See Alien Weaponry Throw Down With Maori Warriors in New "Kai Tangata" Video | Page 3 | Revolver

See Alien Weaponry Throw Down With Maori Warriors in New "Kai Tangata" Video

New Zealand trio's fiery visual celebrates Maori history and culture

Teenage "Maori thrash" trio Alien Weaponry are gearing up to release their debut album , on June 1st via Napalm. After sharing the surging first single "Holding My Breath" back in March, the groove-metal outfit has revealed a striking visual for "Kai Tangata." It's one of several songs on the record sung in the traditional Maori language, and written in honor of the ancestral roots of the band's Lewis de Jong and his brother Henry, Alien Weaponry's singer/guitarist and drummer, respectively.

The cinematic clip finds the band — rounded out by bassist Ethan Trembath — lending an explosive soundtrack to an all-out melée in the New Zealand jungle. We also get several glimpses of warriors performing the "haka," an indigenous war dance passed down through the ages (and occasionally seen at Alien Weaponry's hometown shows).

Henry de Jong explained the prevalence of the haka in a recent interview with Revolver. "If you're having, like, a music event or anything, if there's a Māori artist that goes up and performs, quite often people jump up and do a haka," he said, comparing the move to applause, except "way cooler." The drummer went on to add of Alien Weaponry's shows, "You see the eight people standing here doing one haka, and then the 10 people there doing another one, all at the same time."

Check our full chat with Alien Weaponry, and read our list of seven reasons why the trio should be your new favorite band.

Below, get to know Alien Weaponry better with a 2016 short doc on the band, shot in their hometown of Waipu, New Zealand: