It goes without saying, but social media is an omnipresent force in most of our lives. We do, indeed, live in an age of likes and instant follows. New Zealand groove-metal trio Alien Weaponry aren’t exactly happy about it, though, so they’re spouting-off on apps and smartphones in their heavy new single, “1000 Friends.”
Rather than hit you in your DM’s, Alien Weaponry slid the song onto streamers today (February 19th), and it is likewise the second single from the group’s forthcoming Te Rā album.
The soaring metal anthem is full of palm mute-chunky rhythms and melodic bombast. Vocalist-guitarist Lewis Raharuhi de Jong, meanwhile, attempts to initiate human connection by decrying the ways smartphones are reshaping our brains “through a screen of lies.” The tune likewise hints at the “looming societal division and hidden dangers” created online.
“‘1000 Friends’ encapsulates the shifting way we socialize today, and the impact it has on the human psyche,” he explained in a statement. “We can often feel disconnected from the outside world. The human mind wasn’t built to comprehend the world we are currently living in.”
A new video for the song finds the band both rocking through the number at a concert and staring down an ominously dangling iPhone. You can check it out for yourself up above.
As previously reported, Alien Weaponry’s Te Rā was produced and mixed by Josh Wilbur (Lamb Of God, Gojira, Megadeth), and finds the act singing in both English and te reo Māori, the indigenous language of New Zealand.
The record features a guest spot from Lamb of God vocalist Randy Blythe, and had been teased last month through their Māori tattoo culture-celebrating “Mau Moko.”
Te Rā is out March 28th via Napalm Records. Pre-order packages can be found over here.