New Zealand thrash metal trio ALIEN WEAPONRY unleash their brand-new music video for “Whispers” of the recently released debut album, Tū.
While previous hits “Rū Ana Te Whenua” and “Kai Tangata” have related to historic battles and injustices faced by their ancestors, “Whispers” raises much more recent incidences of conflict – the Foreshore and Seabed Act passed in 2004; and the Trans Pacific Partnership, signed in 2016.
“The government’s words are like whispers in our ears, telling us lies, to hide away our fears!”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HychlNvGq4&w=560&h=315]
“These are just a couple of examples of the government not respecting the voices of the people, especially Māori,” says guitarist and lead singer, Lewis de Jong. “Even though historic wrongs have supposedly been righted with compensation, when the same thing keeps happening it’s hard to believe there has really been a change.”
The spoken excerpt at the beginning of the song is part of a radio interview by well-known Radio New Zealand journalist Kim Hill with Don Brash, a former leader of two right wing political parties, and current spokesperson for a lobby group set up to advocate removal of so-called “special privileges” for Māori.
“It’s kind of scary how many people share his views,” says drummer Henry de Jong. “They don’t seem to understand that the current policies are there to help redress the imbalance that was caused after over a hundred years of colonization. During that time, millions of acres of Māori land were stolen, they were excluded from voting and children were punished for speaking Māori in schools, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. That sort of thing can’t be fixed with compensation alone – it takes time and goodwill from both sides.”
Tu is out now
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