Taking their name from director Neil Blomkamp's 2009 sci-fi horror film District 9, award-winning New Zealand power trio Alien Weaponry deliver a whiplash-inducing amalgam of kinetic thrash and tribal, hook-driven groove metal that leans hard on the members' Māori heritage. The band issued their first full-length effort, Tū, in 2018, followed by Tangaroa in 2021.

Founded in 2010 by teenage brothers Lewis (guitar, vocals) and Henry de Jong (drums), Alien Weaponry sport a similar trajectory to Brazilian thrash/groove legends Sepultura, another siblings-headed unit that blurred the lines between sonic might and cultural heritage. Descendants of the Ngāti Pikiao and Ngāti Raukawa tribes, the band often include traditional instruments called taonga pūoro and the Māori haka war dance in their music. The group originated in Auckland -- the de Jong brothers were just eight and ten years old at the time -- and became a trio in 2013 after moving to the small town of Waipu and adding bassist Ethan Trembath. They released their debut EP, The Zego Sessions, independently in 2014, followed by a New Zealand tour with alt-metal heavyweights Devilskin. More regional success followed in 2016, with the band winning both the national finals of the intermediate and high school music competitions Smokefreerockquest and Smokefree Pacifica Beats.

In 2017, Alien Weaponry released a pair of singles ahead of the arrival of their full-length debut. The resulting Tū was released on Napalm Records in 2018, and debuted at number five on the New Zealand albums chart. Trembath left the fold in 2020 and was replaced by high school friend Tūranga Morgan-Edmonds, also Māori, who made his studio debut on the group's 2021 sophomore long-player, Tangaroa. ~ James Christopher Monger