King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard announce heavy metal album

Melbourne seven piece psych lords-meet-jazz-cats-meet-now-apparently-heavy-metal-thrashers King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard have announced their second new record of 2019, Infest the Rats’ Nest.

Infest the Rats’ Nest is set for release on August 16th through Flightless. The band has declared it to be their “hardest and heaviest album to date.”

“Drawing on the mid/late 1980s golden period of thrash metal – Metallica and Slayer, certainly, but also lesser-cited bands such as Exodus, Kreator and Overkill – Infest The Rats’ Nest sees a wholly unexpected creative detour into new sonic terrain,” the press release explains.

“In year 4 there was an older kid who was into Rammstein,” frontman Stu Mackenzie shared in a statement. “I made friends with him and we put together a performance at our school assembly where we headbanged to ‘Du Hast.’ I got whiplash, which I thought was pretty cool.

“That was my introduction to heavy metal, and soon Rammstein led to Metallica, Metallica led to Slayer, Slayer led to Kreator and Sodom. The German bands really kicked my ass and scared the hell out of me too. Later on, when I picked up a guitar I realised that shit was too hard to play, so I got into rock ‘n’ roll and garage. That was liberating.”

The band have given us a taste of what’s to come with lead singles, ‘Self-Immolate’ and ‘Planet B’. Check them both out below.

King Gizzard will be heading around Australia later this month for a slew of headline shows. Check out the tour dates and ticket information below.