New Zealand based Polynesian metal outfit Shepherd’s Reign were recently on our shores as main support on the highly successful Devilskin tour for their latest album Red.
The band wowed audiences all over the country with their blending of traditional Polynesian and Samoan music and instruments with lashings of heavy metal to create a sound unidentifiably their own.
They return to Australia in just under two months as one of the headliners of Blacken Open Air 2022, with drummer Shaymen Rameka joining HEAVY to talk bout that show and more from the Shepherd’s Reign camp.
We start by asking how much Shepherd’s Reign actually know about Blacken Open Air.
"We know there's a lot of pretty hardcore, extreme metal coming out of that festival,” he laughed. “I'm just totally looking forward to hearing it all on the big sound system."
With three days worth of live music to listen to, Rameka admits he has spent a fair bit of time checking out some of the other bands to prepare for an inevitable cavalcade of metal.
"Over the last year I have been checking out some of the bands,” he admitted. “I'm not too much into the extreme side of the metal, but I can always appreciate it. I know it takes the guys a lot of hard work to work their magic and just the musicality and musicianship is right up there."
In the full interview Shaymen talks more about what Shepherd’s Reign will bring to Blacken Open Air, the recent tour with Devilskin, the band’s music and how they get the blending of sound and culture right, upcoming music and more.