Gojira’s Joe Duplantier has not only been a longtime fan of Chilean metal force Mawiza, but a musical collaborator of theirs as well. Their tandem attack has now been showcased in the new music video for Mawiza’s latest single, “Ti Inan Paw-Pawkan.”
The song is the third and latest preview from the band’s forthcoming ÜL full-length, and in it they deliver a deep and hefty groove informed by extra-elastic mouth-harp tones, multi-lateral chugs and lyrics sung in Mawiza’s native Mapuche language. Late in the track, Duplantier adds his signature roar.
A press release explains that “Ti Inan Paw-Pawkan” conjures a sense of displacement, the battle between nature and industrialization, and further taps into the album’s broader explorations of colonization.
“We wanted this song to sound like nature resisting the advancement of the city,” Mawiza drummer Txalkan explained in a statement. “Even when crushed by industrial pollution, nature is always pushing up from beneath the concrete.”
That battle plays out in the video, where Mawiza rock “Ti Inan Paw-Pawkan” from atop a high-rise as a masked figure stalks the streets of Santiago. Duplantier cuts his vocals in the city’s La Salitrera recording studio, but likewise visits a Mapuche community with Mawiza.
Duplantier added in a statement that he loves Mawiza “for their music, for who they are as individuals and for what they stand for.”
“They represent and honor their powerful Mapuche heritage, amplifying its relevant message of connection with our roots and the universe as a whole. And they do so with determination and in the most modern way, with heavy riffs and an openness to new ideas and to the world. A conversation between past, present and future. Don’t give up the fight!”
You’ll find the “Ti Inan Paw-Pawkan” video up above. The band’s ÜL is out July 18th via Season of Mist, and includes the recently Revolver-favorited “Wingkawnoam”.