Alien Weaponry's debut album Tū isn't just full of heavy-as-shit groove metal — it's also a call to arms in the fight to preserve their Māori history and culture. Through their unique style of Haka thrash metal they tackle heavy issues of colonization that plagued their ancestors — the results of which still ripple through their community to this day. One such song that goes into this issue is "Whispers," and today they've released a video for the track. It opens up with a radio interview segment between New Zealand journalist Kim Hill and right wing lobbyist Don Brash, the latter arguing colonization is a net-good for the Māori people.
"These are just a couple of examples of the government not respecting the voices of the people, especially Māori," says guitarist and lead singer, Lewis de Jong. "Even though historic wrongs have supposedly been righted with compensation, when the same thing keeps happening it's hard to believe there has really been a change."
The video then launches into a performance of the pensive and heavy track. The lyrics shift between what feel like a direct response to Brash's comments, and singing in the actual Māori tongue. The song continues its descent into heaviness, taking a swerve into a breakdown, before finishing up with the words "the people will find out the truth about our nation."
"It's kind of scary how many people share [Don Brash's] views," says drummer Henry de Jong. "They don't seem to understand that the current policies are there to help redress the imbalance that was caused after over a hundred years of colonization. During that time, millions of acres of Māori land were stolen, they were excluded from voting and children were punished for speaking Māori in schools, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. That sort of thing can't be fixed with compensation alone - it takes time and goodwill from both sides."
See the video above, and order Tū from Napalm Records.
