2010–2012: Formation, early releases, and 12 Bar Bruise The band members all grew up and went to school in the
Deniliquin,
Melbourne, and
Geelong areas of Australia. Stu Mackenzie and Cook Craig were in a high-school band called Revolver & Sun while at the same time Ambrose Kenny-Smith and Lucas Skinner were in a band named Sambrose Automobile. Additionally, Mackenzie, Skinner, and Michael Cavanagh were also simultaneously in a band called The Houses. Some songs eventually released by King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard originated during this time period, such as "Crying" from
Oddments being a Revolver & Sun original. Mackenzie, Moore, and Walker met studying the music industry at
RMIT University, and the other members were mutual friends. The band started off with a fluid lineup of members, fluctuating from the original three of Mackenzie, Walker, and Moore to up to 11 members, however, the lineup eventually became Mackenzie, Walker, Moore, Kenny-Smith, Cavanagh, Craig, and Harwood. Kenny-Smith was the last to enter the band in 2011. Mackenzie stated in a 2017 interview that the band's name is purposefully nonsense as while the band and its lineup was still fluid in its early years most members considered the band "not an important group" and as the "band we started to not really mean anything" and regularly experimented with "weird names" with King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard being "the one that was the most absurd, and I guess for that reason it was just the one that stuck." Melbourne artist Jason Galea has created all of the band's album art and the majority of their music videos. The band's first releases were two singles in 2010, both self-released: "Sleep / Summer!" and "Hey There / Ants & Bats". The band's next release, 2011's
Anglesea (named after
Anglesea, Victoria, Mackenzie's home town), was released as a four-track EP on CD. These releases did not become available digitally until the
Teenage Gizzard compilation in 2020.
Beat Magazine described the nine-track garage rock EP as "filled to the teeth with consistently killer hooks". The band's first full-length album,
12 Bar Bruise, was released on 7 September 2012. The 12-track garage rock album was self-recorded, and several tracks used unconventional recording methods; for example, the vocals for the album's title track were recorded through four
iPhones placed around a room while Mackenzie sang into one of them.
2013–2014: Eyes Like the Sky, Float Along – Fill Your Lungs, Oddments, and ''I'm in Your Mind Fuzz'' The band's second full-length album,
Eyes Like the Sky, was released on 22 February 2013. Described as a "cult western audio book", and was written as a response to being typecast in their previous releases. The band's third full-length album,
Float Along – Fill Your Lungs, was released on 27 September. King Gizzard shifted from garage rock to a more mellow folk and psychedelic sound on the eight-track album. It also saw
Eric Moore start playing drums after previously playing theremin and keyboards. According to the liner notes from the album, this album is the first time they started to experiment with odd time signatures, which they would use on many songs going forward. In October 2013,
12 Bar Bruise won Best Independent Hard Rock, Heavy or Punk Album at the
AIR Awards with the band receiving a Carlton Dry Global Music Grant of $50,000 AUD. The grant afforded the band the opportunity to tour internationally for the first time in 2014 and fund professional recording at Daptone studios in Brooklyn.
Oddments released on 7 March 2014. On this album, the band is more melodic, with the vocals being more prominent. The album's mixing style led to it being described as "recorded through a woollen sock in an adjacent room". The band's fifth full-length album, ''
I'm in Your Mind Fuzz, was released on 31 October. The album touches on elements of fantasy, and lyrically delves into the concept of mind control. This was the first time the band took a "traditional" approach to writing and recording an album: the songs were written, the band rehearsed together, and they recorded the songs "as a band" in the studio. Pitchfork described the album as "open[ing] with a sprint" and ending "with some of their best slow jams". In 2019, the album came at #6 on Happy Mag'' list of "the 25 best psychedelic rock albums of the 2010s".
2015–2016: Quarters!, Paper Mâché Dream Balloon, Gizzfest, and Nonagon Infinity 2015 saw the band launch Gizzfest in Melbourne, a two-day music festival that was held annually and toured Australia, featuring both local and international acts.
Quarters!, King Gizzard's sixth full-length album, was released on 1 May 2015. The album features four songs, each running for 10 minutes and 10 seconds, making each song a quarter of the album. Drawing upon jazz fusion and acid rock, the album's more laid-back sound was described as "unlike anything they've released before" by
Tonedeaf magazine. On 17 August, King Gizzard released the title track "Paper Mâché Dream Balloon" as the lead single for the album with the same name. The second single, "Trapdoor", had a music video released on 10 November. On 13 November, the band released its seventh full-length album,
Paper Mâché Dream Balloon. It features only acoustic instruments and was recorded on Mackenzie's parents' farm in rural Victoria, and features "a collection of short, unrelated songs" It was the band's first album to be released in the United States via
ATO Records. The band's eighth full-length album,
Nonagon Infinity, was released worldwide on 29 April 2016. Described by Mackenzie as a "never-ending album", it features nine songs connected by musical motifs that flow "seamlessly" into each other, with the last track "linking straight back into the top of the opener". On 8 March, the band released a video for the first single, "
Gamma Knife". The song "People Vultures" was released on 4 April, and its music video on 6 May. The album received high praise from critics, with
Pitchfork's Stuart Berman writing that it "yields some of the most outrageous, exhilarating rock 'n' roll in recent memory".
