Shihad were a
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
band formed in
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
, New Zealand, in 1988. The band consisted of founders
Tom Larkin (drums, backing vocals, samplers), Phil Knight (lead guitar, synthesiser, backing vocals) and
Jon Toogood (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), who were joined by
Karl Kippenberger (bass guitar, backing vocals) in 1991. The band were known as Pacifier between 2002 and 2004.
Six of Shihad's studio albums have peaked at number one–''
The General Electric'' (October 1999), ''
Pacifier'' (September 2002), ''
Beautiful Machine'' (April 2008), ''
Ignite'' (September 2010), ''
FVEY'' (August 2014) and ''
Old Gods'' (October 2021). They share the honour for most number-one records for any New Zealand artist with
Hayley Westenra
Hayley Dee Westenra (born 10 April 1987) is a New Zealand classical crossover singer. Her first internationally released album, '' Pure'', reached number one on the UK classical charts in 2003 and has sold more than two million copies worldwide ...
. As of 2014, Shihad had the most
Top 40 New Zealand chart singles for any local artist, with 25; three of these reached the top ten. The singles "Home Again", "Pacifier", and "Bitter" are listed at No. 30, 60 and 83, respectively, in the
APRA Top 100 New Zealand Songs of All Time.
History
Formation and early years (1988–1996)
Tom Larkin and Jon Toogood formed Exit in 1985 in
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
with various short-term fellow school members.
Larkin and Toogood had met at
Wellington High School,
and shared an interest in heavy metal. They were generally found in the school's music room, as Toogood later recalled, "That's where we learnt to be a band – it had amps and a guitar and a drum-kit – that's what kept us at school."
During their
Year 11 school ball, having no one to dance with, they spray-painted graffiti in the toilets, including "AC/DC Rules", and were
suspended from school.
Exit were renamed Shihad in mid-1988 when Geoff Duncan on bass guitar and Phil Knight on guitar joined.
The new name was a misspelling of ''
jihad
''Jihad'' (; ) is an Arabic word that means "exerting", "striving", or "struggling", particularly with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it encompasses almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God in Islam, God ...
'' (
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
for "striving" or "struggling") as used in Frank Herbert's science-fiction novel, ''
Dune
A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...
'' (1965).
They had heard the term when watching
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...
's 1984 film of
the same name.
Larkin later told John Grayson of ''
Opus'' (
University of Newcastle, Australia
The University of Newcastle is a Public university#Australia, public university in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1965, it has a primary campus in the Newcastle suburb of Callaghan, New South Wales, Callaghan. The univers ...
), "Well, see that's the biggest cock-up out. When we were 15 we were all into this sci-fi movie ''Dune''. See, ''Dune'' uses all these Arabic words throughout the movie and the end battle is a Jihad. We were stupid and thought it'd be a great name for a band so we called ourselves Shihad cause we couldn't even spell it."
The group's influences were
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
and
Slayer
Slayer is an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California, formed in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them ...
, and later included
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...
,
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...
and
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...
.
The group began performing in local pubs, even though they were under-age and performed cover versions of Metallica and
Motörhead
Motörhead () were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1975 by bassist and lead vocalist Lemmy Kilmister, guitarist Larry Wallis and drummer Lucas Fox. Kilmister was the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band a ...
tracks.
At Shihad's debut performance they provided a
cover version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
of Sex Pistol's "
Anarchy in the U.K.
"Anarchy in the U.K." is a song by English punk rock band the Sex Pistols. It was released as the band's debut single on 26 November 1976 and was later featured on their album ''Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols''. "Anarchy in th ...
" but blew out the venue's
PA.
Duncan left soon after and following a succession of temporary musicians they were joined in 1989 by Hamish Laing on bass guitar.
In 1990, Gerald Dwyer, the former frontman of local punk band Flesh-D-Vice became their talent manager.
He also managed Shihad's then-support act,
Head Like a Hole (HLAH).
The line-up of Knight, Larkin, Laing and Toogood recorded their debut track, "Down Dance", which was issued in August 1990 as a B-side of a
split single with the A-side, "
Dogs Are Talking" by Australian group,
the Angels.
The other B-side, "Live It Up", was by Auckland band, Nine Livez. Both Shihad and Nine Livez supported the Angels at their New Zealand shows during 1990.
Shihad supported tours by international visitors,
Faith No More
Faith No More is an American Rock music, rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1979. Before September 1983, the band performed under the names Sharp Young Men and later Faith No Man. Bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist/rhythm guitarist ...
and Motörhead.
