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Alien Weaponry are “one of the most exciting young metal bands in the world right now” according to Revolver Magazine in the USA. And they’re not the only ones who think so. Since well before they released their debut album Tū in 2018, fans, bloggers, the music industry and the media worldwide have raved about Alien Weaponry’s unique blend of thrash metal and Te Reo Māori (the native language of New Zealand).

Brothers Lewis de Jong (guitar and lead vocals) and Henry de Jong (drums) formed the band in 2010 when they were 8 and 10 years old. Ethan Trembath (bass guitar) joined in 2012 to complete the lineup; although he retired in 2020 after struggling with the extensive overseas touring schedule that he could see was “only going to get more intense as the band grows.” Trembath was replaced by Tūranga Morgan-Edmonds, a former schoolmate of the de Jong brothers.

The three-piece from Waipu, New Zealand, deliver emotionally and politically charged stories of conflict and grief with a warrior-like attitude. Drummer Henry de Jong says, “Our musical style and messages have a lot of similarities with haka, which is often brutal, angry and about stories of great courage or loss.”

The de Jong brothers are of Ngati Pikiāo and Ngati Raukawa (Māori tribal) descent; and began their schooling at a kura kaupapa Māori (full immersion Māori language school), where singing waiata (songs) and performing haka were a daily routine. Also ingrained in their early learning were stories of New Zealand history told to them by their father, who, alongside the story telling, played them music from Metallica, Rage Against the Machine, Anthrax, Ministry, Red Hot Chili Peppers. It is this combination of music, language, history and socio-political commentary that underpins the band’s sound and ideas. New bass player Tūranga Morgan-Edmonds is also of Māori descent, with Ngāti Rarua, Ngāti Wai and Ngāti Hine tribal affiliations.

In the past 2 years, Alien Weaponry have supported Slayer, Anthrax, Ministry and Black Label Society across Europe and North America, as well as opening for Prophets of Rage in Auckland, New Zealand. They have sold out headline shows in New Zealand, Australia, all over Europe, the USA and Canada; and played main stage sets to record crowds at some of the biggest and most prestigious festivals around the world. These include Wacken Open Air and Summer Breeze (Germany), Download UK and Bloodstock Open Air (UK), Hellfest (France), MetalDays (Slovenia), Download Sydney and Download Melbourne (Australia), Tuska Open Air (Finland) and Copenhell (Denmark), where an impressive crowd of 6,000+ Scandinavian fans welcomed the band to the festival stage with a pre-rehearsed haka.

In New Zealand, Alien Weaponry has won multiple awards, starting with their double win at Smokefreerockquest and Smokefree Pacifica Beats in 2016. In 2017, they won the APRA Maioha Award for their song ‘Raupatu;’ and were finalists in the APRA Silver Scroll Award (‘Urutaa’); the Waiata Māori Awards for Best Music Video (‘Rū Ana Te Whenua’); and the Vodafone NZ Music Awards for Best Māori Artist. In 2018, they were finalists in the Vodafone NZ Music Awards in six categories, taking home the Tui for Best Rock Artist, while the producers of Tū won the Best Producer award.

Following the release of their debut album Tū, Alien Weaponry’s single ‘Kai Tangata’ rocketed to no.1 on the prestigious ‘Devil’s Dozen’ countdown for the Liquid Metal show on New York-based Sirius XM, where it remained for 13 weeks. The video for ‘Kai Tangata’ was the ‘Most Added Metal Song’ for June 2018 on US Cable Channel Music Choice (delivering to 50 million households) and has had nearly 6 million views on YouTube since its release.

More recently, Alien Weaponry found their songs and album on countless ‘Best Of The Decade’ lists by various publishers and in December 2019 the readers of Finnish Magazine Tuonela voted ’Tū’ all the way to the top of their ’The Best Albums of the Decade’ list – with Gojira’s ’Magma’ and Tool’s ‘Fear Inoculum’ in at second and third respectively. “The debut album sounds like a new breed of crossover, replacing speed by groove, but [still] remaining deeply rooted in the thrash metal scene,” said Tuonela Magazine of Tū.

Currently working on material for their sophomore album, 2020 is promising to turn into another groundbreaking year in the band’s career. Lewis de Jong says, “We’re so excited to be returning to Europe and the UK for our third summer – we’ve always got such an awesome reception from fans there. We’re also massively looking forward to unleashing some sonic mayhem with our new album later this year.”

The band is managed internationally by Rick Sales Entertainment (also representing Slayer, Gojira, Mastodon and Ghost); and has a worldwide distribution deal with Napalm Records. They are represented by Pinnacle Entertainment (also representing Slayer, Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie and Noel Gallagher) in North America and UK-based K2 touring agency (also representing Metallica, Iron Maiden, Mastodon, Ghost and Gojira) in the rest of the world.

“With, Helldorado, the third installment of SPIRITWORLD’s death-western trifecta, chief hombre Stu Folsom takes the listener deeper into a world where the hot desert sun beats down on his singular vision of the American West as a gateway to hell. “It’s a different album than the past two,” says Folsom, of the thematic and sonic journey that began with the Las Vegas band’s 2020’s Pagan Rhythms LP and continued with 2022’s Deathwestern. Now, the story rides on in a cloud of dust and a spray of blood with his latest offering.

