Solidarity is hardly a new concept to Mawiza, an indigenous metal/folk group born and bred in sacred Mapuche Nation lands in Chile. In 1861-’83, the military staged campaigns and an occupation of the Araucanía Region in central Chile under the Orwellian-sounding “Pacification of Araucanía.” The indigenous community had to band together if they wanted a chance to survive the military incursion. Nevertheless, the brutal invasion paved the way for notorious, U.S.-backed Augusto Pinochet’s military coup about 100 years later.
Formed in 2014, Mawiza’s stated goal — beyond concocting an entirely original sound that fuses metal with Mapuche folk music — is “to preserve ancestral roots, rescue indigenous moral values and to promote biodiversity conservation, guided by the indigenous worldview and struggle.” (Read more about the band and its mission in an interview with Mawiza vocalist and rhythm guitarist Awka, as part of our ongoing series On Tyranny.)
As Mawiza’s career progressed, the band found that another critical issue is inherent in indigenous communities valiantly attempting to preserve their culture and land: the environment. Fortuitously, the band drew attention and, subsequently, ardent support, from a band more than 7,000 miles away that is considered metal royalty across the globe: Gojira. In its lyrics for songs ranging from “Global Warming” to “Toxic Garbage Island” to the entirety of 2005’s From Mars to Sirius, the French progressive-metal band makes it a top priority to educate their fans about eco-awareness.
Mawiza and Gojira bonded even more closely when the latter band took the former one under their wing and performed together live. Cementing their friendship and admiration for each other, Gojira frontman Joe Duplantier traveled to the Mapuche community to record his featured spot on “Ti Inan Paw-Pawkan,” the first single from Mawiza’s new album ÜL, which Season of Mist issued 12 days ago.
Around the same time, The Bad Penny communicated exclusively with Awka to learn more about “Ti Inan Paw-Pawkan” and how it came about.
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