King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Laminated Denim (2022) Review

A polyrhythmic and therapeutic work of art.

Laminated Denim, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s 22nd studio album, is the spiritual successor to an unreleased album known as Made in Timeland. Made in Timeland was intended to be background music for King Gizzard marathon concerts, but their original marathon concert, “Made in Timeland,” was canceled due to corona. Because of this, Made in Timeland was never officially released outside of a vinyl record pressing… until recently. Made in Timeland was released alongside Laminated Denim, Laminated Denim being an anagram of Made in Timeland. Made in Timeland is a completely electronic project, with two tracks spanning 15 minutes each. Much like Made in Timeland, Laminated Denim takes the same concept but expands on it, with two 15 minute tracks that are so much fun to listen to and drift off.

These two songs are on par with their previous album: Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms, and Lava. The polyrhythmic beats layered on top of eachother are so entrancing, and I keep trying to count along with the songs but get lost and just give up. Everything lines up so perfectly, without any one rhythm sounding out of place. The pacing on this album is great, without any improvisation lasting too long. Each idea is long enough to where I am interested the whole time and then it changes to something completely different, making the thirty minutes feel like a couple minutes. I love the use of percussion, and the tambourine at random points is a great touch. There is also an incredibly faint background kick drum that plays every second. It is very hard to hear, which is fine because if it was any louder it would distract me and make the songs less cohesive.

I am going to give this album a 9.5/10, the two songs make for a great thirty-minute listen. I started listening to this album while cleaning my room, and it helps me stay focused and stay on task. Like I mentioned in my previous review, King Gizzard continues to improve their sound, implementing better mixing, compex polyrhythms, and hypnotic riffs.

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