I Still Believe in the Band… Shihad [VIDEO] [AUDIO]

We all have those bands we think should have gone over bigger! Bands we still believe in to this day. I'm gonna re-visit those bands now and then and maybe introduce some of you to them. Hey, maybe there's still hope!

Way back in my 90's college days I came across this band thanks to college radio. You see with college radio you get music sent to you from labels other than Sony, Epic, Warner Bros. and Atlantic. So, I was at a prime location to get music in the mail from record labels like NOISE out of Germany. At that time, they out out a record from the New Zealand band, Shihad. It was their second record called, Killjoy and it floored me. It was so damn aggressive, industrial, massive and yet super melodic. I became an instant fan and that record Killjoy still remains one of my top 10 or 12 records of the 90's.

The band's beginnings date back to the late 80's, but it was just after the 90's kicked in that they found their place in music and people found them. Somewhere between the world of post punk/hardcore and industrial grind laid bands like Therapy?, Helmet, Orange 9mm and Shihad.

At their homebase in New Zealand, Shihad is one of the biggest rock bands of all time. There's not many if any there who've done more than them in terms of sales and numbers and achievements. In NZ and throughout Australia, Shihad were a top band; supporting bands like the Foo Fighters, AC/DC and Faith No More and they've appeared at the Big Day Out Festival more than any other band ever. Outside those parts, they've done... well.

They took a shot at building things up in the US through a major label deal with Arista, but when they were set to premier just around the time of 9/11, their name Shihad sounded too close to "jihad". There's no way a major label was gonna deal with that nightmare as they were spending money & time trying to break a new band. So, the band unfortunately for a time changed their name to Pacifier. They made a go of it, but eventually would revert back to Shihad a few years lately and go back to making great rock records in NZ.

The band's still at it and just released great record last year Five Eyes (FVEY); an old school Shihad angry record with Jaz from Killing Joke at the helm. Perfect choice. They were also inducted into the N.Zealand Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame with flying, legendary colors!

If you're not familiar with them, check out Shihad. I still believe in them!

Yes, this is an induction so you might not totally care, but it's a nice overview of what the bands done and how big they are, in ways. 

...And more recent stuff produced & Orchestrated by Jaz Coleman of Killing Joke