Photo by Jason Galea
Renowned Australian rock band King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard have announced the release of their highly anticipated double LP album, PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation is set to release on June 16 via their own label KGLW. The album, marking their 24th, showcases the band’s evolution into the realm of thrash, and to showcase their sound, the group released the album’s lead single, “Gila Monster.”
On the single, the ever-innovative ensemble showcases yet another distinct and evolutionary step forward, distinct from their previous thrash-inspired work like 2019’s Infest The Rats’ Nest. The song comes with an accompanying music video directed by SPOD, which melds fantasy and video game themes with an adventurous narrative that follows the themes of power and truth in a cursed world. “I mixed 3D animation, modeling & live footage in a 3D video game program to create this marvelous voyage of man & beast. Friend or foe?” said SPOD.
Stu Mackenzie, lead vocalist and guitarist of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard reflected on their previous metal exploration in a press release, stating, “When we made Rats’ Nest, it felt experimental. It’s just so much fun to play that music, and those songs work so well when we play them live. So we always had it in our minds to make another metal record.”
Despite the fun of creating the 2019 project, the band was determined not to repeat themselves and approached the project with a fresh perspective by creating a song a day, entering the practice space without any preconceived riffs, tunes, or ideas, and allowing the songs to emerge organically. They then pieced the tracks together in reverse, with Mackenzie sketching out the story and dividing it into seven song titles before the music took shape.
Drawing inspiration from fantasy lore, as the title suggests, PetroDragonic Apocalypse offers a vivid exploration of mankind, planet Earth, witches, and dragons. Mackenzie explained, “We wanted to start the story in the real world, and then send it to hell. It’s about humankind and planet Earth, but it’s also about witches and dragons and shit.”
Notably, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard have already begun work on their next album, which is set to be another seven-track concept record. Although initiated simultaneously with PetroDragonic Apocalypse and following a similar improvisational approach, the band intends to return to the more traditional method of writing songs before entering the studio for future projects.
Pre-order PetroDragonic Apocalypse here.
Watch the official music video for “Gila Monster” below.
PETRODRAGONIC APOCALYPSE; OR, DAWN OF ETERNAL NIGHT: AN ANNIHILATION OF PLANET EARTH AND THE BEGINNING OF MERCILESS DAMNATION Tracklist
1. Motor Spirit – 8:33
2. Supercell – 5:06
3. Converge – 6:16
4. Witchcraft – 5:04
5. Gila Monster – 4:36
6. Dragon – 9:45
7. Flamethrower – 9:21
8. Dawn of Eternal Night feat. Leah Senior (Audiobook, VINYL EXCLUSIVE) – 14:22