"Down Dance" also appeared on their first extended play, ''
Devolve
Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories ...
'' (1990) via Pagan Records, which was re-released in mid-1991 and reached the
New Zealand singles chart
The Official Aotearoa Music Charts, formerly the Official New Zealand Music Chart (), is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The M ...
top 20 in July.
Another EP track, "
The Wizard", was a cover version of Black Sabbath's 1970 work. Bridget Herlihy of ''Ambient Light'' described the EP as a "thrash-metal affair" with "four hard and fast tracks."
In August 1991 Laing left and was replaced on bass guitar by
Karl Kippenberger.
Kippenberger's second gig with the group was a support slot to AC/DC at
Athletic Park, Wellington
Athletic Park was a rugby union ground located in Newtown, a suburb of Wellington, New Zealand. It was owned and operated by the Wellington Rugby Football Union, and was used for Wellington first-class matches, as well as local club matches. I ...
in front of an audience of 20,000.
During 1992 Larkin and Toogood collaborated with Nigel Regan (of HLAH) on guitar in the side-project, SML, which later issued an album, ''Is That It?'', in 1995.
Shihad signed with
Wildside Records to release their debut studio album, ''
Churn'' (1993), which was produced by
Jaz Coleman
Jeremy "Jaz" Coleman (born 26 February 1960) is an English singer and musician. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as the lead vocalist and keyboardist of post-punk group Killing Joke. In addition, Coleman has composed orchestral and sound ...
(of Killing Joke).
It reached No. 9 on the New Zealand albums chart.
According to music journalist,
Ed Nimmervoll
Edward Charles Nimmervoll Eduard Nimmervoll (21 September 194710 October 2014) was an Australian music journalist, author and historian. He worked on rock and pop magazines ''Go-Set'' (1966–1974) and ''Juke Magazine'' (1975–92) both as ...
, "their sound had grown more industrial under the influence of
oleman"
Herlihy noticed their sonation "had evolved to be more mature; a fuller sound and slightly more melodic approach."
The album provided their highest charting single, "I Only Said", which peaked at No. 3.
They toured both New Zealand and Australia.
They were described by a ''
Woroni'' writer, in September 1993, as an "industrial metal band" and "despite coming out of a country only recently introduced to colour TV, this is damn close to the cutting edge of a very interesting genre."
In February 1994 they performed at the
Big Day Out
The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typi ...
concert in Auckland – the first time the roving festival occurred in New Zealand.
The group signed with Noise Records in August for European releases and toured there for two months.
Their second album, ''
Killjoy'', was released in May 1995 and was produced by
Malcolm Welsford, who also engineered and mixed the record.
It reached No. 4 and they followed with a tour of Western Europe supporting Faith No More for seven weeks.
They remained in Europe for four months attending various festivals, Dynamo in Holland, the Phoenix Festival in Britain, and the Roskilde in Denmark.
From September of that year they worked in the United States for three months including appearing at Foundations Forum alongside Motörhead, and at gigs in Los Angeles and New York City.
At the 1996
New Zealand Music Awards
The Aotearoa Music Awards (previously called the New Zealand Music Awards), conferred annually by Recorded Music NZ, honour outstanding artistic and technical achievements in the recording industry. The awards are among the most significant that ...
they won four trophies, Album of the Year for ''Killjoy'', Best Male Vocalist for Toogood, Best Group and International Achievement.
Their manager at the time Gerald Dwyer died of a
morphine
Morphine, formerly also called morphia, is an opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin produced by drying the latex of opium poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as an analgesic (pain medication). There are ...
overdose just after Shihad's performance at the 1996 Big Day Out, in Auckland.
They had found Dwyer's body in his motel room after returning from the gig.
The group missed the Gold Coast concert to attend Dwyer's funeral and then re-joined the Big Day Out tour in Sydney and continued to the other Australian venues.
Self-titled album and ''The General Electric'' (1996–2001)
The group started work on their third studio album, ''
Shihad
Shihad were a Rock music, rock band formed in Wellington, New Zealand, in 1988. The band consisted of founders Tom Larkin (musician), Tom Larkin (drums, backing vocals, samplers), Phil Knight (lead guitar, synthesiser, backing vocals) and Jon To ...
'', in June 1996 at Auckland's
York Street Studios, co-produced by the group with Welsford.
They also toured both New Zealand and Australia. The album's lead single, "La La Land" (October 1996), received "strong airplay support" on Australia's national youth radio station,
Triple J
Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station founded in 1975 as a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays far more Australian conten ...
.
