Artist: Alien Weaponry
Title: Tū
Label: Napalm Records
Cat #: NPR785JC
Year: 2018
Duration: Album
Format: CD
Packaging Type: Jewel Case

Tū is the debut album from by the New Zealand metal trio Alien Weaponry.

The trio shocks and surprises audiences on a number of levels. Alien Weaponry's songwriting is complex, developed and highly political, incorporating elements of groove, thrash, alternative and nu-metal.

Their live performance energy is startling, with just two fifteen-year-olds commanding the front of the stage as effectively as four- and five-piece bands three times their age. Many of their songs are in New Zealand’s native language, Te Reo Māori. Guitarist/lead singer Lewis de Jong and his brother, drummer Henry, are of Ngati Pikiāo and Ngati Raukawa descent – they call themselves ‘Stealth Māori.’ They attended a full immersion kura kaupapa Māori (Māori language school) until they were seven years old, where singing waiata and performing haka were a daily routine. Also ingrained in their early learning were stories of New Zealand history from a Māori perspective.

In September 2017, they won the prestigious "APRA Maioha Award" for their song ‘Raupatu’ – a thrash metal commentary on the 1863 act of parliament that allowed the colonial government to confiscate vast areas of land from the indigenous Māori people. On 16 November, they took their places among NZ’s musical elite as nominees at the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards.

The combination of thrash metal with Māori history and language has proved popular. Their music video for RūAna Te Whenuahas more than a million YouTube and Facebook views spent 2 weeks at no. 1 on Spotify’s NZ Viral chart, and hit no. 2 on the iTunes global metal chart (just behind Iron Maiden’s ‘Run to the Hills’). The band’s music has been playlisted on stations in New Zealand and worldwide – from Scotland to Brazil, the USA, Australia and Germany.

The album's cover artwork was designed by New Zealand designer Barny Bewick. The figure, who the band nicknamed Tū, represents the Māori, Celtic, French and Scandinavian heritage of the bandmembers

Recommended if you like: Machine Head, Soulfly, Lamb Of God, Trivium, Jinjer, DevilDriver, Hatebreed, Orbit Culture

Tracklist:
01  Whaikorero
02  Rū Ana Te Whenua
03  Holding My Breath
04  Raupatu
05  Kai Tangata
06  Rage - It Takes Over Again 
07 The Things That You Know
08  Whispers
09  PC Bro
10  Urutaa
11  Nobody Here
12  Te Ara
13  Hypocrite