Following the release of their three previous Tangaroa music videos for “Tangaroa”, “Buried Underground”, and “Hatupatu”, today, in anticipation of their winter and early 2023 performance plans supporting both Guns N’ Roses and Gojira, ALIEN WEAPONRY have dropped an official video for none other than their album closer track “Down The Rabbit Hole”. The track extends an important proclamation against bullying through the eyes and experiences of frontman Lewis de Jong.
Lewis de Jong says about “Down The Rabbit Hole”: “This was an absolute blast to film! ‘Down The Rabbit Hole’ represents the growth I’ve experienced throughout my life and putting to bed demons from the past. The video captures the meaning well – the broken objects representing said demons. It’s the rough times in life that make you who you are, as long as you rise above it.”
Gojira have announced when their next stop off in the UK is going to be which is set to be in support of their recent record, ‘Fortitude’ which released in April of this year.
The band have announced dates for Nottingham, Newcastle, Glasgow, Belfast, Dublin, Manchester, London and Cardiff for early next year.
If that wasn’t enough, there’s some huge support slots in the form of Alien Weaponry and Employed To Serve!
The wait is over – international metal stars ALIEN WEAPONRY have returned with a vengeance, announcing the release of their fervid upcoming sophomore release, Tangaroa, out September 17, 2021 via Napalm Records!
Since releasing their acclaimed debut Tū (2018), the New Zealanders’ kinetic presence and sound – combining elements of thrash and groove metal with lyrics in the native indigenous language, te reo Māori — has attracted throngs of fans and media supporters across the globe. As with their 2018 single “Kai Tangata” – which has amassed more than 10 million views on YouTube and claimed the number-one spot on SiriusXM Liquid Metal’s “Devil’s Dozen” for 13 consecutive weeks – much of Tangaroa is immersed in the historical stories and cultural heritage of the Māori people.
In addition, Tangaroa details stories of personal struggle and growth, as well as crucial environmentalism topics. Witness a first sample of the band’s stirring new music with the album’s colossal title track, “Tangaroa”. Accompanied by a gripping music video, the track details the pressing theme of climate change and illegal fishing practices. Through raising this awareness, ALIEN WEAPONRY hope to support the important work and efforts of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
Lead vocalist and guitarist Lewis de Jong says about the track: “We decided to write this song about how the ocean is being suffocated by humans and their waste. The ocean is an important part of my life, and it’s important to protect it.”
Drummer Henry de Jong adds: “‘Tangaroa’ is a heavy and angry message about how we are destroying the ocean with pollution and overfishing. The video ties in with this message, with us drowning in plastic conveying the struggle of ocean life.”
Check out the Music Video for ‘Tangaroa’ below.
Having achieved past and present tours and festivals with the likes of Slayer, Black Label Society and Gojira, and being hailed the “future of metal” by esteemed magazine Metal Hammer (UK) and voted by Revolver Magazine (US) fans as “one of the bands most likely to break out in 2021”, ALIEN WEAPONRY are poised to dominate with Tangaroa. The album coalesces ALIEN WEAPONRY’s growing maturation with an undisturbed songwriting process, resulting in their most inspired, honest and informed material yet.
In addition to lyrics written in te reo Māori, many tracks feature traditional instruments, called taonga puoro, providing the tracks their own warrior-like attitude. Rhythmic, dynamic album opener “Titokowaru” begins with determined rowing chants and depicts the tale of a famous war chief that challenged the colonial government in New Zealand and led a rebel army, backed by quick riffage and driving drums. Following standout “Hatupatu”, inspired by the harrowing, legendary tale of a de Jong ancestor facing off with a witch, is carried by frenzied guitars, spirited chanting and tribal-like percussion. While ALIEN WEAPONRYsourced inspiration from their culture and environmental surroundings while writing most of Tangaroa, the band also looked inward – drawing vision for other portions of the album from within. The album dives into some of their most effecting personal experiences, with English-language songs like the pensive “Unforgiving” about facing self-loathing and insecurity, and the swirling, charging “Buried Underground” detailing the aftershocks of drug abuse.
Accented by personal touches like its entrancing album art originally conceptualized from drawings by Lewis de Jong, Tangaroa is a massive next step for a band on the rise, encompassing all of the elements that make ALIEN WEAPONRY heavy metal’s most authentic rising stars.
Henry de Jong says about Tangaroa: “The album is tied together with the message of ‘Tangaroa’ – the whole album is more a snapshot of the band’s brains during the writing process. We have also written songs that are about some of our first tūpuna (ancestors) who were here in Āotearoa (New Zealand). Hatupatu, who is very famous in Māori history, as well as Īhenga, who named a number of places in Āotearoa during his travels.”
Lewis de Jong adds about the album’s artwork and thematic details: “The album is named after the track ‘Tangaroa’, and we went with this theme on the artwork. The album is drawn from some new experiences we’ve had as well as some ancient Māori tales. I think we have stepped things up from the last album.”
Bassist Tūranga Morgan-Edmonds also adds: “This album’s use of even more traditional Māori sounds and styles is a very exciting step forward for us.”
Check out the Cover Art and Tracklisting below.
1. Titokowaru 2. Hatupatu 3. Ahi Kā 4. Tangaroa 5. Unforgiving 6. Blinded 7. Kai Whatu 8. Crooked Monsters 9. Buried Underground 10. Dad 11. Īhenga 12. Down The Rabbit Hole
The New Zealand trio Alien Weaponry have announced a new addition to their ranks which has seen bassist Ethan Trembath step down from his Bass duties and replaced by Tūranga Morgan-Edwards.