''Shihad'' followed in the next month and peaked at No. 11 in New Zealand but did not reach in the top 50 on the
ARIA Albums Chart
The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...
.
Nimmervoll observed, "
tmarked a shift towards a more melodic sound."
Jody Scott and Iain Shedden of ''
The Australian
''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...
'' felt they were their country's "most popular band" and the album "is bound to earn them universal favour."
They appeared on the front cover of ''
Rip It Up Magazine'', with the accompanying article by John Russell describing their support slot for AC/DC's
Ballbreaker World Tour
The Ballbreaker World Tour was a concert tour played by the Australian hard rock band AC/DC, in support of their thirteenth studio album '' Ballbreaker'', which was released on 26 September 1995. This tour had 5 legs around the world lasting ...
in Auckland in November 1996.
[ Note: a photo of the article at a fansite.] Russell noticed, "
heybattled for almost half an hour against audience indifference and the most horrid guitar sound I think they've ever had."
From February 1997 they supported the European release of their album with concerts in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy and United Kingdom.
Along the way the group had briefly performed alongside Australian band
Silverchair
Silverchair was an Australian Rock music, rock band, which formed in 1992 as Innocent Criminals in Newcastle, New South Wales, with Daniel Johns on vocals and guitars, Ben Gillies on drums, and Chris Joannou on bass guitar. The group got thei ...
, who were on their first European tour.
After that tour Shihad relocated to
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
as their base by 1998 and negotiated a contract with
Warner Music Australasia
Warner Music Group (WMG) owns, has a joint share, or is associated with the record labels listed here.
Flagship labels
*Atlantic Records
*Elektra Records
*Parlophone Records
*Warner Records
Atlantic Music Group
* 1st & 15th Entertainment
* ...
.
At
Vancouver
Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
's Factory Studios in mid-1999 they recorded their fourth studio album, ''
The General Electric'' (October 1999) with Canadian producer
Garth Richardson
Garth "GGGarth" Richardson, (born ), is a Canadian record producer and sound engineer. He is the son of music producer Jack Richardson.
He has worked with such musical acts as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Motley Crüe, Nickelback, Rage Against ...
(
Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to Rage) was an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1991. It consisted of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim ...
,
Chevelle,
Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1982, consisting of Anthony Kiedis (vocals), Flea (musician), Flea (bass), John Frusciante (guitar), and Chad Smith (drums). Their music incorporates elements of a ...
).
It is their first number-one album on the New Zealand charts and also reached the top 30 in Australia.
Nimmervoll felt they "welded the melody and harmony they had discovered on the self-titled album with multi-tracking experimentation and the hard edge in keeping with
heir
Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...
live sound."
While ''Sedate''s Brannavan Gnanalingam wrote, "another classic album – tighter and more focused...
heyfelt settled and creative, and experienced one of their most productive periods."
The album's lead single, "My Mind's Sedate" (September 1999), reached the New Zealand top 10.
Australian radio station,
Double J's programme ''Classic Albums'' revisited the album in September 2019 and its reviewer responded, "
troars out of the blocks with an onslaught of vitriol in the song 'My Mind's Sedate'...
heywaste no time getting to one of many truths on their fourth album."
Another popular track from the album, "Pacifier", was issued in 2000 as the album's third single.
Double J's reviewer continued, "whilst tracks like 'Wait and See' and 'Pacifier' deliver a heavy dose of exhilaration as they swoop and soar. But, at their core, these songs are all born and bound together by a focused emotional, social and culturally rooted vision of the world at large."
''Oz Music Project''s Delilah Dede caught their performance at The Playroom, Brisbane in March 2000 on a bill with
Magic Dirt and
Pretty Violet Stain. Dede observed, "it's hard not to like Toogood, with his
Bobby Gillespie rock-star looks (without the pretensions), and the passion and blistering ferocity of
Trent Reznor
Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and composer. He came to prominence as the founder, lead singer, multi-instrumentalist, and primary songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. T ...
. The boy's got charisma: he's got stage presence, and he was bounding all over the stage: he has energy."
She felt, "their sound was hard and bangin', pulled in with anthemic overflow, a touch of funk and electronica, and eloquent, gutsy lyrics. Bold and raw, yet pure poetry."
Naming conflict: Shihad to Pacifier (2001–2004)
Early in 2001 Shihad focused their attention on the US market and signed with an American-based management.
They started work on their next album, ''
Pacifier'' (September 2002) with
Josh Abraham producing at Hollywood's Pulse Recording Studios.
However before recording was completed the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
had occurred.
