On March 8th, 2022, the Australian polymorphs King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard announced the release of their 20th album, entitled Omnium Gatherum, as the second studio album of 2022. With the announcement, King Gizzard released the first single from the album, an 18-minute progressive rock epic called “The Dripping Tap.” Always venturing into a more expansive territory, this incredible group culminates all their compositional traits into this one career-defining work.
Powered by electric guitar riffs and frothy jams, “The Dripping Tap” takes the heavy King Gizzard of the past and stretches it like their other continuous works. Born from a free-for-all collaboration with another Australian band, leader Stu Mackenzie and the other bandmembers add in a tight songwriting structure that engages the listener to the end. In short, it satisfies Mackenzie’s promise that Omnium Gatherum is the band’s “boldest, most ambitious and most far-reaching release yet.”
Describing the shifting nature of the music of King Gizzard, the Gizzverse has taken many forms over ten years of releasing music. The lead-up to Omnium Gatherum comes from the heaviest of King Gizzard releases, beginning with the 42-minute powerhouse Nonagon Infinity.
This record maintains constant propulsion throughout and remarkably keeps the same musical motifs around for the entire album. When you get to the end of Nonagon Infinity, it just goes right back to the beginning! They also rocked the following year with a prog-rock concept album, Murder of the Universe.
The culmination of these heavy experiments came in 2019 with Infest the Rats’ Nest, a full-on heavy metal record highlighted by thrashy riffs and growled singing. Though “The Dripping Tap” is not equal in heaviness to this last record, the band could reach these extremes on other parts of Omnium Gatherum.
Right now, there is no release date for Omnium Gatherum. All we know is that it’ll happen sometime in 2022, and judging by the prolific nature of this band, it might not even be the last of the year!