The announcement was made via a video statement, which is available to watch below.
It’s 4PM on a Friday! This means it’s time for the music video roundup. If you’re new to either the blog or these music video roundup posts, this is how it works. Every week, I watch some of the best recently released music videos and compile them into a list for everyone’s viewing pleasure. They’re span across all the different genres, so expect something different for most of the tracks. Up first in this weeks roundup are New Zealand based heavy metal trio ‘Alien Weaponry’. The video for ‘Blinded’ is the B-side to the ‘Ahi Ka’ 7″ single.
On the track, vocalist Lewis De Jong shared:
“The song has very personal meaning for me, but we wanted the video to leave things more open, so people can interpret it their own way. Piotr and Dwayne have really captured the notion of altered realities that we were going for, and we hope people will find their own messages in the images and the music.”
Next, this band wrapped up a set at this year’s 2000 Trees festival but the Danish powerhouse MØL have released a documentary-style video in a montage of footage of the band.
Cambridge rockers Mallory Knox are nearing the released of their self-titled fourth record this month and this is the latest offering which has followed ‘Guts’, ‘White Lies’ and ‘Black Holes’, all of which will be released onto the record.
Check out ‘Livewire’ below.
Heading into unfamiliar territory with this one, The Amazons have a fresh cut from their second record ‘Future Dust’ which was released earlier this year via Fiction Records, which comes ahead of their sets at this year’s Reading And Leeds Festivals later this month.
Frontman Mattew Thomson has shared:
“We fell in love with [director] Thomas James’ vision for Doubt It early on. He tapped into the themes of temptation and recklessness and applied his love and knowledge for the Horror genre to come up with something special. In a twist of fate, the video was shot in Wales, the country in which we wrote and recorded Future Dust.”
Heading straight into heavier territory, the legends that are Skunk Anansie have premiered their brand new video for ‘What You Do For Love’, which is the first new music in three years for the band.
It’s pulled together lots of live footage from the recent EU leg of their 25Live@25 tour.
Speaking on the track, vocalist skin shared: “People always use love as the reason to do the most heinous things to each other.”
“The hardest songs to write are political ones which is why we always try to avoid them.
“They’re supposed to just instantaneously spill out of you due to pure vexation, or they sound insincere and you fall into tired old clichés. This is one of those moments of rage! Love always seems to be the reason why people do hateful things, which I’ve never been able to understand.”
Up next are Post-hardcore up and comers Anemoria who’ve debuted a video for ‘Cashmere Jungle’ which is the first piece of new material following last year’s self-titled EP.
It’s uncertain whether or not the song will remain as a stand-alone single, or if it’ll feature on a yet-to-be-announced EP or Record.
Heading over to Bristol, the Punks known as Idles have a new animated video for ‘Never Fight With A Perm’, which is a fan-favourite taken from last years record ‘Joy As An Act Of Resistance’.
It was created by the great team at Fluffer Records who used the beat ’em up video game concept for the song’s lyrics to tackle toxic masculinity.
Taken from the record, ‘Barriers’, Frank Iero & The Future Violents have dropped a video for ‘Great Party’.
Starring Surfbort, the video gets weird after Frank and his band performs.
On the track, Frank has shared:
“I knew immediately when we finished writing ‘Great Party’ that it needed to be a single off the record and that we needed to make a video for that song. when I wrote the treatment for it I could see the whole thing playing out in my head, and I knew that our friends needed to be cast in it! I saw this weird gathering that you couldn’t tell if it was an AA meeting or the worlds bleakest birthday, and I knew our friend Dani from Surfbort had to be the one to light the fuse that would turn everything on it’s head. I really love this video, it may have turned out even better than I first imagined it.”
Heading to the heavyweights for the final videos, the band making a name for themselves are TheCityIsOurs as they have released a video for ‘Don’t Wait For Me’, a single from their upcoming record, ‘Low’.
Mikey Page (Vocals / Guitar) has shared:
“‘Don’t Wait For Me’ was written about a relationship that was incredibly toxic. We wanted to highlight the effects that relationships of this nature can have. Toxicity in these scenarios is horrible for all those involved, but there is still a general stigma that often men are at fault within these relationships or they should just ‘suck it up’ and get on with it, and even though it isn’t widely spoken about, we’re just as vulnerable… We wanted to juxtapose the lyrical message with the music, to symbolise this stigma. On the surface, this track has a feel-good vibe, but if you dig deeper, you’ll uncover something far more vulnerable.”
Ending on the giants known as Asking Alexandria this week and just in case you’ve been living under a rock, they have recently released the mega video for ‘The Violence’ the band’s latest single which sees a little role reversal of the zombie genre and humans are the infected and zombies are their prey.
Danny Worsnop (vocals) has shared:
“‘The Violence’ was an incredibly rewarding song to create. Ben and I both got to go way outside anything we’d done before and create something fresh and engaging. Thematically the song is about the way mainstream media and politicians manipulate and spread mistruth amongst the people to encourage and create anger, fear, division, and conflict in their quest to control and acquire power. As the history books have shown, this only goes so far before the people stand up and say enough is enough. I hope everyone enjoys what we’ve created here, we had a great time making it, and even more fun shooting the video!”
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