Their management convinced the band to change their name due to the similarity between Shihad and the Arabic word ''jihad'', which was now a sensitive term in the US.
In January 2002 Shihad announced their intention to change their name,
and at the 2002 Big Day Out concert in Auckland they sold T-shirts with Shihad and Remote printed below, indicating Remote was the new name. However due to Remote already being used, they settled on Pacifier, after the single from ''The General Electric''.
In mid-February their first performance as Pacifier occurred at
the Viper Room, Los Angeles.
Some of their Australasian fan base was disappointed by the name change and protested with claims of the band
selling out
To "sell out" is to compromise one's integrity, morality, Authenticity (philosophy), authenticity, or Principle#As moral law, principles in exchange for personal gain, such as money or power. In terms of music or art, selling out is associated w ...
.
Nevertheless the album reached number one in New Zealand and was their highest charting in Australia at No. 8.
They had signed with US label,
Arista Records
Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...
for its North American release, which had a different track listing and included the track, "My Mind's Sedate" from ''The General Electric''. ''Pacifier''s third single, "Bullitproof", reached No. 27 on the ''Billboard''
Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...
chart – their only appearance on a US chart.
Pacifier co-headlined the Kings of Rock Tour with Australian
metallers Superheist.
Sean Kemp of ''Oz Music Project'' caught their performance at
Adelaide
Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...
's Le Rox, and noticed they, "are still bundles of energy and always make sure that each and every person in the venue are getting into the sounds they create."
While his "favourite Pacifier 'pop' song (according to Jon, this was a Heavy Metal night) a ditty called 'Bulletproof'."
The group also issued a live album, ''
Pacifier Live'' (November 2003), which had been recorded during their New Zealand tour earlier that year.
In Vancouver in September 2004, they started recording their sixth studio album, with Richardson co-producing. During the sessions the band announced they would change their name back to Shihad, "The events surrounding the name change and our choice to be known as Pacifier are well documented. As much as we believed in what we were doing, and the reasons for doing it at the time – the truth is we were wrong." In August 2005 Toogood expanded on why they had returned to Shihad:
The band's former name, Pacifier, was raffled off by the Australian radio station
Triple J
Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station founded in 1975 as a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays far more Australian conten ...
's
Jay and the Doctor and was claimed by a little known band from
Tasmania
Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...
, Theory of Everything.
''Love Is the New Hate'', ''Beautiful Machine'' and ''Ignite'' (2005–2011)

Shihad released ''
Love Is the New Hate'' in May 2005,
with the related tour beginning with a free concert in Auckland's
Aotea Square and comprised an extensive tour of Australia and New Zealand. In July they took to the main stage at
Byron Bay's
Splendour in the Grass,
in front of an audience of 20,000. ''Love Is the New Hate'' reached No. 2 in New Zealand and No. 11 in Australia.
It provided five singles but only "Alive" (January 2005) had any chart success, which peaked at No. 5 in New Zealand and top 40 in Australia.
The band also toured with
Cog,
the Datsuns
The Datsuns are a hard rock band from Cambridge, New Zealand, formed in 1998. Founding mainstays are Rudolf "Dolf" de Borst on vocals and bass guitar, and Christian Livingstone and Phil Somervell, both on guitar. They have released seven album ...
, and opened for
Evanescence
Evanescence is an American Rock music, rock band founded in 1994 by singer and keyboardist Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody in Little Rock, Arkansas. After releasing independent extended play, EPs and a Origin (Evanescence demo album), demo ...
on part of their 2006 to 2007 world tour.
During February and March 2008 the band completed their One Will Hear The Other Tour, along Australia's east coast, playing 30 shows.
"One Will Hear the Other" (January 2008) was released ahead of their seventh studio album, ''
Beautiful Machine'' (April 2008), co-produced by the group with
Alan Moulder
Alan Moulder (born 11 June 1959) is an English record producer, mixing engineer, and audio engineer.
Early life
Moulder was born on 11 June 1959 in Boston, Lincolnshire. He was educated at Boston Grammar School. He had an interest in music from ...
(
Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN (stylized as NIИ), is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1988. Its members are the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Trent Reznor and his frequent col ...
,
The Killers
The Killers are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2001 by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass) and Dave Keuning (lead guitar, backing vocals). After the band went through a number of short-term bas ...
,
Billy Corgan
William Patrick Corgan Jr. (born March 17, 1967) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and professional wrestling promoter. He is best known as the co-founder, lead guitarist, primary songwriter, singer, and only constant member of alter ...
