At what point do we need to call an intervention for the members of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, seriously? The Australian band continue to be one of the most prolific acts in the world, and insanely diverse to boot: the ‘psych rock’ label that fit their early material so cleanly has long been discarded in favour of thrash metal, electronica, boogie rock, spoken-word rock opera, microtonal music and so many more, but even by their standards, ‘Alien Metal’ is an ambitious outing for KGLW. Their first full-blown techno project is a solid effort, if not quite out of this world.

Yes, even by the outrageous standards of Mackenzie and company, this one’s a stretch. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard have tried their hand at electronic music before on 2021’s ‘Butterfly 3000’ and 2023’s ‘The Silver Cord,’ but both records were still packed with the band’s usual writing devices and characterful performances (albeit with fuzzy guitar tones swapped out for glossy synths): ‘Alien Metal’ is a different beast altogether, and may just be the album that pushes the group further outside their wheelhouse than ever before. There isn’t much of a through line you could draw between these eight tracks and classics like ‘Nonagon Infinity’ or ‘Polygondwanaland,’ but then again, no fanbase could be better prepared for a curveball release than KGLW’s— if you’re not down to hear the group throwing vocoders, thumping drum sequencers and glitchy sci-fi sound effects your way, this simply isn’t the record for you.

And to their credit, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard truly have committed themselves to their new sound, as the racing ‘Sapience’ alerts you to pretty quickly. This opening track is a real standout, hitting you with some of the most intense climaxes and thrilling transitions that ‘Alien Metal’ has to offer: the song centres itself around a fairly simple melody for the most part, but it’s the way it continues to build higher and higher from that foundation that makes this such an exciting venture. Mackenzie and company aren’t coming out with the most adventurous or experimental dance music of all time, but it is impressive to see them taking to the genre with such confidence. The band have put together a mix full of sleek keyboard patches, endearing vocoder vocals and dependable drum samples, one that has ‘Alien Metal’ sounding excellent on the face of it.

We must reiterate, though, that KGLW are not a techno group, and as these eight tracks bounce forth with a commendable degree of momentum, that reality does become increasingly inescapable. The title track is the first to reintroduce vocals and, regardless of how quirky they may be, ‘Alien Metal’ feels like it grinds to a halt whenever they steal their way back in— the mindless repetition of “we don’t wish death upon you” on ‘Kill For The Steel’ has the cut feeling like a glorified interlude, and the opening two minutes of ‘Superheavy, Supercritical’ don’t fare much better. Mackenzie and co. dial the intensity of their arrangements down considerably here, on a record that was already lacking in real knockout moments: far too often, the band leave you waiting to get back into the action, spinning their wheels instead of packing out the dance floor.

The energy that made ‘Sapience’ such a strong tone setter comes back only sparingly across the rest of the album, absolutely to its detriment— when the band do wander back into the pocket on single ‘Level 5,’ complete with some of the darkest chord changes and busiest percussion on the record, it’s no surprise to hear KGLW nailing things once again. Outside of those cuts though, the highlights on ‘Alien Metal’ actually come when the group are able to genuinely blindside you, taking their inexperience in the genre and somehow using it to their advantage. The phasing synth textures all-throughout ‘Rapid Alpha Decay’ and the familiar guitars supporting ‘Uqt’ see Mackenzie and company winking at their fanbase, like they’re a friendly reminder of what came before. ‘Atomic Collapse’ even links seamlessly back into ‘Sapience,’ another King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard classic.

‘Alien Metal’ isn’t so special by the standards of techno music at large, in all honestly— it’s good, no doubt, but lacks the show-stopping moments to truly win you over. Where the album shines a little brighter is as a part of the KGLW discography, a crowded market the record carves its own niche in quite comfortably. This is probably the band’s best electronic experiment to date, even if they still have plenty of room to grow in this space: if they can find it within themselves to stick around here for one or two more releases, ‘Alien Metal’ could pave for the way for something really special, like ‘I’m in Your Mind Fuzz’ did for ‘Nonagon Infinity.’