Northland thrash metal band Alien Weaponry up for Silver Scroll songwriting gong

Waipū thrash metal band Alien Weaponry, who received a haka from 6000 fans at a festival in Copenhagen last month, are one of 20 finalists in the APRA Silver Scroll Award for the song Ahi Kā.

Teenage Northland thrash metal band Alien Weaponry has seen their stellar year improve even further with their song Ahi Kā one of 20 finalists in the APRA Silver Scroll Award.

Twenty songs from more than 200 entries have been chosen and will now be under further scrutiny from APRA's 10,000 members, who will vote to reduce these down to the top five finalists and, ultimately, the winner of the prestigious songwriting award.

Alien Weaponry's song Ahi Kā, written by the band members from Waipū - Lewis de Jong, Henry de Jong, and Ethan Trembath - is in the mix along with Look Up, written by Marika Hodgson and Northlander Troy Kingi, that was performed by Sorrento.

It's been a great year for Alien Weaponry, who have been playing at some of Europe's biggest metal festivals.

Last month more than 6000 heavy metal fans performed a spine-tingling haka as Alien Weaponry took to the stage at the Copenhell festival in Copenhagen.

Alien Weaponry are well-known for their fusion of te reo Māori with thrash metal. The band - brothers Henry, 18, and Lewis de Jong, 16, and friend Ethan Trembath, 16, - won the Auckland Live Best Independent Debut album award at last March's prestigious Taite Music Prize awards for debut album Tu.

They became the first New Zealand band to play the world's biggest metal music festival, Wacken Open Air in Germany, which draws about 80,000 metal fans. They also supported industrial legends Ministry on a 22-date North American tour.

The trio have been on a roll since winning Smokefree Rockquest and Smokefree Pacifica Beats in 2016, and last year also won the Tui for Best Rock Artist, along with other awards.

The APRA Silver Scroll awards ceremony will take place at Spark Arena on Wednesday, October 2.

The other awards presented on the night are:
● APRA Maioha Award, celebrating exceptional waiata featuring te reo
● SOUNZ Contemporary Award, celebrating excellence in contemporary composition
● APRA Best Original Music in a Feature Film Award
● APRA Best Original Music in a Series Award
As a part of the celebrations APRA will also be inducting a songwriter/s into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame.