ALIEN WEAPONRY
FACE YOUR PAST
Betrayal. Murder. Cannibalism. Alien Weaponry are forcing people to confront uncomfortable truths about the history of their country. And they’re doing it loudly
WORDS: FRASER LEWRY • PICTURES: PIOTR KWASNIK & AARON LEE
When Metal Hammer arrives at Christchurch Town Hall, there’s a sign on the door. “Due to an injury within the band,” it reads, “tonight’s Alien Weaponry and New Zealand Symphony Orchestra show has been postponed.”
Six hours earlier, Alien Weaponry are gearing up for the second of two shows with the NZSO. Lewis de Jong, the band’s young frontman, has hired a scooter. It’s one of those things you find in cities all over the world, an app-driven, supposedly under-powered way of getting riders from A to B while making venture capitalists rich. Outside, the weather is apocalyptic and the Meteorological Service Of New Zealand have issued a Red Warning, a status reserved for only the most severe weather events.
You can probably guess what happens next. There’s a pole, and a collision, and Lewis lands on his thumb. It breaks. With more notice the show could perhaps have been reconfigured, but there’s not enough time. The decision is reluctantly taken to cancel. Eighty musicians return to their hotels, and thousands of fans go home disappointed. “I’ll definitely think about my speed in future,” says Lewis, somewhat sheepishly.
“HE DID IT A
FEW TIMES -
PLUCKING
OUT
HIS
ENEMIES’ EYES AND EATING THEM”
HENRY DE JONG
Six weeks later, Metal Hammer catches up with Lewis and his older brother, drummer Henry. The cast has just come off Lewis’s hand, and he can get back to the important business of rehearsing for Alien Weaponry’s upcoming tour with Gojira. There’s also the small business of the band’s second album, Tangaroa, to attend to. It’s an absolute beast of a record, dense with fire and fury, equal parts angst and outrage. Outrage at the industrial-scale depletion of our planet’s natural resources. Outrage at long-standing social injustice. And outrage on a more personal level, with unsettling stories of the band’s own experiences. There are stories of M āori history and colonial crimes, and there are stories of drug addiction, sexual abuse and personal chaos.