It’s disjointed, synthesized and strangely beautiful. With “The King of Limbs,” Radiohead returns to its rightful alternative rock throne on a wave of experimental sounds.

Radiohead starts its spacey opus with “Bloom,” a dizzying blend of piano runs, warped orchestras and Thom Yorke’s strong and static tenor voice. Each song builds to the next with more guitars and different drums, creating the effect of one intense stream of sound throughout the album.

For fans of the upbeat and cheerful album “In Rainbows,” this CD might be a bit of a shock. “The King of Limbs” is eerily calm and returns to the band’s experimentation with new and odd sounds.

“Feral” rearranges musical components of the track, forming a rich soundscape and skewed vocal puzzle, while the echo-loop of Yorke’s voice in “Separator” makes the song dreamy and peculiar.

Mixing large-scale strings with hundreds of synthesizers, the album is a weird and original sound emblematic of the group.

3 out of 4 stars