Everyone’s favorite New Zealanders since the Uruk-Hai have returned with their followup to 2018’s explosive “Tu” full-length debut. Alien Weaponry have pioneered the masterful blending of Maori culture and traditional Haka chant with Thrash and Groove Metal styles. It’s not a cheap gimmick for attention; the delivery is purely genuine and sincere. These guys haven’t just come up with a clever and unique stylistic blend, they work hard to bring something real and well-made, keeping you on your toes with alternate time signatures and unorthodox guitar chords.

There are a lot of callbacks to Max Cavalera’s work on “Tu” and “Tangaroa” - - especially Sepultura and Soulfly - - in the riffs, the vocals, the chants, and the rhythms. This is not to conflate Maori and Brazilian native cultures; I think it’s just that Sepultura’s tribalist sensibilities turn out to be universal when pushed through the Metal grinder. Other parallels and possible influences heard include: Deftones, Machine Head, Tool, Incubus, Mike Patton’s heaviest stuff, Late Pantera, Gojira, Silverchair, Alice in Chains, and Green-era Sepultura. The vocals vary from guttural chants, to gruff single leads, to clear-voiced iron. Think Robb Flynn of Machine Head.
In spite of all of the extra layers of creativity and diversity of sounds, the Djent-y guitars get a bit repetitive on straight-through listens. Highlight tracks include: Ihenga, Buried Underground, the title track, and “Unforgiving.”
This last one is fascinating; it repeats the same chord progression and vocal melody for 6 and 1/2 minutes, with the guitars sometimes playing arpeggio, sometimes shimmering chords, sometimes muted notes, all while Henry de Jong’s drums keep mixing it up, all while Lewis de Jong sings a raspy, 90s-esque vocal melody that could have straight from the Seattle playbook. But hold on - - rather than just fading out, the final thirty seconds jump the guardrail into a gruesome, deadly Cavalera-esque outro riff. It just kills.
I hope these guys aren’t just dismissed as a novelty in the US and UK. Alien Weaponry are the face of the future of a global Metal future. Open your mind and pay attention.