Draft:Shepherds Reign

Shepherds Reign is a Polynesian metal band based in South Auckland, New Zealand. The current line up consists of Filiva’a James (vocals and keytar), Gideon Voon (guitar), Oliver Leupolu (guitar/production), Shaymen Rameka (drums) and Joseph Oti-George (bass). They are known for their tribal-inspired music, fierce pride in their cultural heritage, and that most of their songs sung in their native language - Samoan.

Filiva'a and Oliver would meet at university where they were both piano tutors. Shaymen would then be introduced on drums to create original music, which would become Shepherds Reign.

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson added 'Le Manu' to his personal workout playlist named 'Dwayne Johnson's Progress Workout Playlist' on Spotify. Le Manu has 3.2 million views on YouTube, and 2.8 million streams on Spotify. In 2022 Shepherds Reign supported fellow New Zealand metal band Devilskin on an Australian tour playing 6 shows. Returning a few months later to appear on Blacked Opened Air, a music festival that takes place in the centre of Australian dessert with 40 bands, over 3 nights. On August 24th 2023, Shepherds Reign released a cover of Motorheads song Iron Fist by infusing Samoan lyrics with English to create a very unique cover. The video was then shared by Motorhead social media pages on August 27th, 2023 to over 1.2 million Instagram Followers and 2.9 million Facebook followers.

On August 25th 2023, they released Ala Mai their first full length album in 5 years. On the 8th of September they made history by being the first heavy metal band to perform in Samoa. They played the Teilua Festival and a headline show on the 9th of September at Le Manumea Hotel.

Shepherds Reign opened for metal band Disturbed, on the 15th of March 2024 at Spark Arena, Auckland, New Zealand.

Members Current Members Filiva’a James - vocals and keytar Gideon Voon - guitar Oliver Leupolu - guitar/production Shaymen Rameka - drums Joseph Oti-George - bass

Albums Shepherds Reign - September 21 2018, Label - DRM NZ Ala Mai - August 25th 2023, Label - Golden Robot Records