Te Reo Maori thrash metal band Alien Weaponry is releasing their debut album, Tu, tomorrow.
New Zealand fans will get the first opportunity to buy it with the album, which is made up of half te reo songs, going on sale online at midnight.
The band is made up of three teenagers, 15-year-old Lewis de Jong is the lead singer and guitarist, his 17-year-old brother Henry plays drums, while 15-year-old bassist Ethan Trembath rounds out the band.
The album is named after Tumatauenga, the Maori god of war, with lead singer and guitarist Lewis de Jong explaining that war is a theme through the album.
“Quite a few of the songs on the album are about battles or conflict, so we wanted to acknowledge the influence of Tumatauenga in our work,” de Jong said.
“About half the songs are also in Te Reo Maori, but since the album is being released internationally, we wanted something that would be easy for people worldwide to say and remember.”
Alien Weaponry won both of the competitions within the same weekend.
Tu is also the name of the character on the cover, which was designed by Barry Bewick.
The image features traditional moko on the lower half of the face, topped by the metal helmet of a Viking and the horns of a Celtic warrior.
“While we call him Tu, he represents the warrior ancestry of all three of us – I have Celtic and French roots; and Lewis and Henry have Maori (Ngati Pikiao/Hinekura and Ngati Raukawa) and Viking heritage,” explains bassist Trembath.
The album was the number one “most added album” on both American metal charts after being added to 42 radio playlists.
It also landed a coveted spot on the “Devils Dozen” playlist on SiriusXM’s Liquid Metal show.
The band is playing a show in Auckland to mark the release before embarking on a festival tour of Australia, Europe and the UK.
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