Alien Weaponry is a band from Waipu, New Zealand, consisting of three teenage friends honoring Maori culture. The band sings in Maori language, occasionally uses traditional instruments and addresses cultural and historical topics. The band's debut full length record Tū was released about a month ago. The band isn't on the archives because it flirts with groove metal and a few core stylistics but the trio certainly is unique enough to give it a try. If you like bands such as Sepultura and Soulfly, you can't get around them. The following video represents the band spirit rather well in my book.



Has anyone listened to the entire debut album and could share her or his impressions?

PS: There seems to be a problem with the link, so here it is again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kwIkF6LFDc

Haven't listened to the whole album but checked them out because I'll see them live soon (opening for Nervosa). While the music might not be very original I think it's alright for a casual listen. Digging the Maori theme though! Very nice clean vocals too in the song you linked. Should be a good gig anyway.

These kids are only about 15 years old. They describe themselves as thrash metal. I hope over time they are able to develop their musical chops to be able to play something more truly close to that, as well as finish school. They are getting a pretty big push here in NZ, and already setting off to tour the world. Hopefully some greasy record exec doesn't chew them up and spit them out. It would be good to see them in a "band who got all the breaks" thread in the future, not a "band who dropped all the breaks" one.

This is pretty cool. It'd would be nice to see these kids grow up and develop,hopefully they don't end up getting a raw deal like that one band Unlocking the Truth did, which also consisted of kids around their age who were a media darling until the media lost interest in them. Pretty neat to see tribal influenced metal, as always, even if it's a bit groovy and chuggy.

That's how I feel about it, too. There was also some video making the rounds on Facebook of a punjabi-themed metal band that were clearly influenced by Lamb of God and Devildriver, but the unique angle on it was super interesting.

I've seen them live a couple of times and picked up the CD - it's pretty consistent. While not a favourite, they're definitely good fun. We'd be lucky if the music of even 5 NZ metal bands has been given the time of day by the local media in the past 20 years, so I'm happy to support it happening to a band that's actually listenable. And the fan base will likely stay loyal even if the media gets bored of them.

I can hear why they're not in the Archives for now. They might appeal to fans of Biohazard or Killing Joke.

I'd largely say they're Groove / Thrash Metal.

I wonder if there is a thread for metal bands rejected by MA

There is a forum section for this. Here is the specific thread for Alien Weaponry.
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=124568&hilit=alien+weaponry


I recall them on Liquid Metal frequently on Sirius XM radio back when I had a free trial for my car. I remember thinking they were ok, but nothing too memorable.

I have recently been rediscovering this band and have written reviews for the two records:

Tū: http://kluseba.eklablog.com/honouring-i ... a210167874

Tangaroa: http://kluseba.eklablog.com/maori-cultu ... a210167806

I really like ''Blinded'' from the new record, even though it doesn't include any Maori references and is relatively simple, it's heavy and the lyrics strike a chord:

I heard them on the cable music channel a while back. I remember them being very...nu-metalish. Maybe a bit of "Chaos AD" era Sepultura influence, along with Korn, Slipknot, etc. I was not impressed, but the truth is, I have never really warmed to that style of music; it just isn't my thing.

I loved their first album Tū, it's one of my favourite albums of all time. I didn't like Tangaroa all that much, despite some of the songs being amazing (Titokowaru, Ahi Ka, Blinded, Unforgiving), but everything else on the album is extremely disappointing considering the perfection of their first album. Oxenkiller is kind of right, they are quite nu-metalish, especially on the last half of Tangaroa, and the majority of their music is simple and repetitive, but they managed to give it a hell of a lot of substance on Tū, the fact that they recorded it when the guitarist Lewis was 14-16 is mind-blowing.

I never thought I'd ever see this sentence, and I'm still not quite sure I understand it.

Well, they're all examples of bands on the fringe of making it into the Archives... I hear some element of hardcore on AW's first album and the focus on rhythm and atmosphere really does remind me of Killing Joke. They were probably in my mind because there's a close link between them. AW's debut album was produced by Tom of Shihad, and Shihad's debut album was produced by Jaz of Killing Joke.

I've known about Alien Weaponry for a while but they're sadly not my thing. Cool band idea but the music just isn't my thing. I imagine they have a good career ahead of them.

They seem to be a very decent live band as well.



I would certainly attend one of their shows after the pandemic.

"Killjoy", the one Jaz worked on, is their 2nd album.

I even double checked what I was saying by looking it up on the Archives. No better source than actually looking at the back cover or credits though...

https://www.discogs.com/release/1804700 ... urn/images
https://www.discogs.com/release/550012- ... joy/images

Well, there you go. I was under that impression for 20+ years haha.

I saw them last year w/ Gojira and Knocked Loose! I'm not what I would consider a fan of their, but they were great, and I would definitely see them again.

These guys are great, been listening for years now.

Roots the band: New Zealand version