) and
Scott Horscroft (
the Sleepy Jackson,
the Presets
The Presets are an Australian electronic music duo of Julian Hamilton (vocals, keyboards) and Kim Moyes (drums, keyboards). Formed in 2003 and signed to Modular Recordings, Modular Records, The Presets released two EPs (''Blow Up (EP), Blow Up ...
,
the Panics) at Melbourne's Sing Sing Studios. In the second half of the year they toured New Zealand on the Beautiful Machine Tour promoting the album, which reached No. 1 in New Zealand and No 11 in Australia.
For the tour they played medium-sized venues including
Wellington Town Hall, with support from
the Mint Chicks and Luger Boa. Shihad also toured with
Gyroscope
A gyroscope (from Ancient Greek γῦρος ''gŷros'', "round" and σκοπέω ''skopéō'', "to look") is a device used for measuring or maintaining Orientation (geometry), orientation and angular velocity. It is a spinning wheel or disc in ...
around Australia for that group's Australia Tour during that year. For New Year's Eve 2008/2009 the band performed in
Gisborne, followed by shows later in January at the
Coroglen Tavern and the
Lake Hāwea Motor Inn.
Shihad supported AC/DC for the New Zealand leg of that group's
Black Ice World Tour in January and February 2010.
Also in January Shihad's new single "Cold Heart" was released, and was followed by "Sleepeater" (April) and "Lead or Follow" (July).
"Sleepeater" is the only one to reach the local top 50.
The singles appeared ahead of their eighth studio album, ''
Ignite'' (24 September 2010) via
Roadrunner Records
Roadrunner Records is a Dutch–American record label focused on Heavy metal music, heavy metal and hard rock music. Founded in the Netherlands in 1980, it is now a division of Warner Music Group and is based in New York City. Formerly seen as ...
/WEA, which was produced by the group. It debuted at number one in New Zealand, their fourth number-one studio album, and eventually achieved a gold certification.
In Australia it peaked in the top 50.
The band toured New Zealand in August 2010 performing their earlier albums ''Killjoy'' and ''The General Electric'' in full.
At the
2010 New Zealand Music Awards Shihad won the Legacy Award and were inducted into the
New Zealand Music Hall of Fame
The New Zealand Music Hall of Fame , Te Whare Taonga Puoro o Aotearoa is a figurative hall of fame dedicated to noteworthy New Zealand musicians.
The hall was created in 2007 by Recorded Music NZ (then known as the Recording Industry Associati ...
. The group released a compilation album, ''The Meanest Hits'', in October 2011, in two formats: a 20-track standard edition and a deluxe 38-track, two-disc edition. The standard version peaked in the top 10 in New Zealand.
Also in October the band re-released their 1990 EP ''Devolve'', for the first time in digital form on
iTunes
iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...
, and their entire singles and B-sides back catalogue, also on iTunes. On the second disc of the Australian version of ''The Meanest Hits'', "Down Dance" was replaced with "Right Outta Nowhere", which does not appear on the New Zealand version.
''FVEY'' and 30th anniversary (2012–2020)
For the production of their ninth studio album, Shihad worked with
Jaz Coleman
Jeremy "Jaz" Coleman (born 26 February 1960) is an English singer and musician. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as the lead vocalist and keyboardist of post-punk group Killing Joke. In addition, Coleman has composed orchestral and sound ...
, of English
post-punk
Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...
band
Killing Joke
Killing Joke were an English rock music, rock band formed in Notting Hill, London, in 1979 by Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards), Paul Ferguson (drums), Geordie Walker (guitar) and Youth (musician), Youth (bass).
Their first album, ''Killing Joke ...
. Coleman produced Shihad's debut album, ''
Churn'', but a disagreement with the band occurred after the release of the album. Following a 15-year period in which Coleman and Shihad did not communicate, Coleman made amends with the band members at a London, UK awards ceremony.
Toogood explained in June 2014:
Three years ago we were at the Metal Hammer awards. I hadn't talked to Jaz for ages. We'd had a falling out, I just didn't have time for him. Tom arkinwent and chatted to him and was like, "come over and talk to him". I was like, "Fuck that guy". But he was softer—he doesn't drink alcohol anymore. He's still gnarly and idealistic and brutal but minus the alcohol that makes him this focused machine. It was just the perfect meeting of what we wanted to do and having the right guy to do it with.
Prior to the recording process, Coleman informed the band, "I'm going to work you until you've made a great record". Toogood explained that the entirety of the ninth album was recorded live-in-the-studio, while Coleman conducted, and the band members were forced to focus entirely on each song as they were recorded, without outside distractions, such as mobile phones.
