Combining groove metal with Māori influence, Kiwi trio Alien Weaponry’s second album Tangaroa is eagerly anticipated, and rightly so, considering the buzz that 2018 debut Tū created. There’s a freshness that keeps every song interesting, pulling from enough recognisable influences to make them accessible to fans of every niche and subgenre. While the tinges of early 2000s nu-metal invokes nostalgic memories of a time when smoking inside clubs was legal, it’s clear that under the surface Alien Weaponry also mean serious business. Opening track Titokowaru pays tribute to the Māori war chief of the same name, with lyrics that take a brutal swipe at the white settlement of New Zealand – ‘Ka pīrangi au te kikokiko pākeha’, roughly translated as English as ‘I crave the fle...
