Metallers on the move

On Saturday May 6, Waipu’s own metal heroes, Alien Weaponry, will be joining forces with Wellington’s Bulletbelt, infamous for writing and performing the title track to the cult zombie movie ‘Deathgasm’.

Bulletbelt have just released their second album, ‘Rise of the Banshee’, for the first ever heavy metal show in the Far North.

Promoter Francis Malley decided to organise the event at the Waipapakauri Hotel, North of Kaitaia, so that local metal fans wouldn’t have to travel long distances to see “some decent metal.”

Alien Weaponry were an obvious choice. The Waipu teenagers made history in 2016 by winning the national finals of both the Smokefreerockquest and Pacifica Beats competitions with their unique brand of thrash metal and Te Reo Maori.

They have released two singles since the win – ‘Urutaa’ and ‘Raupatu’ – and their music has been embraced by iwi radio stations and metal fans throughout New Zealand and beyond.

The band sings only original material, about half of which is in Te Reo Maori, and were recently named one of the top 10 metal acts in New Zealand by UK based Metal Hammer magazine.

“It will be our first time playing with Bulletbelt,” says Alien Weaponry frontman and lead guitarist Lewis de Jong, who recently celebrated his 15th birthday, “and it will also be our first time that far north. We actually haven’t played a full show in Northland for three years, and a lot has happened in that time, so we’re looking forward to blowing the place apart.”