Alien Weaponry have announced a new album, Te Rā, arriving March 28th via Napalm Records. The video for the single “Mao Molo” can be streamed now.
The album announcement comes on the same day Alien Weaponry kick off their tour supporting Slayer guitarist Kerry King and his solo band. The outing, which also features Municipal Waste, runs through February 14th in Austin, Texas, and you can get tickets here.
Get Alien Weaponry Tickets Here
The single sees the New Zealand band one again melding technical thrash metal with lyrical content that is pertinent to its native culture. In this case, the lyrics are in the te reo Māori language and honor traditional Māori face tattooing while “delving into the costs of maintaining customs that are at-odds with dominant cultural norms,” according to the band’s press release.
“Māori have a rich history of marking traditions that were nearly lost during colonization,” added lyricist/bassist Tūranga Porowini Morgan-Edmonds. “These traditions are currently in the process of a much needed cultural revival, and I was inspired by that. I wanted the lyrics to remind people that moko is, and always will be, a part of who we are. With the song’s video, we wanted to show the darker side of the history of moko and how the head trade played a part in the near extinction of the tradition. We fought through it and continue to fight for its revival still today!”
As for the new album, Alien Weaponry’s third full-length, Te Rā was recorded by producer/mixer Josh Wilbur (Lamb of God, Gojira, Megadeth) and features a guest vocal from one of the band’s longtime champions, Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe, on the track “Taniwha.”
“We really stepped it up this time, as we understood that this album had to go further,” said frontman Lewis Raharuhi de Jong in the press release. “We went through a lot of songs and scrapped entire sections of songs. We kept working them and working them until we got them right. Then, with the way we were pushing ourselves musically, I knew it was important to challenge myself lyrically as well. This time I delved into difficult emotional places and mental states. There’s a lot of existential dread running through the album, and I tried to find the right words to describe the indescribable.”
Pre-order Te Rā via Napalm Records. Below you can stream the video for “Mau Moko” and see the album art and tracklist.
Te Rā Artwork:
Te Rā Tracklist:
01. Crown
02. Mau Moko
03. 1000 Friends
04. Hanging by a Thread
05. Tama-nui-te-rā
06. Myself to Blame
07. Taniwha (feat. Randy Blythe)
08. Blackened Sky
09. Te Riri o Tāwhirimātea
10. Ponaturi
11. Te Kore