Happy Mag Maddy Brown described it as "an intensely striking, ferocious sound that gets the blood flowing and heart racing". The band earned its first
ARIA Award when
Nonagon Infinity won the 2016
ARIA Award for Best Hard Rock or Heavy Metal Album.
2017: Five albums in one year The band's ninth full-length album,
Flying Microtonal Banana, was recorded in the band's own studio and released on 24 February 2017. The album was recorded using custom instruments adhering to
24 TET based on the
Bağlama. It was described as "a soaring take on microtonal music" by
Guitar World. Three tracks were issued in advance: "
Rattlesnake" (the opening track) in October 2016, "Nuclear Fusion" in December, and "Sleep Drifter" in January 2017. The music video for "Rattlesnake", directed by Jason Galea, was described by
Happy Mags Luke Saunders as "a masterclass in hypnotism" and features a scrolling 3D-animated desert background with the band playing in front of it. Another full-length album,
Murder of the Universe, was released on 23 June. It is a concept album divided into three chapters:
The Tale of the Altered Beast and
The Lord of Lightning vs. Balrog (released on 30 May), and
Han-Tyumi and the Murder of the Universe (11 April).
Spill Magazine explained that the album "describes the impeding doom of the world in a dark fantasy genre kind of way". It is narrated by
Leah Senior for the first two chapters, and a
text-to-speech program providing the voice of Han-Tyumi for the final chapter. The band made their international television debut on 17 April, performing "The Lord of Lightning" on
Conan on
TBS in the United States. The album
Sketches of Brunswick East was released on 18 August. It is a collaboration with Alex Brettin's psychedelic jazz project,
Mild High Club. Taking inspiration from
Miles Davis' 1960 album
Sketches of Spain, as well as the band's base recording location of
Brunswick East in Melbourne, it is an
improvisational album. Mackenzie described the record as relating to the constant changes in their neighborhood, and trying to finding beauty in the location. The first track "Crumbling Castle", was released on 18 October. A music video created by Jason Galea accompanied its release on
YouTube. As of August 2023, 363 different versions of the album have been recorded on the physical music database
Discogs, and it has been called "the ultimate vinyl release" by
Louder than Sound.
Gumboot Soup, the fifth and final album of 2017, was released on 31 December. Mackenzie explained in an interview that the album consisted of songs that didn't work in, or came after, the other 2017 records, but that they were not
b-sides. They had intended to release
Changes, but it wasn't finished yet. In December,
Consequence of Sound named King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard
Band of the Year, praising both the quantity and quality of their releases that year. They also released an official pressing of
Polygondwanaland. The 2019 Gizzfest did not take place. After the Gizzfest event in 2018, the band announced the cancellation of the festival on their official Instagram page. Some fans believe this was due to their extensive touring schedule. In January 2019, the band announced that new music was in the works. On 1 February, they released a new single, "Cyboogie", as a
7-inch single backed with "Acarine". A week later they announced another North American tour, as well as a show at
Alexandra Palace in London, which they stated would be their "biggest show ever". In March, the band announced the album
Fishing for Fishies, with a release date of 26 April. A day later, the band officially released a music video for the title track on YouTube. Later that month, the band released another single from the album, "Boogieman Sam", and on 24 April, the band dropped a final single, "The Bird Song". Two days later, the album was released. On 9 April, before the release of
Fishing for Fishies, the band released a music video for their new song, "Planet B". On the 30th, Mackenzie confirmed that the band's next album (featuring "Planet B") was in the works, and had no release date yet. The album was later revealed to be titled ''
Infest the Rats' Nest. Mackenzie also announced that Gizzfest would be held outside of Australia for the first time that year. Infest the Rats' Nest'', which was released on 16 August, featured an entirely different style –
thrash metal. At the
ARIA Music Awards of 2019, it was nominated for the
Best Hard Rock or Heavy Metal Album.
