New Zealand groove metallers Alien Weaponry have announced details of their third album, Te Rā. It's preceded by the release of a video for Mau Moko, a song that celebrates the practice of Māori tattooing.
"Māori have a rich history of marking traditions that were nearly lost during colonization," says lyricist/bassist Tūranga Porowini Morgan-Edmonds. "These traditions are currently in the process of a much-needed cultural revival, and that inspired me. 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 [the trading of tattooed Māori skulls, many of which are displayed in European and American museums] played a part in the near extinction of the tradition. We fought through it and continue to fight for its revival still today!"
In addition to his role with Alien Weaponry, Morgan-Edmonds is a popular cultural content creator on social media, with 386,000 followers on TikTok and another 138,000 on Instagram.
Te Rā is the follow-up to 2021's Tangaroa and will be released on March 28 via Napalm Records in several formats, including limited edition splatter vinyl with a booklet, patch and slipmat, marbled vinyl, black vinyl, and CD. It's available to pre-order now.
"We really stepped it up this time, as we understood that this album had to go further," says frontman Lewis Raharuhi de Jong. "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."
Alien Weaponry's North American tour with Slayer legend Kerry King kicks off today (January 15) in San Francisco, CA, and ends in Austin, TX, on February 14, before the band return home to Aotearoa New Zealand for a run of headline shows. Full dates below.
Alien Weaponry: Te Rā tracklist
1. Crown
2. Mau Moko
3. 1000 Friends
4. Hanging by a Thread
5. Tama-nui-te-rā
6. Myself to Blame
7. Taniwha (feat. Randy Blythe)
8. Blackened Sky
9. Te Riri o Tāwhirimātea
10. Ponaturi
11. Te Kore
Alien Weaponry: 2025 tour dates
Jan 15: San Francisco The Regency Ballroom, CA*
Jan 17: Spokane Spokane Live Casino, WA*
Jan 18: Seattle Showbox SoDo, WA*
Jan 29: Portland Roseland Theater, OR*
Jan 20: Vancouver Commodore Ballroom, BC*
Jan 22: Calgary The Palace Theatre, AB*
Jan 23: Edmonton Midway Music Hall, AB*
Jan 25: Winnipeg Burton Cummings Theatre, MB*
Jan 26: Minneapolis The Fillmore, MN*
Jan 28: Milwaukee The Rave, WI*
Jan 30: Detroit The Majestic Theater, MI*
Jan 31: Cleveland House of Blues, OH*
Feb 01: Toronto Danforth Music Hall, ON*
Feb 02: Montreal L'Olympia, QC*
Feb 04: Boston Royale, MA*
Feb 05: Philadelphia Theatre of the Living Arts, PA*
Feb 07: New York Irving Plaza, NY*
Feb 08: Baltimore Baltimore Soundstage, MD*
Feb 10: Atlanta Buckhead Theatre, GA*
Feb 11: St. Petersburg Jannus Live, FL*
Feb 13: Houston House of Blues, TX*
Feb 14: Austin Emo's, TX*
Mar 14: Kirikiriroa (Hamilton) Factory, New Zealand
Mar 15: Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) Jim Beam Homegrown, New Zealand
Mar 20: Ngāmotu (New Plymouth) TSB Showplace, New Zealand
Mar 21: Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) Powerstation, New Zealand
Mar 22: Ōtautahi (Christchurch) James Hay Theatre, New Zealand
Mar 23: Tāhuna (Queenstown) AJ Hackett Kawarau Bungy Centre, New Zealand
* with Kerry King and Municipal Waste
