Rancagua and Villarrica are the first announced stops for MAWIZA’s November acoustic tour of Chile, accompanying the release of IÑ MONGELETEW. Due November 6, 2026 on digital streaming platforms, the Mapuche groove metal band’s first acoustic EP brings their commitment to Mapuzungun and ancestral identity into a different instrumental setting.
The title translates as Those Who Give Us Life. Its five tracks include three reinterpretations from their 2025 Pulsar-nominated album ÜL and two new originals. Lead single “Wüzapiwken” (“Divided Heart”) is accompanied by a music video created by Andrés Hetzler, available on the Season of Mist YouTube channel.
The acoustic approach retains the band’s focus on decolonization and a renewed relationship with nature. The announcement describes arrangements built around acoustic instruments, percussion, harsh tones and a dark atmosphere. “Wüzapiwken” addresses indigenous life divided between the city and native land through scraping rhythms and piercing chants.
“It’s a ritual that transforms into song and is deliberately unclear where one ends and the other begins,” MAWIZA explain. “It opens with a greeting to nature, announcing what is about to be sung, and releases the feelings held within a divided heart into the space where we live”.
Elsewhere, “Mür” brings together Mira Ceti of Heilung and Anne Olsen of Danefae alongside a dissonant combination of pifilka and kultrún. The announcement also names Mapuche activist Fabi Liqen in its description of the song, while the guest credits list Fabi Hidalgo. The reworked “Mamüll Reke” is described as a slow performance beside the fire that remembers fallen warriors.
The release follows MAWIZA’s appearance with Sepultura at the Brazilian band’s final Santiago show in October 2026, where the two groups performed “Kaiowas” together. For drummer Txalkan, the encounter connected a formative influence with the direction of the new EP.
“We want to carry on their legacy by making music in the language of this land,” Txalkan says. “We’re talking about the same things as Sepultura, but in different languages.” He describes sharing newen, or energy, during “Kaiowas” as an intimate experience that felt like a torch passing to another generation.
Vocalist and guitarist Awka places language at the center of that continuity: “We can create our music without distorted guitars and big percussion, but not without our language and our identity.” His explanation of IÑ MONGELETEW calls for renewed respect for the natural world.
Originally from Wallmapu, the ancestral territory of the Mapuche Nation in South America, MAWIZA began in 2014 as Nunca Seremos Dichosos. They released Tierra in 2017 and Kollong in 2019, touring Chile, Colombia and Bolivia. Kollong won the 2020 Pulsar Award in the Best Metal Artist category.
The group adopted the MAWIZA name in 2021 and committed to Mapuzungun as their sole language of expression. In 2023, they collaborated with Mapuche rapper MC Millaray on “Txükur”, adapted Metallica’s “Battery” into Mapuzungun and recorded a live session with Gojira’s Joe Duplantier at Silver Chord Studios in New York. An acoustic performance at Brooklyn’s Selva Gallery also formed part of that visit.
A late-2024 reissue of Kollong featured newly recorded vocals entirely in Mapuzungun and drums re-recorded by Txalkan. After signing with Season of Mist in 2024, MAWIZA released their third studio album, ÜL, in 2025. Duplantier and members of the band’s community appeared on its closing track, “Ti Inan Paw-pawkan”. The band subsequently toured Europe with Ater in 2025; their performance history also includes Wacken Open Air and Knotfest Chile.
- “Mür” — “Dual” (5:27)
- “Wüzapiwken” — “Divided Heart” (3:45)
- “Wingkawnoam” — “To Decolonize” (3:38)
- “Mamüll Reke” — “Just Like The Tree” (4:24)
- “Ti Inan Paw-Pawkan” — “The Last Harp Call” (4:42)
The EP was recorded at MAWIZA Studios and produced by Vincent Zbinden and Awka Mondaca. Fernando Buhring handled mixing at Torque Records, with mastering by Chalo Gonzalez at Gmasters. Txalkan created the cover art.
MAWIZA’s lineup comprises Awka on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Karü on lead guitar and backing vocals, Zewü on bass and backing vocals, and Txalkan on drums and percussion.
- November 19, 2026 — Rancagua, Barley Resto Bar
- November 20, 2026 — Villarrica, Skol Restobar
Additional acoustic dates are to be announced. MAWIZA are also announced for Slipknot’s 2027 (sic)EST Stadium Tour show at Estadio Nacional in Santiago on September 12, alongside fellow special guests Marilyn Manson and Hatebreed.
