
70
The album is a nice diversion for King Gizzard, though it's not very adventurous or experimental; it's mostly fun, but a little predictable -- more like something they should have given away free instead of calling it an album and selling it. Still, anytime King Gizzard hit the studio, the result is worth hearing, and even run-of-the-mill Gizzard leaves most neo-psych freaks swimming in their sizable wake.
68
The issue with King Gizzard is not that they are poor musicians, but that they have flooded their own market, effectively diluting their product. That ‘Murder of the Universe’ plays like three lengthier songs rather than a genuine LP makes the psych rockers’ promise of five albums feel somewhat hollow.
60
Murder… is a sci-fi concept album in three parts, narrated throughout by fellow Australian Leah Senior, and whether you enjoy it or not rather depends on your tolerance levels for sci-fi concept albums featuring characters called Balrog.
60
It's mostly fun, but Murder of the Universe isn't for everyone. That's for sure.
60
Murder of the Universe might be King Gizzard's most musically and conceptually ambitious project to date, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired.
55
I can’t help but feel like the narrator is holding my hand through these tales instead of letting me absorb them for myself. It’s a difficult combination of rock and storytelling, and it’s possible that the album is the wrong medium for the expression.
33
Like most jam-band efforts, it was likely a lot more fun to create than it is to listen to; you can practically hear the band giggling in the background.
Okay so let me explain...
When I originally was listening to all of King Gizzard's discography, I kind of set this one aside as a more experiential and thought-provoking release of theirs. Like "okay this is really cool, but they have better albums." And it has been like that ever since about an hour ago now...
I listened to the whole thing, from front to back, which, for some odd reason, I had never done before with this record. After finishing the album, I was just like "oh ... read more
When I originally was listening to all of King Gizzard's discography, I kind of set this one aside as a more experiential and thought-provoking release of theirs. Like "okay this is really cool, but they have better albums." And it has been like that ever since about an hour ago now...
I listened to the whole thing, from front to back, which, for some odd reason, I had never done before with this record. After finishing the album, I was just like "oh ... read more
Thank you very much to @TreyLikesBands for sending me this suggestion!
I've never actually listened to one of King Gizzard's albums before, considering how many they have released in such a short amount of time you'd think I could have even accidentally stumbled into them by now!
This album makes me think of mid to late 90's cartoon openings for some reason, like a really high energy action packed theme song.
Which of course I mean as a compliment! I could see people from many different ... read more
I've never actually listened to one of King Gizzard's albums before, considering how many they have released in such a short amount of time you'd think I could have even accidentally stumbled into them by now!
This album makes me think of mid to late 90's cartoon openings for some reason, like a really high energy action packed theme song.
Which of course I mean as a compliment! I could see people from many different ... read more
Murder of The Universe is definitely a thousand times easier to listen to as a full album or in the 3 seperate chunks, cause nearly every track in each of these sections sounds identical. I'm not sure why there isn't a version that's just 3 whole songs, but anyway, that's my short little rant done.
Basically, Murder Of The Universe tells 3 different stories separated over 3 groups of tracks, and the actual result is insanely well-performed, weird, off-the-wall, insane and just all-around hard ... read more
Basically, Murder Of The Universe tells 3 different stories separated over 3 groups of tracks, and the actual result is insanely well-performed, weird, off-the-wall, insane and just all-around hard ... read more
Jesus, God, Lord in the tittyfucking Heavens I wish this was just 3 really long tracks. This album, as i'll state, is extremely good, but JESUS CHRIST does splitting the three tracks up like this help anyone? I guess for newcomers it makes the songs easier to digest, but sooner or later they are just gonna become accustomed to these THREE LONG SONGS and just listen to the album like so. It's a damn shame that we don't have a version that is just three long songs, at lest on streaming. It would ... read more
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Year End Lists
| #24 | / | Rough Trade |
| #27 | / | Louder Than War |
| #90 | / | The Quietus |
Track List
- A New World
- Altered Beast I
- Alter Me I
- Altered Beast II
- Alter Me II
- Altered Beast III
- Alter Me III
- Altered Beast IV
- Life / Death
- Some Context
- The Reticent Raconteur
- The Lord of Lightning
- The Balrog
- The Floating Fire
- The Acrid Corpse
- Welcome To an Altered Future
- Digital Black
- Han-Tyumi, The Confused Cyborg
- Soy-Protein Munt Machine
- Vomit Coffin
- Murder of the Universe
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Added on: April 10, 2017