Releases > King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard > Murder of the Universe
Despondent, lugubrious, no future
We turned our bodies to computer
We are our own nature, abuser
No future, computer, abuser
Perhaps the most unique record in the catalogue, Murder Of The Universe is a dark, noisy, unashamed deep dive into the Gizzverse. Progressing through various forms of geeky psychedelic Metal, extensive spoken narration is used in conjunction with vocals. This narration is provided by the ‘Reticent Raconteur’ (folk singer-songwriter and label mate Leah Senior), and ‘Han-Tyumi’ the ‘confused cyborg’ (text to speech software). Between the lyrics and the poetry of the characters, an epic tale is spun in three acts; infamously dubbed ‘post-audiobook’ by music critic Anthony Fantano, it could be equally described as sci-fi metal opera.
The unavoidable fact is that MOTU defies description and must be heard to be comprehended.
What to listen to next:
• If you want the next Gizzverse album (clean and proggy)
• If you want another heavy album but less weird
• I feel like I missed whatever could have led up to this
• If you want another narrated story
• If you want to hear a little more from ‘The Reticent Raconteur’
• If you want another more subtle appearance from Han-Tyumi ‘The Confused Cyborg’
• I didn’t like this, give me something completely different
Album Credits
Murder Of The Universe - ℗ & © 2017 Flightless Records - Used by permission.
• Music by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
• Lyrics by Stu Mackenzie
• Stories written by Stu Mackenzie, Except Track 21, “The Murder Of The Universe” by Joey Walker and Stu Mackenzie
• Recorded by Casey Hartnett, Stu Mackenzie, Michael Badger and Joey Walker
• Produced by Stu Mackenzie
• Mixed by Michael Badger
• Mastered by Joe Carra
• Artwork by Jason Galea
| Side | Position | Track | Track Length | Times Played Live | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | A New World | 0:57 | 5 | |
| 1 | 2 | Altered Beast I | 2:23 | 35 | |
| 1 | 3 | Alter Me I | 0:45 | 91 | |
| 1 | 4 | Altered Beast II | 4:28 | 79 | |
| 1 | 5 | Alter Me II | 1:25 | 68 | |
| 1 | 6 | Altered Beast III | 2:14 | 73 | |
| 1 | 7 | Alter Me III | 1:26 | 38 | |
| 1 | 8 | Altered Beast IV | 5:10 | 33 | |
| 1 | 9 | Life/Death | 0:59 | 0 | |
| 1 | 10 | Some Context | 0:16 | 12 | |
| 1 | 11 | The Reticent Raconteur | 1:05 | 13 | |
| 1 | 12 | The Lord of Lightning | 5:07 | 181 | |
| 1 | 13 | The Balrog | 4:29 | 40 | |
| 1 | 14 | The Floating Fire | 1:54 | 0 | |
| 1 | 15 | The Acrid Corpse | 1:00 | 0 | |
| 1 | 16 | Welcome to an Altered Future | 0:55 | 46 | |
| 1 | 17 | Digital Black | 2:46 | 113 | |
| 1 | 18 | Han-Tyumi, The Confused Cyborg | 2:21 | 60 | |
| 1 | 19 | Soy-Protein Munt Machine | 0:30 | 11 | |
| 1 | 20 | Vomit Coffin | 2:19 | 76 | |
| 1 | 21 | Murder of the Universe | 4:09 | 29 |