After a two-month recording period, Toogood referred to their time with Coleman as a "bootcamp" and explained that they "needed someone to crack the whip" and he felt "purged" afterwards, "It's great to hang around guys you've been hanging around with since you were 18."
''
FVEY'', the band's ninth album was released on 8 August 2014 via Warner Music New Zealand, and Toogood referred to ''FVEY'' as Shihad's best album in 15 years.
It is their fifth number-one album,
and they share the honour for most number-one records for any New Zealand artist with
Hayley Westenra
Hayley Dee Westenra (born 10 April 1987) is a New Zealand classical crossover singer. Her first internationally released album, '' Pure'', reached number one on the UK classical charts in 2003 and has sold more than two million copies worldwide ...
.
As from August 2014 the group had the most
Top 40 New Zealand chart singles for any local artist, with 25.
The first single, "Think You're So Free", which was described by Double J's writer as sounding "more furious now than they ever have."
Its
music video
A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
was published on YouTube on 5 July 2014. Prior to the release of the album, Toogood explained that anger towards social injustice was a primary motivation during the songwriting process, "I don't have any answers but just as a concerned citizen, I'm going, 'This is bullshit'. The music's how we feel about that. It's fucking frustrating." Musically, the band chose a heavier sound, signifying a return to the first album, which the band found most enjoyable to play during their greatest hits tour.
Shihad were featured on a new version of
Jimmy Barnes
James Dixon Barnes ( Swan; born 28 April 1956) is an Australian rock singer. His career, both as a solo performer and as the lead vocalist with the rock band Cold Chisel, has made him one of the most popular and best-selling Australian music a ...
' track, "Love and Hate", for the artist's album, ''
30:30 Hindsight'' (August 2014).
Shihad performed their second album, ''Killjoy'', to support its re-release as a remastered version at The Powerhouse, Auckland in May 2015.
Together with
Carl Cox
Carl Andrew Cox (born 29 July 1962) is a British house and techno club DJ, radio DJ, motorsport team owner and record producer. He is based in Frankston, Victoria, Australia.
Cox has won and been nominated for numerous awards. He has perfor ...
they co-headlined the 2015
Rhythm & Alps festival at
Cardrona Valley,
Wānaka
Wānaka () is a popular ski and summer resort town in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. At the southern end of Lake Wānaka, it is at the start of the Clutha River and is the gateway to Mount Aspiring National Park.
Wānaka ...
on New Years Eve.
[
] The band celebrated their 30th anniversary with tours in New Zealand and Australia during 2018.
''Ambient Light''s Tim Gruar attended their show in October at The Waterfront's Shed 6, Wellington, and felt, "
heyhave come from a thrash metal beginning but as they've grown they've become more and more tuneful, bringing us really great anthems along the way. And we heard those tonight."
Chris Familton of ''Doubtful Sounds'' caught their set at Sydney's
The Metro Theatre
The Metro Theatre (commonly the Metro) is a music venue located on George Street, Sydney, George Street, in the city centre of Sydney, Australia. The venue was redeveloped, from two former cinemas, by property developer Leon Fink.
The foyer of ...
in late November, which "began with 'Think You're So Free' from their most recent album ''FVEY'' and worked its way back, in chronological order to 'Factory' from their debut ''Churn''.
In November 2020 Shihad signed with UNIFIED, the announcement coincided with the release of the group's cover version of
Split Enz
Split Enz were a New Zealand band formed in 1972. Regarded as the first New Zealand band to gain significant recognition outside of Australasia, they were initially noted for their progressive rock, progressive/art rock sound, flamboyant visua ...
's "
I Got You", the lead single from a tribute album by various artists, ''True Colours, New Colours: The Songs of Split Enz'', due in February 2021.
''Old Gods'' (2021–2025)
Throughout the first months of 2021, the band have been regularly updating
Facebook
Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
with the progress of their 10th studio album, which is being produced by
Birds of Tokyo
Birds of Tokyo are an Australian alternative rock band from Perth. Their debut album, ''Day One (Birds of Tokyo album), Day One'', gained them domestic success, reaching number three on the AIR Charts, AIR Independent Album charts and spendin ...
's Adam Spark. "Tear Down Those Names" was released to streaming services, the lead single to the band's tenth studio album, entitled ''
Old Gods''.
On 13 November 2024, the band announced their final tour, which started in December and ended on 16 March 2025 in Wellington.
