ALIEN WEAPONRY Win Aotearoa Music Award for Te Kaipuoro Rakapioi Toa (Best Rock Artist), for the Second Time!

ALIEN WEAPONRY on the award:

“We are so stoked to win the award for Te Kaipuoro Rakapioi Toa for the second time! We are super thankful to everyone who has helped get us to where we are, to the other artists nominated, and to our fans!”

ALIEN WEAPONRY’s kinetic presence and sound – combining elements of thrash and groove metal with lyrics in their native indigenous language, te reo Māori — has attracted throngs of fans and media supporters across the globe.

To finish 2022, ALIEN WEAPONRY will be supporting rock n’ roll giants Guns ‘N’ Roses on their New Zealand stadium tour this December. In February 2023 the band will be joining Gojira in Europe for the third leg of the Fortitude world tour.

Watch the Official Music Video for “Tangaroa” HERE

‘Tangaroa’ is immersed in important historical accounts and cultural heritage of the Māori people – 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 WEAPONRY sourced 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”.

Get your copy of Tangaroa NOW

[Album Art: Barny Bewick @ Indium Design – from original concept drawings by Lewis de Jong]

Nominated for Aotearoa Music Awards Te Toi Ataata Pukaemi Toa (Best Album Artwork) 

ALIEN WEAPONRY Tour Dates with Guns N’ Roses and Gojira:

Guns N’Roses Support Shows 2022:

 08.12.22 NZ – Wellington

10.12.22 NZ – Auckland

Gojira Support Shows 2023:

 11.02.23 IE – Dublin

12.02.23 UK – Belfast

14.02.23 UK – Newcastle Upon Tyne

15.02.23 UK – Glasgow

17.02.23 UK – Cardiff

19.02.23 UK – Manchester

21.02.23 UK – Nottingham

22.02.23 UK – London

24.02.23 FR – Floirac

25.02.23 FR – Paris

26.02.23 LU – Esch Sur Alzette

28.02.23 FR – Lyon

02.03.23 DE – Munich

03.03.23 PL – Gliwice

05.03.23 DE – Wiesbaden

Since releasing their acclaimed debut ‘Tū’ (2018), ALIEN WEAPONRY’s 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.

In addition to amassing millions of cross-platform streams and YouTube views, the band has seen bounds of success at SiriusXM Liquid Metal, was recently hailed the “future of metal” by Metal Hammer and was voted by Revolver Magazine fans as “one of the bands most likely to break out in 2021”. 

Furthermore, ALIEN WEAPONRY just added an upcoming tour with metal behemoths Gojira to their hefty performance resume – a list that already included support of some of the biggest names in metal like Slayer, Black Label Society and more.

ALIEN WEAPONRY won the prestigious Aotearoa Music Award (former New Zealand Music Award) for Te Kaipuoro Rakapioi Toa (Best Rock Artist) in 2018 and 2022.

Henry Te Reiwhati de Jong – Drums, Backing vocals  

Lewis Raharuhi de Jong – Guitars, Lead vocals          

Tūranga Porowini Morgan-Edmonds – Backing vocals & guitar

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