Alien Weaponry announce new album Te Rā

Maori metallers Alien Weaponry have announced that their forthcoming album, Te Rā, will be dropping on March 28.

The New Zealand trio's third album sees the band tapping into Maori history, as well as containing a more universal thread of anxiety and fear of subjects of war, social media damage and decline. They've also roped in Lamb Of God singer and longtime fan Randy Blythe to roar along on a track.

"We really stepped it up this time, as we understood that this album had to go further," says singer/guitarist 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.”

To mark the announcement, they've released the video for the first look at the record, Mau Moko. Check it out.

Explaining the track, lyricist/bassist Tūranga Porowini Morgan-Edmonds says, "Māori have a rich history of marking traditions that were nearly lost during colonisation. 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!"

Te Rā tracklisting:

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