Side projects

Shihad's members have pursued side projects or solo work. Larkin had established his own recording studio in Melbourne in 2008 as The Studio's in the City, which became Homesurgery Recordings in 2018.
With fellow producers he worked on material by
the Getaway Plan,
Northeast Party House, and
High Tension.
Larkin recalled working with Karina Utomo of High Tension, "
hofound the concept of a standing in front of a microphone, headphones on, singing directly into it a disconnected and awkward" so he cleared the room like a stage, "giving her a simple handheld vocal mic and standing back as she cut loose, punching the walls, dropping to her knees screaming and delivering vocal takes that were brutal, unrepeatable and amazing to behold."
Toogood has collaborated with New Zealand artists, outside his work with Shihad, since 2009.
He worked with
Shayne Carter (
Dimmer
A dimmer is a device connected to a light fixture and used to lower the brightness of the Lighting, light. By changing the voltage waveform applied to the lamp, it is possible to lower the Luminous intensity, intensity of the light output. Al ...
),
Julia Deans
Julia Mary Deans (born 27 August 1974) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter best known as the lead singer of rock band Fur Patrol.
Banshee Reel
In the early '90s, Deans joined Wellington-based Celtic rock band Banshee Reel. The group releas ...
(
Fur Patrol
Fur Patrol were a New Zealand rock band, which formed in Wellington in May 1996 by Andrew Bain on bass guitar, Simon Braxton on drums, Julia Deans on lead vocals and guitar, and Steve Wells on lead guitar. Their debut studio album, '' Pet'' (Se ...
),
Ladi6,
Anika Moa
Anika Rose Moa (born 21 May 1980) is a New Zealand recording artist and television presenter. Her debut studio album ''Thinking Room'', was released in September 2001, which reached number one on the Official New Zealand Music Chart, New Z ...
, Ruban and Kody Neilson (the Mint Chicks), and
Tiki Taane.
In the following year they formed
the Adults as a rock supergroup, which released a
self-titled album in June 2011.
He has undertaken solo performances from 2015.
Knight created a podcast series, ''What's Phil Worried About Today?''
He started the podcast series to help other people after he had experienced acute anxiety disorder and associated alcohol addiction.
His alcohol addiction had affected his early years with Shihad, "I had a problem with drinking and playing back then also. Stopping that was a big positive shift in my performing."
Members
Final line-up
*
Tom Larkin – drums, backing vocals, samplers
*
Jon Toogood – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
*Phil Knight – lead guitar, synthesiser, backing vocals
*
Karl Kippenberger – bass guitar, backing vocals
Former members
*Geoff Duncan – bass guitar
(1988)
*Geoff Daniels – bass guitar
(1988–1989)
*Hamish Laing – bass guitar
(1989–1991)
Discography
* ''
Churn'' (1993)
* ''
Killjoy'' (1995)
* ''
Shihad
Shihad were a Rock music, rock band formed in Wellington, New Zealand, in 1988. The band consisted of founders Tom Larkin (musician), Tom Larkin (drums, backing vocals, samplers), Phil Knight (lead guitar, synthesiser, backing vocals) and Jon To ...
'' (1996)
* ''
The General Electric'' (1999)
* ''
Pacifier'' (2002)
* ''
Love Is the New Hate'' (2005)
* ''
Beautiful Machine'' (2008)
* ''
Ignite'' (2010)
* ''
FVEY'' (2014)
* ''
Old Gods'' (2021)
Awards
Aotearoa Music Awards
The
Aotearoa Music Awards (previously known as ''New Zealand Music Awards'' (NZMA)) are an annual awards night celebrating excellence in
New Zealand music and have been presented annually since 1965.
!
