Infest the Rats' Nest

Infest the Rats' Nest is the fifteenth studio album by Australian psychedelic rock band King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. It was released on 16 August 2019 by the band's record label, Flightless, and ATO Records. The album sees the band exploring further into heavy metal and thrash metal which they had only briefly touched upon on previous albums.[2][3] The album's themes deal with climate change impacts, destruction of the environment and human resettlement to other planets.[4] It is the band's final studio album to feature band member Eric Moore before his departure a year later.

Infest the Rats' Nest
Studio album by King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard
Released	16 August 2019
Genre	Thrash metal[1] stoner rock[1]
Length	34:50
Label	Flightless ATO
Producer	Stu Mackenzie
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard chronology
Fishing for Fishies (2019) Infest the Rats' Nest (2019) Live in Paris '19 (2020)
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard studio chronology
Fishing for Fishies (2019) Infest the Rats' Nest (2019) K.G. (2020)
Singles from Infest the Rats' Nest
"Planet B" Released: 8 April 2019 "Self-Immolate" Released: 28 May 2019 "Organ Farmer" Released: 25 June 2019

At the ARIA Music Awards of 2019, the album was nominated for ARIA Award for Best Hard Rock or Heavy Metal Album,[5] losing to Northlane for Alien.

Background

Infest the Rats' Nest's first single, "Planet B", was given a surprise release on 8 April 2019, before the release of the band's fourteenth studio album Fishing for Fishies, along with an accompanying music video. The song not being featured on the track list for Fishing for Fishies as well as its distinct contrast to the sounds on that album led to speculation that the band might release a second album in 2019.[6]

During a Reddit AMA on 30 April, the band confirmed the next album was in the works and would include "Planet B", but they had not decided if it would be released in 2019. The album was initially believed to be named Auto-Cremate due to the band's use of the name as their username in the AMA, but was later confirmed to be titled Infest the Rats' Nest.[7]

On 29 May, the band released the album's second single "Self-Immolate" with another accompanying music video a week after a teaser on social media.[8] On 18 June, the band posted another teaser on social media which confirmed the album's title. The album was officially announced three days later with a release date of 16 August.[9][10] On 25 June, the band released a third single, "Organ Farmer", along with a music video that included fans as extras.[11]

Infest the Rats' Nest was composed and recorded mostly with only three of the band's usual seven-man lineup (Stu MacKenzie, Joey Walker, and Michael Cavanagh) and showcases influences derived from heavy metal, mixing the band's signature garage rock guitar tones and psychedelic rock sounds with thrash metal. The album makes consistent use of double kick drumming influenced by heavy metal pioneers Motörhead. Mackenzie also said that the album's strong thrash metal influence was derived from bands such as Metallica, Slayer, Exodus, Overkill, Sodom, Rammstein and Kreator.[12]

On the album's themes, frontman Stu Mackenzie explained that the A-side is about current problems, especially ecological disaster and climate change, and is set in the near future, and the B-side is about the story of a group of rebels attempting to settle on Venus after being forced to leave Earth.[12][13]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	77/100[14]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[15]
Classic Rock	[16]
Exclaim!	8/10[17]
NME	[18]
Pitchfork	6.7/10[19]
Under the Radar	[20]

Infest the Rats' Nest was well-received by music critics upon its release. On the review aggregator website Metacritic, the album has a score of 77 out of 100 based on 14 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[14] In the review for AllMusic, writer Tim Sendra concluded that "King Gizzard aren't sugarcoating anything, either musically or thematically, and that makes for their most timely and political album yet. It's also one of their most musically compelling and impressive, too, and that's saying a lot."[15]

Track listing

Vinyl releases have tracks 1–4 on side A, and tracks 5–9 on side B.[21]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Planet B"	Stu Mackenzie	3:56
2.	"Mars for the Rich"	Mackenzie Joey Walker Michael Cavanagh	4:11
3.	"Organ Farmer"	Mackenzie Walker Cavanagh	2:39
4.	"Superbug"	Mackenzie	6:43
5.	"Venusian 1"	Mackenzie	3:20
6.	"Perihelion"	Mackenzie Walker Cavanagh	3:11
7.	"Venusian 2"	Mackenzie Walker Cavanagh	2:44
8.	"Self-Immolate"	Mackenzie Walker Cavanagh	4:28
9.	"Hell"	Mackenzie Walker Cavanagh	3:38
Total length:			34:50

Personnel

Credits for Infest the Rats' Nest adapted from liner notes.

