Te Ruki – Marako Te Ruki (2021, Tuamotu Islands)
Our next spotlight is on number 622 on The List, submitted by mbr.
This album – the only full-length (thus far) from Polynesian black metal band Te Ruki (“The Night”) – kicks so much ass. Someone somewhere called Te Ruki “the French Polynesian answer to Rotting Christ”, which I can’t really comment on because I literally just listened to a Rotting Christ album for the very first time and am not sure that it’s representative of their sound, but maybe that helps someone get a sense of what this band is about. That said, even if you think you don’t like black metal or Rotting Christ, make sure you give this album a whirl. If nothing else, you could learn some words in the Tuamotu language, thanks to the Bandcamp having the English translations for all the lyrics. I’m personally having a hard time remembering to breathe lately will all the nonsense going on these days, so I’m going to try and internalize the meditative lyrics of the closing track, “Tomo Te Aho”, which are mostly a simple repetition of that title:
Tomo te aho (“Enter, Breath”)
Tomo te aho (“Enter, Breath”)
Tomo te aho (“Enter, Breath”)
I roto aku (“Inside of me”)
#blackMetal #frenchPolynesia #metal #polynesianMusic #teRuki #tuamotuIslands