''Old Gods'' is the tenth studio album by

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

band

Shihad Shihad are a rock band formed in Wellington, New Zealand in 1988. The band consists of founders Tom Larkin (drums, backing vocals, samplers), Phil Knight (lead guitar, synthesiser, backing vocals) and Jon Toogood (lead vocals, rhythm guitar ...

, released on 8 October 2021. The album debuted at number one in New Zealand.

Production

Much of the album was inspired by

Jon Toogood Jonathan Charles Toogood (born in Wellington, New Zealand, on 9 August 1971) is the frontman (lead vocals and guitar) of the New Zealand rock band Shihad. He formed the band in 1988 with fellow Wellingtonian Tom Larkin. Toogood and Larkin met a ...

's experiences after his conversion to Islam, before his marriage to Dana Salih in Sudan in 2014, and the band's disgust at the rise of Conservative politicians in the world. The song "Little Demons" was one of the first songs written for the album, inspired by a televised Australian political debate where a

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...

told an

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Isl ...

woman to call the police when she experiences racist threats.

Release and promotion

The album was announced on 8 July 2021, at the same time when the first single from ''Old Gods'' was released, "Tear Down Those Names". This was followed by "Little Demons" on 30 July, "Feel the Fire" in August and "Empire Falling" on 7 October. The album was originally slated for release on 27 August, however the album was postponed due to the 2021

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

lockdowns in New Zealand, eventually released on 8 October. The album debuted at number one in

, scoring the band the record for New Zealand band with the most number one albums in history. The band intended to tour the album in Australia with a seven-date tour in October, and a planned five date tour of New Zealand in November, however both were cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions in the countries. Shihad held their This Is the Sound of an Empire Falling tour in New Zealand, performing four dates in September and October 2022.

Track listing

Credits and personnel

* Tom Baker – mastering * Karl Kippenberger – bass, songwriting * Phil Knight – guitar, songwriting * Tom Larkin – drums, songwriting * Shihad – programming * Adam Spark – mixing, producer *

Production

Release and promotion

Track listing

Credits and personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References