Worldwide Metal: New Zealand
In another edition of Worldwide Metal, where I travel the world (aka the internet) to see what countries have some bands that you need to check out. Today, we are traveling to a land adjacent to the land down under in New Zealand. A region, near the continent of Australia, does have some aboriginal people and culture, which can be an influence in one of the bands we are covering today. With two of the band’s being higher profile bands from the area that you might have heard of.
One of the first two big bands from the region we will be covering is melodic death/thrash/groove act 8 Foot Sativa. With the band’s ever evolving sound throughout the band’s creation near the end of the 90’s, the band released five albums, with their last album being 2013’s The Shadow Masters. The band’s unique mixture of all these genres did make an original sound, leaning more towards the groove metal sound in later records. Though no news on if the band is still active or if broken up, they are a solid band with a solid discography of groove, thrash and elements of the Gothenburg sound.
You can check out the band’s Spotify page HERE
Another band that has been rising to popularity in the last couple years and pushing an almost avant-garde embrace to death metal is Blindfolded and Led To The Woods. Starting as a deathcore act in their early releases, the band’s most recent albums Nightmare Withdrawals in 2021 and Rejecting Obliteration in 2023, showcase the band’s evolving and transforming sound. Including elements of shoegaze, hardcore, death metal and black metal into a beautiful hybrid in the band’s aggressive and atmospheric sound.
You can check out the band’s Bandcamp page HERE & their Spotify page HERE
Another band that also contributes an avant-garde element to their take on death metal is Azure. A two-man project, the band sings about Lovecraftian horror and it fits with the ringing keys and guitar rhythms in the band’s music. Formed in the late 90’s the band’s first official release wasn’t until 2019 with their debut album Under Produced and Over Excited. The band’s most recent album Psycholosophy, mixes odd timing start/stop pacing, combined with random samples and gritty, phlegmy, and snarly vocals on the album’s opening track. A band to check out if you want a new twist on death metal.
You can check out the band’s Bandcamp HERE & and their Spotify page HERE
Now we head into traditional black metal with the band Augrim. Formed during the heigh of the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020, this three-piece act delivers a gritty, heavy and unrelenting black metal sound that I dug A LOT. Having elements of DSBM acts like Leviathan, the USBM sound of Uada and the cavernous and echoey production style of early second wave black metal albums. Though only one record from the band is available, with their 2023 album The Sceptre, I see high hopes for this band and a bright future if they stay together and would love to hear a follow-up from them in the near future.
You can check out the band’s Bandcamp HERE
The last band is Alien Weaponry from Waipu, New Zealand. One of the bigger bands to recently skyrocket to popularity with their bombastic and groove heavy single “Kai Tangata” from their 2018 album Tū. The band are of Māori ancestry and many of the songs on their albums are written and performed in the Māori language. With the release of the single, comparisons to Roots-era Sepultura came to mind. With groove heavy guitars and drums, tribal drumming, along with singing in another language, the comparison was predictable and accurate. The band would follow that record up with 2021’s Tangaroa. No news yet on if the band is currently working on new material, but a band to check out if you want that groove metal sound that brings out the inner warrior.
You can check out the band’s Spotify page HERE
That’s going to do it for my time visiting New Zealand and another edition of Worldwide Metal. Did you dig some of the bands I featured in this edition? Were there any bands you think other readers should check out? You can also let me know what country I should travel to next, so I can stamp my metal passport on my journey to discover Worldwide Metal.
