“K.G.L.W.” or “K.G.L.W. (Outro),” as it is often listed, is a long, microtonal metal opus that closes the band’s third microtonal album L.W.. While the song’s lyrics are incredibly simple, using repeated chants of the title, the music is complex, with an unusual song structure and a plethora of time changes, not to mention a unique assortment of sound effects. The song pairs with the opening track of K.G., which shares its name and its central motif, although it expands upon the idea to create the band’s longest microtonal track to date.
While talking about the intro of K.G. on the Tape Notes Podcast, Stu described how the song came about: “This was one of the last. It was the very last that came together for K.G., that’s for sure. This intro was. And the record needed a theme song, it honestly was as simple as that, and the gentle kind of, like, folk song thing was what was first but as soon as I kind of got this riff down and sent it around it was something that more than one person said, like, ‘we need to do this as a doom metal version.’” In that same interview he said that it was originally short like the K.G. version but based around chugging riffs, though he couldn’t find a recording of that version and called it “boring and pointless.” Wanting to reintroduce the motif, Stu instead opted to create a “linear” song as opposed to a typical song structure, where “ideas come in and they don’t come back.” He did this by creating a sequence of time changes with Cavs, where each new riff added to the track pushes the time signature up (usually by one). The song’s home is in 7/4 (prominently heard in the choruses) but at 1:49 we hear a chugging rhythm that Stu considers as 1/4. The next instrumental section is technically in 4/4, although Stu marks it as 2/4 for its syncopated rhythm. At 2:27 is a section in 3/4 which leads to 4/4 and then 5/4. The final time signature before the second chorus is in 6/4, bringing us back around to the 7/4 base. At 4:09 the band skips 8 and goes to a nasty 9/4, before an expansive 11/4 at 4:30. The heavy groove that follows is at 15, 17, 19 and 21 with a 4/4 beat to go back into the chorus.
The lyrics in the song were kept simple, as the track was meant to focus on, as Stu put it, “power and extremeness.” While the drum track was kept simple recording-wise, there are up to six guitar tracks and two bass tracks with added synth-bass on the final version. Stu said the intro was recorded last, but the final addition was a sequence of sound effects that Joey had put together on top of the bounced track and given to Stu a day before mastering began on L.W.. Included are the sounds of MRI machines, hydraulic hammers, drawbridges, chainsaws, nail guns and angle grinders. The final track was played by Ambrose (harmonica), Cavs (drums), Cook (hammer and anvil), Joey (MRI machine/hydraulic hammer/drawbridge/chainsaw/nail gun/angle grinder) and Stu (guitar/vocals/bass/synthesizer/percussion), and was recorded by Stu and Cavs. The final mix was done by Stu.
In the lead up to the release of L.W., the song was featured in a Jason Galea-made trailer called From the bowels of hell, comes L.W. (real footage) which depicts the sculpture seen on L.W.’s album cover being pulled out of lava by a group of skeletons. “K.G.L.W. (Outro)” would go on to be released as the closer of L.W. on February 26th, 2021. A rehearsal session with Lucas was later included in the video Lukey’s Rig.
The song made its live debut during the band’s first post-lockdown show on 2021-02-23 at the Croxton Park Hotel in Naarm (Melbourne), where it appeared as the closer. It would remain a closer for the band’s fully microtonal shows that year, sometimes with spacey improvisational sections. Throughout 2022 the song was in regular rotation and was typically paired with “K.G.L.W. (Intro).” The two would work together to open and end the microtonal section of their live shows, although this would end by September of that year, leaving the outro to be played on its own. In this state, the song has often appeared in its usual spot as a way to close the microtonal of a show — although it also has shown up as an occasional opener, like on 2023-02-25.