Alien Weaponry: Kua Tupu Te Ara

AroView: An absolute gem of a rock documentary about the world-beating thrash metal band born out of a loving whanau in Waipū, New Zealand.

This is a story about how three teens and their parents deal with the familial pressures that we all struggle with on a day to day basis – except these guys have to do it while touring non-stop, living on top of each other in a van and trying to cope as they rapidly become more and more famous.

Alien Weaponry is made up of two brothers, Henry and Lewis de Jong, and their mate Ethan. One is 18 and the other two are 16. They are spending the next six years travelling around the world, taking their thrash metal, sung in the Māori language, to their ever-growing fan base. Their tour manager is their Mum and their sound engineer is their Dad, and that makes for an interesting and fascinating dynamic.

“Alien Weaponry: Kua Tupu Te Ara is a great watch. The music is ferociously well played, the band are a trio of thoughtful and likeable young guys, and the mahi they are doing is crucial, admirable and inspirational.” ~Graeme Tuckett, The Post