Issue 2024-068
Lizzard: A Short Introduction
Martin Burns
(Adapted from their Bandcamp page.)
The members of what was to become Lizzard first met in 2006. Katy Elwell from the UK, a drummer, Mat Ricou from France, a guitarist and vocalist, and also from the UK, bassist Will Knox, bonded over their creative influences but found they shared a musical vision. This vision was one of a contemporary riff based rock that would challenge hide-bound hard rockers as it became more complex and exacting, as they added a mixture of progressive metal, alternative rock and art-rock. Heavy, melodic and not afraid of incorporating hooks. But above all they have an intuitive grasp of the importance, and an obvious love of, an excellent riff.
By 2007 they had released a mini album Venus (which I have not heard) and it brought them some attention and led to tours supporting Gojira and Punish Yourself in France. They re-enlisted producer Rhys Fulber (Paradise Lost, Fear Factory, Front Line Assembly), who had worked with them on Venus, to produce their full-length debut, 2012's Out Of Reach.
Subsequently, more European tours and shows followed, with acts like stoner-metal's High On Fire and fusion drummer Terry Bozzio. This helped Lizzard expand their audience significantly and refine their sound. In 2014 the live-recorded and self-produced second album Majestic was released. After many shows across Europe and the US, the band returned to work on 2018's Shift. Hitting the road again, this time with prog acts including ORK (featuring alumni of King Crimson and Porcupine Tree) and The Pineapple Thief (where I first became aware of Lizzard, see the review of Shift for details).
Lizzard's momentum was abruptly brought to a halt, as was everyone else's, by the pandemic in 2020. However, the band were already working on their fourth full-length album, 2021's Eroded, and as with Shift, using producer Peter Junge. They were finally able to tour Eroded in 2022, supporting Soen (and again I saw them at their gig with Soen in Birmingham and purchased the album from the band at the merch desk). In 2023, they did their own headlining tour.
Now Lizzard just released their fifth full length release Mesh, again collaborating with Peter Junge, on 27 September 2024.
Here at DPRP mansions we are catching up with all their full length releases that we have missed so far plus the new album Mesh. These will be reviewed from the oldest to the newest. Please read on...
Lizzard — Out Of Reach
Lizzard's first full length release Out Of Reach sees them paying more homage to their influences, than on later albums. Here they slowly beging moving into a more individual progressive metal sound. There is a gradual but distinct change between the first half of the album to the second half where things get more interesting.
The opening salvo of tracks sees Lizzard explore hard rocking, sharp heavy riffs and a slightly shouty vocal on Disintegrity. An up-tempo hard rock based prog-metal workout on The Orbiter. The title track opens quietly and has a wah-wah pedal bashing guitar solo as it heads into prog-metal territory. A short guitar soundscape leads into the slower, bluesy and somewhat threatening Loose Ends.
From then on Out Of Reach becomes a more graspable, intense and imaginative mix of prog-metal and alternative rock with experimental guitar edges. There's a chugging and brilliant instrumental Backslide. The bass driven Fakeworld is inventively arranged. Then follows the best track here, Twisted Machine> It has a mad machine rhythm, fast riffing and guitars that swirl keyboard like as it pushes around the melody.
After a slow post-rock style build up Across The Line goes full out prog-metal. The closing track is a complete change of tack. Sparse reverb laden drums, sliding bass and picked guitar chords as is gently leads us through nice changes in volume in a Radiohead kind of way.
The playing is exemplary while Mat Ricou is a guitar hero in the making. The issue I have with this album partially stems from Mat's vocals. He has a great voice in the mould of the two Wilsons, Damian and Steven, but here he often overreaches and goes a little screechy and shouty which, for me, grates a bit. Especially having come to this album with the familiarity of Lizzard's later releases.
On the whole Lizzard's Out Of Reach is a good debut, with nods to Tool and Paradise Lost, and other tracks that points to the different directions in which the band may have gone.
Lizzard — Majestic
This second full-length release from the French power trio was self-produced by the band and was recorded live, I believe, in their rehearsal space. There is no crowd noise. However, that lack of an audience does not prevent Majestic from being a cracking representation of the band as they are in the live arena. Even when only given a 30 - 40 minute support slot.
With songs about incarceration, yearnings to be free and restarting or resetting relationships. Majestic sees Lizzard's riffs vibrate with an energetic sumptuousness, grounded in lithe bass and rocking poly-rhythmic drumming. Opener Vigilent features contrasting tempos and changes in volume, taking in picked guitar, fierce riffs and a wonderful bass line as the amps go up to 11. But it's not all crash and bang. A guitar treated to sound like a synth sequencer on Aion, is punctuated by drums and bass interjections developing a rolling groove as it becomes a heavy prog monster.
