CRAZY NAME, CRAZY ALBUMS

Four corners of the Gizzverse, mapped by STEVIE CHICK.

NONAGON INFINITY

(Heavenly, 2016)

Though its infinite “sonic Möbius strip” format suggested gimmickry over substance, the modular, interlocking structure of Nonagon Infinity sharpens its prog-metallic math-rock attack. The complex production – which Stu Mackenzie navigated via piles of hand-scrawled diagrammatic maps – almost drove the Gizzard King insane; the motorik gallop of Evil Death Roll proves it was worth it.

FLYING MICROTONAL BANANA

(Heavenly, 2017)

Under the spell of Selda Bağcan and Erkin Koray, Mackenzie’s search for “the notes between the notes” saw him strap on an electric guitar modified to replicate the microtonal sounds achievable on a traditional Turkish bağlama (the titular Flying Microtonal Banana). The resulting set of middle-eastern psychedelia remains Mackenzie’s favourite Gizzard release.

POLYGONDWANALAND

(self-released, 2017)

Gizzard’s twelfth consolidated Nonagon’s shifting time signatures and FMB’s arcane melodic palette into their most satisfying full-length yet. Released as free open-source sound files, fans have since bootlegged the album – with Gizzard’s blessing – in a plethora of gonzo formats, including nonagon-shaped vinyl, 8-tracks, reel-to-reels and 3.5-inch floppy disks.

INFEST THE RATS’ NEST

(Flightless, 2019)

Finger-tapping into his youthful adoration of hardcore thrash, Mackenzie’s scarifying metal-opera, set in a dystopian near-future where the rich have abandoned an Earth rendered uninhabitable by mankind’s selfishness, relocating to the unsullied Mars. Savage, satirical and blackly hilarious, especially on Self-Immolate (“I have gone insane-o/I lust for volcano”).