2020: Chunky Shrapnel, K.G., L.W. and Eric Moore's departure In January 2020, the band released three live albums as downloads on
Bandcamp, pledging to donate of the proceeds to charities helping wildlife affected by the
2019–20 Australian bushfire season. During the
COVID-19 pandemic, the band postponed their
Greek Theatre and
Red Rocks three-hour marathon shows for later in the year. The band had also produced a film to be released, titled
Chunky Shrapnel; however, also due to the outbreak, the initial viewing was postponed for a later date, and then cancelled. It was directed by John Angus Stewart, and recorded during the band's 2019 tour in Europe. A live album of the same name was released on 24 April, featuring recordings from numerous shows on the tour along with three ambient studio tracks. The opening track "Evil Star" also features on the live albums released earlier in January. In April, the band stated that during the
COVID-19 lockdown, they had worked on new material for upcoming albums. Mackenzie reported that one will be "chill", another "kind of jazzy", and some of it microtonal. The band was also experimenting with
electronic music and polymetres. When asked about more live recordings, Mackenzie said that the band had recorded almost every show they played in 2019, and may release them in a similar fashion to
Pearl Jam's official live bootlegs. It was made available to rent online with all proceeds going to charities benefiting
Aboriginal Australians. After $20,000 had been raised, it was then made free to watch on YouTube. Later that month, in celebration of Love Record Store Day, the band released a limited print of eco-friendly versions of 10 previous releases. record label. Again due to the pandemic, the band postponed the marathon shows and North American tour for a second time, with the new dates being for October 2021. However, they confirmed new tour dates, and that they band would release some new albums before said tour. On 25 August, Eric Moore announced his departure from the band (as both an active member and the band's manager) without citing any direct reason, though the band explained that he was stepping away from the band "to focus solely on
Flightless Records". 20 November, the band released their 16th studio album,
K.G. (Explorations into Microtonal Tuning, Volume 2), alongside the album's fourth single, "Automation". The band also included the files for the separate
stems within the song for free on their website. They also released the video files for its music video, and asked fans to create their own video with them. All of these files require a
torrent client to be installed on the user's device. On 24 December, the band released their seventh live album, ''Live in London '19'', on Bandcamp. Performed at the 10,000 capacity
Alexandra Palace on 5 October 2019, it was the group's largest show until their June 21, 2023 show at the
Hollywood Bowl that had a capacity of 17,500. In an interview with
NME, Joey Walker said that 2021 would be a big year of output with some of their most divisive music yet, claiming: "Part of me thinks this is the best we've ever done. And part of me thinks it's the worst." He also talked about making a sequel to
Chunky Shrapnel. In 2020, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard were listed at No. 47 in
Rolling Stone Australias list of the "50 Greatest Australian Artists of All Time". The album
L.W. (Explorations into Microtonal Tuning, Volume 3), was released on 26 February, as "both a standalone work and a companion piece to"
K.G. 2021–2022: Butterfly 3000, Omnium Gatherum, and Gizztober The album
Butterfly 3000, was announced on 11 May, saying it would release on 11 June without promotion by singles. They announced five concerts at Sydney's
Carriageworks, which would have different, pre-planned setlists themed around a different style of music.
Butterfly 3000 received generally positive reviews; reviewers commending the album on its "sonic adventurism" and "pop-oriented additions [that] are a perfect pairing to their existing sound", while another said its "formulaic approach lacks surprise". The remix album
Butterfly 3001 was released on 21 January, featuring 21 remixes of
Butterfly 3000's songs; a music video starring Australian media personality
John Safran was released for
DJ Shadow's remix of "Black Hot Soup". In February, the band announced a three-hour marathon set in Melbourne on 5 March, named
Return of the Curse of Timeland. It coincided with the release of the album
Made in Timeland. On 8 March, they released the 18-minute track "
The Dripping Tap" as a single from the album
Omnium Gatherum, released on 22 April. On 15 March, they released a joint EP alongside
Tropical Fuck Storm titled
Satanic Slumber Party. The EP originated during the recording sessions for
Fishing for Fishies, during which the two groups collaborated on a jam section titled "Hat Jam". Sections of both "The Dripping Tap" and "Satanic Slumber Party" were adapted from these sessions, and a special limited-edition 12" vinyl,
Hat Jam, contained both releases. In June, the band won the inaugural
Environmental Music Prize with their 2020 single "If Not Now, Then When?" They were awarded $20,000 in prize money, the entirety of which was donated to
The Wilderness Society. Later that summer, the band stated their next two albums were "built from hours-long jams and then pieced together after the fact". In August, they cancelled the remaining 13 dates of their summer European tour so Stu Mackenzie could return to Australia for treatment in his battle with
Crohn's disease. On 1 September, the band announced that they planned to release three studio albums in October 2022. A music video for one of their new songs, "Ice V", premiered on the 7th, alongside the reveal of the titles, cover artwork, and release dates for the albums. They all released in October:
Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava on the 7th,
Laminated Denim on the 12th, and
Changes on the 28th.
