Alien Weaponry 'Buried Underground' single + video review

 Alien Weaponry 'Buried Underground' single + video review

Introduction

 Alien Weaponry have returned with a vengeance yet again with ‘Buried Underground’, the second single from their upcoming sophomore album, Tangaroa, which is due out on September 17th, 2021. ‘Buried Underground’ has unsurprisingly electrified the excitement building around the band, and their new album. Its contrast, musically, to the previous single released from the album is exciting, and shows that Alien Weaponry are continuing to push their own musical boundaries and develop their sound. 


Song

In contrast to ‘Tangaroa’, the album’s lead single and title track, ‘Buried Underground’ avoids the long intro section, and gets straight to the point. The higher tempo and massive sounding drums relentlessly propel the song forward like a train speeding off the rails. The intro is looped twice (Why, you ask? Because it’s cool) before breaking down into a blasting, tom-heavy drum beat played by drummer, Henry De Jong, with guitarist Lewis De Jong and bassist, Turanga Morgan-Edmonds, chugging along to Henry’s kick drum. A highlight of the song for me is the chorus section, particularly, the descending chord progression in the second half. In an odd way, it reminds me of early 70s heavy metal bands like Black Sabbath and Judas Priest, both of whom’s music people at the time likely believed would summon the devil himself if it was played too loud. My favourite section of the song, however, is the breakdown after the first chorus. Following an incredible, adrenaline-rushing drum fill by Henry, we are launched head-first into a ruthless, triplet-heavy, roller coaster ride, with scorching double bass and tremolo guitar. Absolutely awesome.  The song returns to the intro section after the second chorus, before the second breakdown/outro section, which (like the entire song) is guaranteed to be soaked up by the ruthless mosh pits at Alien Weaponry shows. 


Video

The music video for ‘Buried Underground’ is an awesome, collaborative project between Alien Weaponry and their worldwide fan base. The filming of the video began in late 2020, while the band were out on their ‘Level One’ New Zealand tour (we see ‘behind the scenes’ footage from the tour in the video). At the finale of the tour, in Auckland at The Powerstation, the band asked the crowd to do a special walk (now often referred to as the ‘Buried Underground stomp’). Then, a couple months later in February, Alien Weaponry posted a video on their social media asking their followers to film themselves doing the walk, and upload it to social media for the band to see. The band then found the best ones and gave them to their video editors. It was really awesome to see the finished product of this nearly 8-month project, and to see Alien Weaponry unite their fans all over the world. The video also showed live concert footage, which is something the band has not done in a music video for a while.   



Conclusion 

In conclusion, ‘Buried Underground’ has shown the world that Alien Weaponry remain one of the dominant metal bands of the 21st century, in not only New Zealand, but across the globe. In my opinion, their new album, Tangaroa will be a force to be reckoned with, and easily one of the most talked about metal albums of 2021.

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