King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard – L.W.

As indicated by the title, King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard’s seventeenth full-length essentially serves as the second half of 2020’s K.G. and picks up where it left off stylistically. L.W. (Flightless Records) sees the completion of the microtone trilogy that started with 2017’s Flying Microtonal Banana, emphasizing a similar mix of Middle Eastern scales, rhythmic percussion, and loosely flowing song structures. ‘Static Electricity’ and ‘See Me’ do the best job of dialing that vibe with their upbeat pacing while the grandiose chugs and life-affirming chants make the closing ‘K.G.L.W.’ one of the band’s most over the top Doom Metal dives to date.

The album may not be among the best of King Gizzard’s extensive discography, but still makes for an enjoyable listen and may even be better than its immediate predecessor by a hair. It’s rare to see for the band to repeat themselves, let alone end up with a “business as usual” album, but it still maintains a sense of fun and energy. And even with that, there’s still no telling what they’ll end up doing next.

7 / 10

Acid Mammoth – Caravan

With the cover art of Acid Mammoth’s third album featuring what looks like the elephant from 2020’s Under Acid Hoof just standing in the opposite direction, it isn’t too surprising to see it offer more of the same of their established Stoner Doom sound. However, the band has stepped up their riff game for Caravan (Heavy Psych Sounds) with tracks like ‘Psychedelic Wasteland’ and the eleven-minute title track standing out in that regard. The musicianship feels more potent with the vocals, in particular, sitting more prominently in the mix than before. A year’s turnaround may not have led to any drastic innovations, but it just might be their most cohesive album so far.

7 / 10

Sunnata – Burning In Heaven, Melting on Earth

Based in Warsaw, Poland, Sunnata plays a variant of Stoner-Sludge that mixes the spiritual sprawls of Shrinebuilder and Neurosis with the Desert Rock bravado of Kyuss. Their fourth album leans more on the former elements than past efforts as the dual vocals take a subtle demeanor and the guitars are similarly less abrasive than the borderline Industrial riffs on previous outings. Tracks like ‘God Emperor Of Dune’ and ‘Volva (The Seeress)’ stand out for their esoteric atmosphere and bass-heavy builds, but there’s still plenty of room for swagger on cuts like ‘A Million Lives’ and ‘Black Serpent.’ The varying dynamics and smooth transitions between songs result in a well-flowing listen that suits the ritualistic vibes. Sunnata has a great track record for exploring a different facet of their sound with each album, and Burning In Heaven, Melting On Earth (Independent) may be their easiest to get a feel for to date.

You can buy all three of these albums at Bandcamp by clicking on the player.

 9 / 10

CHIRS LATTA