• Stu Mackenzie – vocals (tracks 1–9), guitar (tracks 1–9), bass (tracks 6, 8, 9), recording, mixing
• Joey Walker – bass (tracks 1–5, 7, 8), backing vocals (tracks 3, 5–9), guitar (tracks 6, 9)
• Michael Cavanagh – drums (tracks 1–9), backing vocals (tracks 7–9)
• Cook Craig – guitar (tracks 2, 4, 5, 6, 9), backing vocals (tracks 5–9)
• Ambrose Kenny-Smith – backing vocals (tracks 4–9), harmonica (tracks 1, 2, 6, 9)
• Eric Moore – backing vocals (tracks 8 and 9)

Additional personnel

• Michael Badger – recording
• Joe Carra – mastering

Charts

Chart (2019)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[22]	2
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[23]	85
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[24]	66
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[25]	51
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[26]	69
Scottish Albums (OCC)[27]	35
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[28]	7
US Billboard 200[29]	64
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[30]	3
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[31]	8

References

1. "LIVE MUSIC PICKS: AUG. 15-21". Salt Lake City Weekly. 14 August 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
2. Minsker, Evan (20 June 2019). "King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard Announce New Album Infest the Rats' Nest". Pitchfork. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
3. Reilly, Nick (21 June 2019). "King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard announce thrash metal album 'Infest The Rats' Nest'". NME. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
4. Newstead, Al (21 June 2019). "Less than half of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard recorded their new metal album". triple j. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
5. "ARIA Awards: 2019 ARIA Awards Nominated Artists Revealed". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). 10 October 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
6. Reed, Ryan (8 April 2019). "Hear King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard's Metallic New Song 'Planet B'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
7. Parker, Jack (30 April 2019). "King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard's Reddit AMA: What We Learnt". All Things Loud. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
8. Strauss, Matthew (28 May 2019). "Watch King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard's Video for New Song 'Self-Immolate'". Pitchfork. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
9. Mathieson, Craig (20 June 2019). "Melbourne's prolific King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard show their metal". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
10. Parker, Jack (20 June 2019). "King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard to Release Thrash Metal Album". All Things Loud. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
11. Minsker, Evan (26 June 2019). "Watch King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard's Video for New Song 'Organ Farmer'". Pitchfork. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
12. Kennelty, Greg (23 June 2019). "KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD Announces Thrash Album Infest The Rats' Nest". Metal Injection. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
13. Gray, Julia (20 June 2019). "King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Announce New Album 'Infest The Rats' Nest'". Stereogum. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
14. "Reviews for Infest the Rats' Nest by King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard". Metacritic. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
15. Sendra, Tim. "Infest the Rats Nest - King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
16. Sharp, Johnny (16 August 2019). "King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard have released... an old-skool thrash album?". Classic Rock Magazine. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
17. Haughey, Ryan (13 August 2019). "King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard Infest the Rats' Nest". Exclaim!. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
18. Leivers, Dannii (21 August 2019). "King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – 'Infest The Rats' Nest' review". NME. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
19. Berman, Stuart (17 August 2019). "King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard: Infest the Rats' Nest". Pitchfork. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
20. Mayne, Stephen (16 August 2019). "Infest the Rats' Nest". Under the Radar. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
21. Infest the Rats' Nest at Discogs (list of releases)
22. "ARIA Australian Top 50 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. 26 August 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
23. "Ultratop.be – King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard – Infest the Rats' Nest" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
24. "Ultratop.be – King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard – Infest the Rats' Nest" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
25. "King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
26. "Offiziellecharts.de – King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard – Infest the Rats' Nest" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
27. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
28. "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
29. "King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
30. "King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
31. "King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 27 August 2019.

External links

• MARS FOR THE RICH