, -
, rowspan="2", 1992 , , Shihad , , Most Promising Group , , , , rowspan="38",
, -
, Jon Toogood - Shihad , , Most Promising Male , ,
, -
, rowspan="3", 1994 , , Malcolm Welsford for ''Churn'' by Shihad , , Engineer of the Year , ,
, -
, Jaz Coleman for ''Churn'' by Shihad , , Producer of the Year , ,
, -
, Jon Toogood - Shihad , , Male Vocalist of the Year, ,
, -
, 1995 , , Shihad , , International Achievement, ,
, -
, rowspan="4", 1996 , , ''Killjoy'' , , Album of the Year , ,
, -
, Shihad , , Group of the Year , ,
, -
, Jon Toogood - Shihad , , Male Vocalist of the Year, ,
, -
, Shihad , , International Achievement, ,
, -
, rowspan="4", 1997 , , Karl Kippenberger & Jon Toogood for ''Shihad'' , , Album Cover of the Year , ,
, -
, Shihad , , Group of the Year , ,
, -
, Jon Toogood - Shihad , , Male Vocalist of the Year, ,
, -
, Kevin Sprig for "La La Land" by Shihad , , Music Video of the Year , ,
, -
, rowspan="4", 1998 , , "Home Again" , , Single of the Year , ,
, -
, Shihad , , Group of the Year , ,
, -
, Jon Toogood - Shihad , , Male Vocalist of the Year, ,
, -
, Mark Hurley for "Home Again" by Shihad , , Music Video of the Year , ,
, -
, rowspan="2", 1999 , , Shihad , , Group of the Year , ,
, -
, Reuben Sutherland for "Wait & See" by Shihad , , Music Video of the Year , ,
, -
, rowspan="7", 2000 , , ''The General Electric'' , , Album of the Year , ,
, -
, Shihad & Karl Kippenberger for ''The General Electric'' , , Album Cover of the Year , ,
, -
, Shihad , , Group of the Year , ,
, -
, Shihad , , International Achievement , ,
, -
, "My Minds Sedate" , , Single of the Year , ,
, -
, Jon Toogood - Shihad , , Male Vocalist of the Year, ,
, -
, Reuben Sutherland for "My Minds Sedate" (Shihad) , , Music Video of the Year , ,
, -
, rowspan="4", 2001 , , "Pacifier" , , Single of the Year , ,
, -
, Shihad , , International Achievement , ,
, -
, Jon Toogood - Shihad , , Male Vocalist of the Year, ,
, -
, Shihad , , Group of the Year , ,
, -
, rowspan="4", 2005 , , ''Love Is the New Hate'' , , Album of the Year , ,
, -
, ''Love Is the New Hate'' , , Rock Group of the Year , ,
, -
, Shihad , , Peoples Choice , ,
, -
, Shihad , , Group of the Year , ,
, -
, rowspan="3", 2008 , , "One Will Hear the Other" , , Single of the Year , ,
, -
, ''Beautiful Machine'' , , Rock Group of the Year , ,
, -
, Shihad , , Group of the Year , ,
, -
, rowspan="2", 2010 , , Shihad , ,
New Zealand Music Hall of Fame
The New Zealand Music Hall of Fame , Te Whare Taonga Puoro o Aotearoa is a figurative hall of fame dedicated to noteworthy New Zealand musicians.
The hall was created in 2007 by Recorded Music NZ (then known as the Recording Industry Associati ...
, , , ,
, -
, Sam Peacocke for "Sleepeater" by Shihad , , Music Video of the Year , , , , rowspan="3",
, -
, rowspan="2", 2011 , , ''Ignite'' Shihad , , Rock Group of the Year , ,
, -
, ''Ignite'' Shihad , , Group of the Year , ,
, -
, rowspan="5", 2015 , , ''FVEY'' , , Album of the Year , , , , rowspan="3",
, -
, Shihad , , Group of the Year , ,
, -
, Shihad , , Rock Group of the Year , ,
, -
, Evan Short for ''FVEY'' by Shihad , , Engineer of the Year , , , , rowspan="2",
, -
, Alt Group for ''FVEY'' by Shihad , , Album Cover of the Year , ,
, -
ARIA Music Awards
The
ARIA Music Awards
The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...
are a set of annual ceremonies presented by
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival Records (Australia), Festival, Sony Music ...
(ARIA), which recognise excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of the
music of Australia
The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions o ...
. They commenced in 1987.
!
, -
,
2000
2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year.
Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
, , ''The General Electric'' , ,
Best Rock Album , , , , rowspan="2",
[ARIA Award previous winners. ]
, -
, -
,
2005
2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
, , ''Love Is the New Hate'' , , Best Rock Album , ,
, -
,
2014
The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...
, , ''FVEY'' , ,
Best Hard Rock or Heavy Metal Album , , , ,
[ARIA Award previous winners. ]
, -
,
2022
The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
, ''Old Gods''
, Best Hard Rock or Heavy Metal Album
,
,
, -
References
External links
*
*
*
Video interview with Shihad
{{Shihad
APRA Award winners
Musical groups established in 1988
New Zealand musical quartets
New Zealand alternative rock groups
New Zealand industrial rock musical groups
Musical groups from Wellington City
Roadrunner Records artists
Polydor Records artists
Noise Records artists
Warner Music Group artists
New Zealand heavy metal musical groups
Alternative metal musical groups
New Zealand hard rock musical groups
1988 establishments in New Zealand