Abstract
Sent to Tehran’s notorious Evin prison because of their music, the leaders of the Iranian heavy metal band Confess tell
HEAVY METAL MUSIC has a bad reputation in Iran. Most commonly associated with the Devil, anti-religious sentiment and violent behaviour, it’s the reason why Nikan Khosravi and Arash Ilkhani, founders of Confess, were arrested in 2015. Now living in Norway, they released their third studio album, Revenge at All Costs, earlier this year, their first since they fled Iran. They say it is “a crude story of oppression and catharsis but, above all, the determination to prevail”.
They were kept in Tehran’s Evin prison for 18 months charged with blasphemy after they released Thorn Within, a song raising doubts about God’s existence. In jail, they awaited trial with the fear of a death sentence hanging over them; Khosravi also endured two months in solitary confinement – 23 hours a day without seeing a single person and barely sleeping as the lights were never turned off. This experience became the inspiration for their music.
“Since day one in our catalogue you’ll find songs about suppression, oppression, religion, war,” said Khosravi, the band’s lead singer and guitarist. “As someone who was doing protest art, that was a kind of gift that was given to me. In the beginning I didn’t notice, but they were putting gallons and gallons of fuel in my tank.”
He said he had two options.
“I could sit in a corner, fist full of pills, be depressed and cry. Or I could just run through my fear and fight it instead of complaining that life didn’t give me a chance and put me in jail. Yes, it’s a government and it’s a whole regime, but in the end they could not silence us. Now it’s a bigger responsibility, I feel I’m obligated to talk about it.”
Nikan Khosravi, the lead singer and guitarist of Confess, who was jailed for his music
CREDIT: Camilla Norvoll
Khosravi believes Iran has become a fascist regime which uses censorship as its ally. This affects all aspects of the country, including music.
“Heavy metal is a very hot topic in Iran. Since most of the songs are in English, they always think you are insulting God,” he said, adding that anyone making metal music was labelled as satanic.
Ilkhani added: “They’ve been against it since day one, even when they didn’t know what it was. For example [US heavy metal band] Slipknot – they see they are wearing masks and they think, ‘Why are they hiding their identity?’“
That said, Ilkhani thinks heavy metal is now more known and accepted than before, and Khosravi feels Confess has had a positive impact.
“Bands like us pushed the boundaries. We brought this type of music from your headphones to your speakers in the living room. I could see the difference from when I was 12 to the time I was 19 – a bigger fan base,” he said, adding that heavy metal has begun to be seen as just a different sound.
In order to avoid prison again, Ilkhani and Khosravi fled to Norway with the help of European organisations that work with persecuted artists. Three local musicians have joined Confess, and both Khosravi and Ilkhani say they feel more comfortable and free there.
“You can see religion is here, but at the same time there are a huge number of people who don’t believe in God. There is this diversity that I call democracy. You can have a church [and] a bar and you can choose whatever you want,” Khosravi told Index.
Speaking of watching a metal show in an abandoned church he said: “Just imagine how big my eyes were! And it was only the first month I was there, so imagine my cultural shock.”
The pair share advice for musicians going through similar situations.
“Two things: you can leave everything aside [and] go live a normal life. The other side is taking everything and turning it into revenge, so you don’t leave life behind,” said Ilkhani.
Arash Ilkhani from Iranian band Confess. Ilkhani says the government in Iran has always been against heavy metal, equating it with worship of the devil
And Khosravi added: “My biggest advice would be to never give up on your hopes and dreams. Life won’t get easier, you just get stronger.”
Evin
Waking up in jail!
Morgue of living, buried inside the whale’s [BELLY!]
Hope to get out on bail! I’m following my tail, Interrogator says I’ll get hanged [FAIRLY!] Elimination, Discrimination, From now on I’m all on my own!
Investigation, Interrogation, They’re gonna crush my every bone!
23/7 locked up in a cell!
Solitary confinement will be my [CASKET!]
Fighting on for my beliefs…
What’s the point if I sell out my dreams to buy my fucking last breath?
I saw my faith stepped on!
My youth’s not gonna die when I’m dead gone!
History remembers the names son!
When sun is set, you go be the dawn!
When sun is set, you go be the dawn!
Having bad bunch as the [INMATES!] If I get lucky, they’ll give me fucking 6 years! Showing me [PICTURES!], If I give them names, Maybe they whisper something into judge’s ears!
Time’s not spending!
Dismembered memories with me, who knows for
how many years?
I can’t burst into tears!
This is war they can’t bring me on my knees! Court of injustice waits for me! To get me on the long run, to be [DECEASED!] Execution by the hands of the [JACKALS!] Either I’ll open the minds or my mind get
[HACKLES UP!]
I saw my faith stepped on!
My youth’s not gonna die when I’m dead gone!
History remembers the names son!
When sun is set, you go be the dawn!
When sun is set, you go be the dawn!
One’s life will be taken by the name of your lord!
They can get my body, not the soul!
Taking me to heaven by force? I don’t want that!
Went to hEVIN in -Hell-! That’s my life man…
Walls walls walls [BROKE ‘EM ALL OUT!]
Tons of bricks, one fist! [RULED ‘EM OUT!]
Let it be known that religion has no ruth!
Got into pen (penitentiary) for one pen that wrote
the truth!
I saw my faith stepped on!
My youth’s not gonna die when I’m dead gone!
History remembers the names son!
When sun is set, you go be the dawn!
When sun is set, you go be the dawn!