Mawiza - ÜL

Angry Metal Guy

Mawiza, an indigenous band from Wallmapu, a territory out of South America’s Mapuche Nation (spanning Chile and Argentina), has seen a sudden rise in recent years. Formed in 2014 as Nunca Seremos Dichosos, their second album, 2019’s Kollong, would go on to win them Chile’s version of the Grammy awards (called the Pulsar Award) for Best Metal Artist. In 2021, they adopted the name Mawiza and decided to sing entirely in their ancestral language, Mapuzungum, instead of Spanish. Their music garnered enough attention from Gojira, Mastodon, and Mercyful Fate to open shows for them in front of large crowds, and Gojira’s Joe Duplantier even collaborates on a song with them. To top it off, Seasons of Mist saw enough in Mawiza to sign them ahead of the release of their debut, ÜL. ¹ They’ve got quite a story, and now we find out if they have the goods.

The word ÜL means chant, and that’s a good description for their overall musical approach. Lead singer Awka Mondaka delivers a chant-like vocal performance, and the guitars and drums play a start-stop rhythm that complements Mondaka’s chants. Gojira’s influence is undeniable in the form of pinch harmonics and slides that constitute major instrumental techniques. The intro to “Wingkawnoam” sets the stage for the harmonics, and hardly a minute passes on ÜL without hearing them. Mawiza uses the combination of pinch harmonics, guitar riffs, and heartbeat-like drums to create a groovy sound that’ll get you bouncing and swaying side to side. A couple of breakdowns (“Ngulutu,” “Nawelkünuwnge”) lend a metalcore touch, though their overall sound defies simple genre tags. Nature is also an important component, both thematically and aurally. With a good pair of headphones, you can hear birds tweeting (“Wingkawnoam”) and insects trilling (“Pinhza Ñi Pewma”).

ÜL by Mawiza

While the early songs have moments of groove to keep things fun, it’s the middle of ÜL that shines the most. These tracks stand out as more melodic than the rest. “Mamüll Reke” is a slower, ballad-like tune, but it’s also one of the catchier tracks, with a chorus that’ll make you want to learn Mapuzungum so you can sing along. It’s the closest to having a traditional structure of any song on ÜL, which makes its selection as one of the lead singles no surprise. Perhaps my favorite is “Wenu Weychan,” which creates some great energy with a combination of thumping, heavy guitar riffs and powerful blast beats. In particular, Txalkan’s rhythmic drum work makes this so much fun that you want to get up and dance. Yet these songs also display some of Mawiza’s songwriting pitfalls. As much as I love “Wenu Weychan,” it goes on for two minutes too long with some weird instrumental shenanigans. “Nawelkünuwnge,” which opens with an enjoyable Pantera-like riff, eventually devolves into an unusual drop beat breakdown. Decisions like these kill the momentum on otherwise killer tunes.

The final third of ÜL highlights its true weaknesses. “Lhan Antü” and “Kalli Lhayay” feel like half-baked rough drafts instead of well-tuned, coherent tracks. There’s a moment three minutes into “Lhan Antü” where it begins to transform into a different, far more interesting song, but the rest of it sounds like aimless banging on the drum and noise-making with guitars. “Kalli Lhayay” makes use of cybernetic-sounding riffs and vocals that sound like Skynet hacked into Mawiza’s recording session. The conclusion of “Kalli Lhayay” demonstrates how grating those pinch harmonics can be from overuse–at the most extreme, they sound like a simulation of tinnitus. The inability to write memorable hooks and melodies leads to inconsistencies throughout ÜL.

Perhaps it’s my Western concept of music that is getting in the way of enjoying Mawiza’s ÜL as much as I should. I like hooks and melodies, and it’s not as if the album is entirely devoid of these things, but it’s not as hooky or melodic as I’d like. There’s plenty to enjoy, though. The energy on display provides almost enough momentum to carry throughout the entirety of the record. And even if the songwriting is uneven, the musicianship is top-notch. I’m not a guitar player, but I can appreciate the difficulty of playing pinch harmonics, especially to the extent that Mawiza employs them here. I see ÜL as a good start, and with some better songwriting, the next one could be something special.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Seasons of Mist
Website: Bandcamp
Releases Worldwide: July 18th, 2025

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