Kiwi music enthusiasts have heard a familiar sound on WWE NXT this month.
Northland thrash metal trio Alien Weaponry’s Holding My Breath is an official theme of NXT TakeOver: Phoenix, and has been played extensively on WWE programming.
Bass player Ethan Trembath told NZPWI the band was on tour in the United States when they first heard their track would be the theme for the anticipated WWE Network special.
“We stopped at the next Walmart to look for some WWE games for the PlayStation we had in the van.”
Ethan grew up playing PS2, he said, specifically the SmackDown vs. Raw series.
“Smashing people’s faces off with chairs is one of my sweetest childhood memories.”
Brothers Henry (drums, back-up vocals) and Lewis de Jong (guitar, lead vocals) grew up without a television, but watched WWE programming at friends’ houses, they said.
Alien Weaponry formed in 2010, and rose to prominence in 2016 when they became the first band to take out both the Smokefree Rockquest and Pacifica Beats competitions. Their debut album, Tū, was released in June 2018.
“We don’t have one set way of writing,” Ethan said. “We just jam until we find something we like. Lewis writes a lot of the lyrics, but we all collaborate on some of them too.”
The lyrics to Holding My Breath deal with feelings of anxiety and depression, he said.
“It’s easy to fall into that hole, but it’s really hard to get out of it.”
The next generation of LOUD. @AlienWeaponry is #NXTLOUD. #WeAreNXT #NXTTakeOver pic.twitter.com/133w8NK1Vj
— Triple H (@TripleH) December 21, 2018
WWE NXT TakeOver: Phoenix airs Sunday, January 27, on WWE Network.
