New Zealand modern groove metal trio ALIEN WEAPONRY recently announced their heaviest,
most powerful and mature album to date, Te Rā, released 28th March 2025 via Napalm Records. In the hands of veteran producer/mixer Josh Wilbur (Lamb Of God, Gojira, Megadeth) and featuring a guest vocal appearance from longtime ALIEN WEAPONRY champion Randy Blythe of Lamb Of God, Te Rā’s gnashing blend of groove, nu, and thrash metal shines with anthemic choruses and refreshed technical skill.

Today, following the release of the album's acclaimed first single, 'Mau Moko' – a track Revolver, Metal Hammer, Heavy Consequence and others dubbed as one of the best new metal tracks upon release – the band returns again with second single, '1000 Friends'. Warning of the looming societal division and hidden dangers created by social media dependency, the track premieres alongside a brand new music video.

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-2GKj25lQE

Frontman Lewis Raharuhi de Jong says about '1000 Friends': "'1000 Friends' encapsulates the shifting way we socialize today, and the impact it has on the human psyche. We can often feel disconnected from the outside world. The human mind wasn't built to comprehend the world we are currently living in."

Pre-order Te Rā here: https://lnk.to/AlienWeaponry-TeRa/napalmrecords

Alien Weaponry have solidified themselves as one of the greatest young metal bands of their generation with renewed musical tenacity and crucial messaging. Te Rā is a bold, unwavering cry for a future in which we can all take part in the legacy of peoples like the Māori and others all around us – people who, if they aren’t seen, most certainly need to be heard.

With their third full-length album, Alien Weaponry expand on their hallmark messages of cultural, societal and environmental resilience while delivering their most massive-sounding, focused musical output ever. In the hands of veteran producer/mixer Josh Wilbur (Lamb Of God, Gojira, Megadeth) and featuring a guest vocal appearance from longtime Alien Weaponry champion Randy Blythe of Lamb Of God, Te Rā’s gnashing blend of groove, nu, math and thrash metal shines with anthemic choruses and refreshed technical skill.

On Te Rā, listeners can hear the band doubling-down on the aggression in the verses before applying temperance, especially in the case of 'Taniwha', a death metal-leaning banger featuring the particularly raw guest vocal from Randy Blythe. Lyrically, there’s a noticeable tilt towards despondency, hopelessness, and frustration on Te Rā. While bassist Tūranga Porowini Morgan-Edmonds' lyrics in Māori on songs like 'Tama-nui-te-rā' and Ponaturi' draw from the themes of history, battle lore and mysticism that made the first two albums so rich, frontman/guitarist Lewis Raharuhi de Jong's English-language lyrics illustrate the impact when culture collides with disenfranchisement day to day.

'Crown' and 'Hanging by a Thread' take us into the headspace where struggle pushes people to the brink of desperation, while on 'Blackened Sky' and '1000 Friends', Lewis addresses universal woes like the looming threat of World War III and the damaging effects of social media. On album closer 'Te Kore', Tūranga dives into primordial nothingness at the root of the Māori origin story, while on 'Mau Moko', he finds the middle ground between these perspectives. Taken as a whole, Te Rā grapples with what it’s like to be caught in the pull of divergent cultures – not just for the descendants of colonized people, but for all of us.

Alien Weaponry are:
Henry Te Reiwhati de Jong - Drums, Backing vocals
Lewis Raharuhi de Jong - Guitars, Lead vocals
Tūranga Porowini Morgan-Edmonds - Backing vocals & guitar

Alien Weaponry online:
WEBSITE
FACEBOOK
INSTAGRAM
NAPALM RECORDS

New Zealand's metal stars Alien Weaponry take aim at social media with new single '1000 Friends'

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