Chilean Grammy Winners Summon Ancestral Force with Indigenous Groove Metal
Touring Europe this summer with festival appearances at Dynamo and Summerbreeze
While pushing the boundaries of modern metal, Mawiza are deeply connected to their native roots.
The Chilean band have performed with the underground’s biggest and heaviest influences – including Merycful Fate, Mastodon, Slipknot and Gojira – but they hail from the ancestral territory of Wallmapu, which belongs to the Mapuche Nation. By proudly embracing ancestral instruments, traditional chanting and the Mapuzungun language, the band’s fierce bent on groove metal bridges contemporary and ancient culture.
This year, Mawiza are releasing their third album and first since signing with Season of Mist, which Rolling Stone named one of the 15 Latin Albums that they can’t wait to hear. They prepared their most spirited statement yet as the band’s vocalist delivered a speech at TEDx Pucón, a local event that celebrates how nature inspires, nourishes and transforms local leaders in Chile. Awka spoke about how music can be a bridge between culture, territories and memories.
After his speech, Awka joined his bandmates and put on a special acoustic performance, which included new versions of songs from Mawiza’s Pulsar Award-winning album Kollong.
Lineup
Awka – Vocals & Rhythm guitar
Karü – Lead guitar & backing vocals
Zewü – Bass & backing vocals
Txalkan – Drums & percussion
MAWIZA is a metal band originally from the Wallmapu, ancestral territory of the Mapuche Nation in South America, which sings in Mapuzungun, their ancestral language.
Their identity is based on the preservation of their roots, the relationship of the human being with nature and the conservation of biodiversity, guided by their cosmovision and cultural struggle.
Founded in 2014 as Nunca Seremos Dichosos, they released two albums under that moniker, Tierra (2017) and Kollong (2019). With this formation, they managed to tour not only Chile, but also Colombia and Bolivia. Kollong included the single “Mawiza ñi piwke”, the first Metal song sung entirely in Mapuzungun. In 2020, the album won the prestigious Pulsar Award (Chilean Grammys) in the Best Metal Artist category.
After several line-up changes, in 2021, the band decided to change its name to Mawiza and leave behind its mixed use of Spanish and Mapuzungun. They committed to Mapuzungun as its sole language of expression.
Major milestones in the band’s career include: opening for Gojira and Mastodon in 2022 in front of more than 10,000 people, playing with Mercyful Fate at the Movistar Arena Santiago, performing at Knotfest Chile 2023 and playing in front of 30,000 people at the Pasiwali Festival in Taiwan.
Others include participating in the Fluvial music fair in Valdivia, as well as in the Micsur fair in Santiago.
In 2023, Mawiza released the single “Txükur” with the Mapuche rapper MC Millaray and a tremendous and very particular version of Metallica’s “Battery”, which they adapted to Mapuzungun.
In August 2023, Mawiza were invited to record a live session by Joe Duplantier, leader of Gojira and owner of Silver Chord Studios in New York. They also visited West Side Studio, owned by renowned producer Alan Douches and performed an acoustic concert at Selva Gallery in Brooklyn.
At the end of 2024, Mawiza re-released Kollong. This version includes new recordings of vocals done entirely in Mapuzungun and drums re-recorded by Txalkan.
This year, Mawiza will release their third album on Season of Mist.
Follow Mawiza
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mawizakvlt
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mawizakvlt
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mawizakvlt
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4oJP24bXA2fbdVmNGNmCtt
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@mawizakvlt
