Shepherds Reign: The cult heroes of Polynesian heavy metal
When I think of heavy metal, I think of bands like Black Sabbath and Metallica. The former, founded in Birmingham by the vampiric Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi, the guitarist who cut off the tips of his fingers on the last day of his teenage job in a sheet metal factory, seemed to fit the bill. Sabbath set a precedent of gothic unholiness typical of temperate regions in the Northern Hemisphere, but heavy metal knows no bounds or borders.
Perhaps the setting least befitting of a heavy metal band is a sunkissed beach in the Southern Pacific. Indeed, the Polynesian Islands are known better for their tribal pride, elaborate tattoo art and excellence in rugby. However, Shepherds Reign, a heavy metal band from South Auckland, New Zealand, has sullied preconceptions about the genre and enriched Polynesian culture with an innovative sound.
The five members pride themselves on being “Polynesian by birth and blood.” Their aesthetic of dark clothing, boar-tusk necklaces, and coarse, jet-black locks matches their music to a tee. Formed in 2013, the band comprises vocalist and keytarist Filiva’a James, guitarist Gideon Voon, guitarist and producer Oliver Leupolu, drummer Shaymen Rameka, and bassist Joseph Oti-George.
Speaking to ABC in 2023, James revealed that, since he became besotted with heavy metal as pioneered in the UK and US, he began by singing in English. Over time, he and Leupolu blended their passion for world music, Polynesian tribal music and classical music into the band’s songwriting. “Some common ones we’re into, like Gojira, they’re a French metal band. In earlier days we listened to a lot of Avenged Sevenfold, Lamb of God, Slipknot,” Leupolu revealed. “Me and Fili have a classical music background too. So we’re into classical composers like Bach and Chopin.”
Leupolu also revealed that Voon has a taste for contemporary pop music, which he brings to the band’s output. “Then we bring our cultural elements too, which is Samoan music,” he added, noting the final piece to the Shepherds Reign puzzle. “It’s not obvious when you listen to our music, but we do draw musical elements from it, like the rhythm, the lyric content, the pātē drums – it’s a whole lot of musical influences.”
The lyrical content references Polynesian mythology and culturally pertinent themes while adhering to a heavy metal sound accessible to the global scene. With this formula, the band broke through to widespread acclaim in 2018 with its eponymous debut album, featuring popular tracks such as ‘Reign’ and ‘End of the Trial’.
Over the past five years, the band has grown from strength to strength with several high-profile festival bookings and support slots for acts like Devilskin and Alien Weaponry. In 2023, Shepherds Reign followed up the debut with Ala Mai, which features the band’s best-known hits’ Le Manu’ and ‘Aiga’.
This year, the group has set its sights on further success with some Ala Mai remixes that tease a third album under production. Whether you’re a metal fan or not, it is impossible not to respect this extraordinary group for celebrating its rich cultural background in a genre otherwise lacking in diversity. Over time, they hope to inspire more hard rock bands to surface in the Polynesian Islands.