Helldorado blasts the Mojave-born bloodlust and stomping, tomahawk riffs SPIRITWORLD won their brutal, horrific vision of the old west with while riding straight into macabre Americana, “I could have done Deathwestern again,” says Stu of the album that won SPIRITWORLD international acclaim. “But that’s shortchanging the fans and myself.” Helldorado rings with the sort of true grit few heavy records do.

From the urgent honky tonk swing of opener “Abilene Grime” straight into riffs that Slayer would be proud to call their own on “No Vacancy in Heaven” or “Waiting On the Reaper”. SPIRITWORLD hits with the fury of a cattle drive gone out of control. However, it’s with the punk-ish, rootsy swagger of “Bird Song of Death” and the spare, melancholic chords of “Prayer Lips” that Helldorado heads into yet unclaimed territory for Folsom and his rhinestone encrusted crew. “I like to make records that flow, that tell a story,” says Stu. “Helldorado does just that and sums up where we’ve been and where this is going.” Helldorado not only tightens the reins SPIRITWORLD’s riff-riding that has won the band “most played” stature at Sirius XM’s Liquid Metal, but also looks over its shoulder (with a cigarillo dangling from a sun parched lip) at their punk driven outlaw country origins.

Folsom and his gang first assaulted Vegas Elks Lodges in 2017 on a mission to brand country music with a manic singalong energy cultivated over years involved in the local hardcore scene. “Dwight Yoakum probably meant as much to me growing up as Black Flag or Slayer did,” says Stu. With country in his soul and metal in his veins, Folsom had a yearning for the power of the riff. This found him teaming with producer/mixer Sam Pura (who has produced all 3 SPIRITWORLD records) to unleash Pagan Rhythms, first on the tiny independent label Safe Inside Records. The much buzzed about debut album caught the eye of Century Media who signed the band and issued the album worldwide a year later. The reaction to the album, which drew comparison to the likes of Slayer or Integrity was nothing short of overwhelming.

Not surprisingly, it was the purity of Folsom’s vision that won raves from the likes of Gary Holt and Soulfly leader, Max Cavalera, who raved about the band on their social media. Helldorado is the next chapter of Folsom’s cycle of Western weirdness that draws inspiration from his own published literary work, Godlessness, a collection of short stories rooted in Lovecraftian horror and Louis LaMour’s classic tales of the American West. The track, “Oblivion”, which features additional vocals from Sgah’gahsowah, leader of Adirondack black metal band, Black Braid and a guest solo by Rise Against guitarist Zach Blair, truly spells out the darkness of Folsom’s gritty vision. From the James Bousema cover of a lonesome, skeletal rider peering into hell, This isn’t “How the West Was Won”, it’s something far darker and demonic.

“Stigmata Scars”, which features additional guitar work by Kreator’s Frederic Leclercq digs even deeper into SPIRITWORLD’s already horrific lyrical vistas, “It definitely continues the fiction side of things,” says Stu. “It continues post Godlessness onto a new cycle of stories. Helldorado is a sneak peek into what happens next in that world. It’s the same sort of epic horror Western fiction quest that has been happening on this trilogy of records.” Folsom freely admits that his foray into gritty pulp fiction is essential to SPiRITWORLD’s Western world building – and vice versa. “In the song ‘Waiting on the Reaper”, there’s a line, ‘I saw a vision of my fate in a puddle of piss and jaguar blood’. That was a lyric that just came while I was playing guitar and mumbling gibberish. That’s such a cool line that it’s become a couple chapters in the book I’m writing. Two lines in a heavy metal song that somehow grew into several thousand words of fiction. One informs the other.”

SPIRITWORLD live, is where the rubber meets the road for Stu Folsom and crew. Taking the stage in embroidered, rhinestone-ed jackets and Stetson hats, the energized fivesome is literally Elvis’ Wrecking Crew from Hell. From their inaugural stint on Decibel Magazine’s branded jaunt with Obituary and Municipal Waste in early 2022 to recent North American tours including a co-headline run with metal legends Kreator and Sepultura as well as hardcore heroes Stick To Your Guns and European festivals including the UK’s legendary Bloodstock and France’s Hellfest. “The mentality on some of these tours is literally ripping a page from The Ramones or Against Me!, don’t stop, no stage banter, just rip your songs.” Helldorado will also be a turning point for SPIRITWORLD when Stu Folsom and Co. take the stage.

“If you go see a rippin rockabilly band or a really good honky tonk band, maybe for the encore or maybe most of the way through the set the band will strip it down and get on a barstool,” says Stu. “I’d like to take those sorts of dynamics. Just making it more impactful Maybe the big epic production of something like Ghost where the intensity goes down. Maybe some pedal steel and some singer-songwriter storytelling from this world I’ve created.” One thing’s for sure, SPIRITWORLD is back with an album that is as much Sergio Leon as it is Slayer. When asked to sum up where it’s all going, Stu Folsom steps back, considers the question and answers plainly. “Straight to hell, my friend.Straight to hell.”