While Alien Weaponry’s upcoming Te Rā album is all set to touch down later this week, the New Zealand metal trio have broken off one last pre-release preview for us. This time, they’ve also brought along Lamb of God growler Randy Blythe, who helps the band head through their heavy “Taniwha.”
The track is the third reveal from Te Rā, and it’s described in a press release as one of the “most aggressive, death-metal leaning offerings” from their third full-length release. The song explores colonial arrogance, “savage crimes” and the wrath of the Taniwha, a protective supernatural creature within Māori mythology.
While the song does indeed offer some down-and-dirty metal chugging, it likewise finds guitarist-vocalist Lewis Raharuhi de Jong honing a soaring, Māori-sung vocal in the chorus. That said, the mid-song breakdown has Blythe adding a stone-faced spoken word section about invaders dying “beneath the shadow of the long white cloud” before he gets in a few supportive, last-minute screams.
“Lamb of God played a significant role in making Alien Weaponry what it is today and this collaboration with Randy Blythe feels like one of those ‘pinch yourself’ moments that our teenage selves would never believe possible,” Alien Weaponry noted in a group statement. “Randy’s lyricism and vocal expertise was an amazing addition to this song and we are beyond stoked to share this song/milestone with the world.”
You can hear the latest track in the player up above, while the album drops in full this Friday (March 28th) via Napalm Records. Pre-order packages can be found over here.
Down below, you can catch de Jong explaining the origins of the Taniwha for Revolver’s “Brutal Word of the Day” series. The musician will be breaking down other Māori words and sayings in the days to come, so stay tuned for more.