The Only One's feedback beginning becomes a bluesy churn amid quiet/loud passages as it heavies up cleverly. Delicate drums and piano like guitar chords adorn the lovely post-rock style instrumental Just A Breath.
There is, if it is not a contradiction in terms, a folk-prog-metal feel to the melody of Circles. Acoustic guitar dominates a bass hum, and it is a welcome section of calm. The storm, though, soon continues with the excellent build up to some glorious heavy riffing on Reminder. On Colour Blind there's sledgehammer guitar and bass with a vocal melody that floats between the beats, it's smashing stuff. The album rounds off with Falling In Zero's detuned guitar feedback growing into, with a less clever band a bombastic grandeur, but with Lizzard its just grandeur.
There are a couple of tracks where again I feel Mat Ricou is trying too hard in the vocal department. The shouty metal and hard rock of Bound and the vocal of The Roots Within (Majestic) seem overly forced. These though may not annoy you in the way they do me.
Have a listen to the generally great Majestic and make your own mind up on this darker, more raw Lizzard album.
Lizzard — Eroded
Having commenced the recording of their fourth album (after the third one, 2018's Shift) in what turned out to be the run-up to the pandemic, it wasn't completed until shortly afterwards. Eroded continues the great music created on Shift.
So Eroded sees more standard song structures but equally memorable melodies and riffs. The vocals on here continue to be, as on the previous album, powerful or restrained depending on what the songs demand. The energy levels remain high throughout. The topics of the songs vary from war and religion through change to global warming, and love in various guises.
After the gentle instrumental opener Corrosive the album kicks out the jams with the full on heavy riffing of Blowdown supported by a very tuneful bass line and a short guitar solo. Chopping riffs come next with Haywire and its growth into a behemoth of heavy prog. The gloriously fast-paced prog-metal fuzzed up riffs of Flood follow.
Then comes a change for Lizzard. Hunted has funky bass and drums, punchy guitars and a solo of perfect length. The title track is a highlight showing along with Hunted that there is more to them than thunderous riffs. Stately paced reverberant music threatens to burst out, but they keep delaying the moment and then instead have long guitar lines snaking into the coda. A coda that continues into the short instrumental Usque Ad Terram.
Indeed, from the title track onwards the music bleeds smartly from one song into another by cleverly constructed instrumental interludes that make the songs into a suite. Of which the centrepiece is the mini-epic, Blue Moon, with the bass pushing it gently towards a fierce instrumental section. The sequence finishes with a Radiohead-ish soundscape that is blown away by terrific riffs and pounding drums.
Lizzard's Eroded is a great companion to Shift and has a band that is operating at near its peak.
Lizzard — Mesh
And so we arrive at Mesh, the fifth and latest full-length offering from Lizzard. Recorded by the band in the abandoned factory they use as their creative base, and produced again by now long-time friend and collaborator, Peter Junge. Mesh follows in the footsteps of Shift and Eroded and sees a high level of consistency from the trio in terms of melodic invention, energy, playing, and all round listening enjoyment. Mesh captures their live sound with seeming ease.
The new album adds a new post-punk sensibility to Lizzard's might riff machine. Having said that first track Unity sees a return to the blistering hard-rock infused prog-metal of Out Of Reach, all pounding drums, crisp riffs and dirty bass. Don't press play if you have a headache.
The art-rock post-punk attitude then enters stage left on New Page. It has a Radiohead feel to it if Radiohead ever remembered in which cupboard the melodies, fuzz pedals and volume controls were kept.
There are a couple of tracks that have melodies that nod slightly towards Deadwing-era Porcupine Tree but remain resolutely Lizzard's own. They are the ringing harmonic slicing guitars of Elevate and the drums and funkier bass underpinning the floating guitars on Home Seek.
The title track is another of Mat Ricou's trademark guitar soundscapes with a reverberant atmosphere that is just awaiting use on a soundtrack somewhere. Things get heavier on the rest of the album as it add a scoop of post-punk artiness into the prog metal mixer.
With a theme exploring the dichotomies of life, Black Sheep has grinding riffs that lighten and darken as Will's bass and Katy's drums rise and fall in the mix. Mad Hatters has a more restrained melody that is taken on by the bass as Mat sings of politically charged matters.
Lizzard are not a trio who indulge in overly long guitar solos, they are usually quite minimalist, and they often pass without shouting 'look at me!'. But I must mention the excellent, compact solo on The Unseen amid the slicing riffs and thundering backbeat.
The album closes with the almighty The Beholder. An intricately arranged, slowly developing headrush of forceful bass, poly-rhythmic drums, and evocative guitars. Changes in volume and tempo lead into an excellent fast, riff based guitar solo. The Beholder has a Möbius strip of a melody that loops back on itself to its beginning. A dazzling finish to the album.
Lizzard's Mesh is an album with music of intense expressive energy that really should not be missed. And if you ever get a chance to catch Lizzard live get tickets immediately.