Old Gods Shihad

• 1 Tear Down Those Names 04:01
• 2 Old Gods 03:19
• 3 Mink Coat 04:04
• 4 The Hill Song 03:54
• 5 Feel The Fire 04:07
• 6 Little Demons 04:01
• 7 Empire Falling 03:37
• 8 Just Like You 04:17
• 9 Slow Dawning 03:47
• 10 The Wreckage 03:09
• Total Runtime 38:16

Info for Old Gods

If anger is an energy, then Old Gods – Shihad’s 10th studio album since forming in Wellington in 1988 – could singlehandedly power our capital city for a year.

Old Gods is a step into fury for frontman Jon Toogood whose lyrics encapsulate our collective anger at recent world events.

As a new parent and convert to Islam, recently married to a Sudanese woman, Toogood begun to see perspectives other than those he’d been raised with. Add in the soul searching that came with the COVID pandemic and Black Lives Matter movement, and the band’s collective disgust at the rise of Conservative politicians such as Donald Trump and Boris Johnson, and he took on a new understanding of his place in the world as a privileged white male.

“My whole consciousness changed. I haven’t been able to see the world like I used to. And all of this was feeding into, oh right, we’ve written the soundtrack, and this is what I’m going to talk about. I’m going to talk about the fact that I don’t want a future where white supremacy reigns supreme, especially with my bi-racial children. I don’t want to see leaders like Trump hold sway over a big portion of the population on the planet. Cos it’s not gonna end well.”

The result is Old Gods, an album that states its intent from the moment the crushing, grinding riff of opener “Tear Down Those Names” explodes to life, and just one song later Toogood urges for the killing of the ‘old gods’ in the title track. Elsewhere, Toogood takes aim at conservative talk radio, the legitimisation of racism, and the radicalisation of a generation fueled by misinformation.

Such vitriol would amount to nothing were it not backed by the sonic apocalypse created by Toogood, drummer Tom Larkin, guitarist Phil Knight and bassist Karl Kippenberger.

There may be an unmistakable heaviness to Old Gods, but it’s offset by a dexterity and musical telepathy that comes from decades of experience playing together.

“I know it’s just rock’n’roll at the end of the day, but it’s my artform, and I’ve got a really fucking powerful band to play with, making powerful music, so I’m going to write about that shit,” Toogood says.

Jon Toogood, vocals, guitar
Phil Knight, lead guitar, keyboards
Karl Kippenberger, bass
Tom Larkin, drums, samplers

Shihad
Tagged as the greatest of all Kiwi rock bands, there’s certainly no band more successful, or more resilient, than Wellington’s finest hard rockers. For more than a quarter century the group has kept at it, with exactly the same lineup, pumping out nine albums and the most Top 40 singles of any NZ group.

Inspired by American speed metal acts like Metallica, Shihad developed their own sound incorporating some of that genre’s machine-gun riffing, but also an industrial, apocalyptic edge most apparent on their first and latest albums (Churn, 1993, and FVEY, 2014), both produced by Killing Joke frontman Jaz Coleman. To this, they add a more mainstream anthemic rock flavour that has endeared them to generations of punters at their legendary gigs.

Formed in 1988, the lineup coalesced around Jon Toogood (vocals, guitar), Phil Knight (guitar), Karl Kippenberger (bass) and Tom Larkin (drums), and relentless touring saw them build a sizable audience both in NZ and Australia. By the mid-nineties, Shihad were touring through Europe and America, and in 1998, they moved their base to Melbourne. Just a year later, they recorded the seminal album The General Electric, containing killer songs like “My Mind’s Sedate” and a sound that Toogood described as “a jet engine you like listening to.”

The group’s only misstep was America, where plans for world domination were scuppered by the fallout from the September 11 Twin Towers attacks. American management convinced the group to change their name to Pacifier and that, together with a slicker sound, was enough to elicit booing from the cheap seats back home in NZ. Ultimately, Shihad returned home, reinstated their rightful moniker, and turned out a blazing return to form in Love Is The New Hate in 2004.

With multiple music accolades and a Legacy Award from the NZ Music Awards in 2010, as well as a revealing documentary, Beautiful Machine (2012), Shihad’s position as the all-prevailing kings of Kiwi rock doesn’t look to be in any doubt.

This album contains no booklet.