2023: PetroDragonic Apocalypse and The Silver Cord , Los Angeles, featured a tribute to
Broderick Smith, who had collaborated with the band on
Eyes Like the Sky. On 24 January, the band released the official live bootleg ''Live At Red Rocks '22''. The 86-track, eight-hour release documents the band's three-night run at Red Rocks Amphitheater. Several independent labels have created physical releases of the bootleg, including vinyl, CD, and cassette runs. In February, the band announced that they would no longer be performing at that year's
Byron Bay Bluesfest in protest of the festival's booking of indie band
Sticky Fingers; King Gizzard said Sticky Fingers represented "
misogyny, racism, transphobia and violence". In May, the band announced the album
PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation Lucas Harwood said the album would be one of two upcoming releases exploring a "
Yin and Yang" concept. They would sound much different from each other, but complement each other. The album's first single, "Gila Monster", was released alongside a music video on 16 May, and the second single, "Dragon", was released on 6 June with its music video. The band then went on tour throughout the United States to promote the album.
PetroDragonic Apocalypse was released on 16 June. In a 28 April 2022 interview with
The Guardian Joey Walker confirmed that the band produced seven rap songs for an album, but decided not to release it due to optics, saying it looked bad being "six white idiot psych-rock guys making hip-hop". Two of these songs would appear on
Omnium Gatherum;
Sadie Sorceress and
The Grim Reaper. On 22 June 2023, while giving an interview to the
Office Hours Live podcast, Joey Walker and Lucas Harwood confirmed that a rap album was "in the pipeline" and "almost" completed, but it got shelved indefinitely. During
World Tour 2024 Ambrose would add an additional verse as a transition between
Sadie Sorceress and
The Grim Reaper dubbed
Torture Chamber which is believed to have been part of one of the scrapped songs. In July, the band confirmed that they had been uploading albums from their bootlegger program onto streaming services under the name "bootleg gizzard". In September, they announced a series of marathon tours in the U.S. for 2024, and said that the album accompanying
PetroDragonic Apocalypse is "synth-y". In September, they announced
The Silver Cord. Three singles ("Theia", "The Silver Cord", and "Set"), and a music video released on 3 October. The album was released on 27 October.
2024–present: p(doom), Flight b741, and Phantom Island on August 2, 2025, as part of their
Phantom Island Tour. The
World Tour 2024 in support of
The Silver Cord consisted of 64 shows overall across South America, Europe, United States and Canada, with all North American shows recorded, live-streamed and released for bootleggers. On 6 May 2024, the band announced the launch of their new record label, p(doom). The first album released on p(doom) was
III Times, a collaboration between Ambrose Kenny-Smith and
Jay Watson, released on 19 July. Each song from the album was debuted live during tours in 2024. On 29 October 2024, the single "
Phantom Island" was released and announced to be part of the upcoming 27th studio album, featuring orchestral arrangements and material written concurrently with
Flight b741. The band also announced
a tour consisting of rock shows and orchestral performances with a different 28 piece orchestra in each city, each conducted by
Sarah Hicks,, licensed music for video games, and announced further European, North American, and Australian tours incorporating rock, orchestral, and rave sets.
Phantom Island was officially announced on 9 April 2025, alongside its track list and the singles "
Deadstick" on 15 April, followed by "
Grow Wings and Fly" on 13 May. The album released on 13 June 2025. In an 27 May interview with Rocking magazine, Ambrose confirmed the band was in the studio "almost every weekday" with a focus on
Eurorack synth. Ambrose also opened up about the band's creative process, saying that Stu is the "captain" but the direction and genre the album goes is entirely up to whoever has the courage to become "first mate." On July 25, 2025, the band removed their catalog from
Spotify in protest to the ethics, politics, and business practices of the streaming platform's CEO
Daniel Ek. The band posted on Instagram: "New demos collection out everywhere except Spotify (fuck Spotify). You can bootleg it if you wanna." and "Spotify CEO Daniel Ek invests millions in AI military drone technology. We just removed our music from the platform. Can we put pressure on these Dr. Evil tech bros to do better?" This announcement came amidst the band releasing two more demo albums,
Vol. 7 and 8, and changing the pricing of all of their music on
Bandcamp to a
pay what you want model. The Phantom Island Tour concluded in December 2025, with the band confirming a hiatus from touring until August 2026 for
Field of Vision II. During this hiatus on March 20, 2026, the band would post a video of them in a recording studio with
Billy Strings fueling speculation that a
bluegrass album is in the works. ==Musical styles==