Rising New Zealand Thrash-Metal Band Headlines Bottom Of The Hill
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- One of the most promising new metal bands to emerge on the global scene in recent years, young New Zealand thrashers Alien Weaponry headline their first show in San Francisco at the Bottom of the Hill Tuesday night.
Initially founded by brothers Lewis de Jong (guitar/vocals) and Henry (drums) in Auckland when the boys were only 8 and 10 years old respectively, the band took it's name from the South African science fiction film District 9 (a term that refers to the futuristic arms that only the insect-like aliens in the film can use). When their family moved to the small town of Waipu in 2012, they found their bassist Ethan Tremblath the following year.
With cornerstone influences like thrash pioneers Metallica and politically charged rap-metal act Rage Against the Machine, Alien Weaponry quickly established itself as an unusual metal band beyond how accomplished they sounded at such a young age. Having attended an immersion Māori language school at a young age, the de Jong brothers -- who, despite their blonde hair and light complexion, are descendants of the Ngati Pikiāo and Ngati Raukawa tribes -- don't just sing in the native tongue of New Zealand's indigenous people.
Alien Weaponry write songs depicting some of the historic conflicts of the Māori people after the first arrival of European settlers, retelling the stories of significant events and battles that took place in tunes like "Rū Ana te Whenua" about the 1864 battle at Pukehinahina/Gate Pa during the New Zealand Wars where one of their Māori ancestors lost his life. By 2014, they released their first recordings with The Zego Sessions EP. Two years later, Alien Weaponry would become the first group to win both Smokefreerockquest and Smokefree Pacifica Beats, two prominent national competitions for high school bands.
The group had also earned spots opening for established New Zealander alt-metal bands Devilskin and Shihad, whose drummer Tom Larkin produced Alien Weaponry's debut album, Tū, for Napalm Records. Released last year to wide acclaim, Tū was praised by critics for incorporating the band's tribal Māori influences in a way not heard since Sepultura's landmark album Roots. The group made it's first appearances on U.S. stages late last year during a tour opening for industrial-metal giants Ministry.
Following a celebrated run of European festival performances earlier this year, Alien Weaponry returns to the States for it's own headlining tour that stops at the Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco Tuesday night. The band also released a new 7-inch single featuring two new songs including "Ahi Kā," another historically inspired anthem about the 1952 eviction of a Māori tribe ahead of a visit from the Queen of England that left the tribe's village burnt to the ground. The group will be joined by veteran San Francisco metal band Brocas Helm (who have been playing Bay Area since 1982) and Archaeologist, a San Jose prog-metal project led by guitarist Kyle Schaefer.
Alien Weaponry
Tuesday, May 28, 7 p.m. $15 (all ages)
Bottom of the Hill
