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ALIEN WEAPONRY Return With New Album, Te Ra By Larry Petro, News Monkey Friday, January 17, 2025 @ 11:27 AM
Alongside the kickoff of their North American tour supporting metal icon Kerry King, New Zealand modern groove metal trio ALIEN WEAPONRY are pleased to announce their heaviest, most powerful and mature offering to date, I>Te Ra, out March 28, 2025 via Napalm Records.
Since releasing their acclaimed debut Tu (2018), the band have been lauded for their kinetic presence and sound, as well as their vital blend of culturally profound lyricism in both English and te reo Maori, the indigenous language of New Zealand. With their third full-length album, ALIEN WEAPONRY expand on their hallmark messages of cultural, societal and environmental resilience while delivering their most massive-sounding, focused musical output ever. In the hands of veteran producer/mixer Josh Wilbur (Lamb Of God, Gojira, Megadeth) and featuring a guest vocal appearance from longtime ALIEN WEAPONRY champion Randy Blythe of LAMB OF GOD, Te Ra's gnashing blend of groove, nu, math and thrash metal shines with anthemic choruses and refreshed technical skill.
With today's album announcement, the band have unleashed a brand new, grooving single, "Mau Moko". Featuring te reo Maori lyrics, the track honors traditional Maori face tattooing while delving into the costs of maintaining customs that are at-odds with dominant cultural norms. Check out the track and its new music video below!
"Mau Moko" lyricist/bassist Turanga Porowini Morgan-Edmonds says:
"Maori have a rich history of marking traditions that were nearly lost during colonization. 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!"
Watch the official music video for "Mau Moko" on KNAC.COM HERE
On Te Ra, listeners can hear the band doubling-down on the aggression in the verses before applying temperance, especially in the case of "Taniwha", a death metal-leaning banger featuring the particularly raw aforementioned guest vocal from Randy Blythe. Lyrically, there's a noticeable tilt towards despondency, hopelessness, and frustration on Te Ra. While bassist Turanga Porowini Morgan-Edmonds' lyrics in Maori on songs like "Tama-nui-te-ra" and "Ponaturi" draw from the themes of history, battle lore and mysticism that made the first two albums so rich, frontman/guitarist Lewis Raharuhi de Jong's English-language lyrics illustrate the impact when culture collides with disenfranchisement day to day. "Crown" and "Hanging by a Thread" take us into the headspace where struggle pushes people to the brink of desperation, while on "Blackened Sky" and "1000 Friends", Lewis addresses universal woes like the looming threat of World War III and the damaging effects of social media. On album closer "Te Kore", Turanga dives into primordial nothingness at the root of the Maori origin story, while on "Mau Moko", he finds the middle ground between these perspectives. Taken as a whole, Te Ra grapples with what it's like to be caught in the pull of divergent cultures - not just for the descendants of colonized people, but for all of us.
ALIEN WEAPONRY frontman/guitarist Lewis Raharuhi de Jong adds:
"We really stepped it up this time, as we understood that this album had to go further. 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."
Te Ra track listing:
ALIEN WEAPONRY supporting Kerry King in North America:
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ALIEN WEAPONRY have solidified themselves as one of the greatest young metal bands of their generation with renewed musical tenacity and crucial messaging. Te Ra is a bold, unwavering cry for a future in which we can all take part in the legacy of peoples like the Maori and others all around us - people who, if they aren't seen, most certainly need to be heard.
