Alien Weaponry - Tū

Alien Weaponry are a young, very young, trio (still in their teenage years) from New Zealand who have been making a bit of a wave for themselves based on their youth and the impressive musicianship they have at their age. They’ve been releasing singles for about two years now, and it’s finally culminated in their debut album, Tū.

Their debut indeed shows them as a group seeking to compose outside the easy-level lines and incorporate a variety of styles and structures into their music. But it still comes with a bit of debut album struggle with not only finding a cohesive sonic identity, but also wielding the elements they integrate into their songs.

I’m reminded a little bit of Ektomorf and Soulfly during the album’s more low-tuned groove sections, but occasionally of modernized thrash by the quick drum beats and the types of social commentary the band make.

The first song I heard was the album’s first proper song after its introduction, “Rū Ana Te Whenua”, a song blending chants in the band’s native language and thrash-style riffing. The heavy crunch of the palm-muted guitar is there and it’s a song that kind of finds itself scattered to a lot of corners, but ultimately makes for a solid groove-oriented track.

Luckily it’s a song that focuses on aggressive gruff vocals, because the band show on a number of subsequent tracks that clean vocals are an area definitely in need of some improvement. Ironically the very next song, “Holding My Breath” makes some of the best use of them on the album. But unflattering metatcore-esque singing performances on songs like “Whispers” and “The Things That You Know” don’t do the instrumentals many favors.

Songs like “Raupatu” and rhe metalcore-influenced “Kai Tangata” (which also features some of the album’s better clean vocals) showcase the band’s strength in their commitment to thrashy groove metal.

Tū is a meager, but respectable debut effort, and it lays a good groundwork for what is possibly to come from the band, even if it also highlights where they need improvement.

I’m definitely not here to harp on some teenagers’ hopes and ambitions; I have no desire to be the wet towel on anyone’s spirits for the sake of that. The band is definitely impressive for a group of their age, certainly better than every high school band I ever had to witness performing. They’re a very young band, and naturally they have room to grow; luckily they are young and have that time to improve their craft. I wish them nothing but luck in their future, and I’ll be eager to see what they do for their next release.