Confess is an Iranian
heavy metal band. They are known for having faced charges in Iran for their music, in which they expressed anti-religious and anti-government views. The band, at the time a duo, received prison sentences totalling 14.5 years.
Background
Confess was formed in 2010 by Nikan Khosravi, and was later joined by Arash Ilkhani. They define their music as
groove
Groove or Grooves may refer to:
Music
* Groove (music)
* Groove (drumming)
* The Groove (band), an Australian rock/pop band of the 1960s
* The Groove (Sirius XM), a US radio station
* Groove 101.7FM, a former Perth, Australia, radio station
...
,
nu metal,
NWOAHM, and
thrash
Thrash may refer to:
*Thrashing (computer science), where increasing resources are used to do a decreasing amount of work
*Thrash (surname)
* Thrash, mascot of the Atlanta Thrashers
*'' Thrash Rally'', a top-down perspective rally racing video gam ...
.
Their major influences include
Lamb of God,
Slayer,
Slipknot,
Trivium
The trivium is the lower division of the seven liberal arts and comprises grammar, logic, and rhetoric.
The trivium is implicit in ''De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii'' ("On the Marriage of Philology and Mercury") by Martianus Capella, but t ...
,
DevilDriver
DevilDriver is an American heavy metal band from Santa Barbara, California, formed in 2002, consisting of vocalist Dez Fafara, lead guitarist Mike Spreitzer, drummer Davier Pérez, bassist Jon Miller and rhythm guitarist Alex Lee. The band was ...
, and
Chimaira
Chimaira () is an American heavy metal band from Cleveland, Ohio. Formed in August 1998, the group was a member of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal scene. The band's name is derived from the word Chimera, a monstrous creature in Greek my ...
.
Criminal charges and conviction
Khosravi and Ilkhani were arrested on 10 November 2015 and held in
solitary confinement. At that time, they potentially faced
execution
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...
after being charged with
blasphemy for "writing
Satanic music and speaking to foreign radio stations". Their second album, ''In Pursuit of Dreams'', included tracks entitled "Teh-Hell-Ran" and "I'm Your God Now", words which are considered blasphemous by Iran's
hardline
In politics, hardline (or hard-line) is an adjective describing a stance on an issue that is inflexible and not subject to compromise. A hardliner is a person holding such views. The stance is usually far from the centrist view. People, policies, ...
Islamic government.
The full charges levelled against the band reportedly included blasphemy; advertising against the system; forming and running an illegal band and record label "in the Satanic metal & rock music style"; writing anti-religious, atheist, political and
anarchistic lyrics; and conducting interviews with "forbidden" foreign radio stations.
As of January 2017, according to Raha Bahreini,
Amnesty International's researcher on Iran, no band members were facing execution. Khosravi and Ilkhani petitioned for
political asylum
The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another ent ...
in Norway and their petition was granted.
On 9 July 2019, the
Islamic Revolutionary Court
Islamic Revolutionary Court (also Revolutionary Tribunal, ''Dadgahha-e Enqelab''Bakhash, Shaul, ''Reign of the Ayatollahs'', Basic Books, 1984, p.59-61) (Persian language, Persian: دادگاه انقلاب اسلامی) is a special system of cour ...
of Tehran handed Khosravi and Ilkhani a combined sentence of 14 years in prison for the crime of playing metal. Khosravi was also sentenced to 74
lashes.
Life in Norway and new music
Currently, the two live in Norway, where they continue to make music. They have added two local musicians, Erling Malm and Roger Tunheim Jakobsen, to their touring lineup. In November 2019, they released the song "Army of Pigs!", with plans to issue their next album, titled ''Revenge at All Costs''. After a two-year delay, ''Revenge at All Costs'' was released on 21 January 2022.
Band members
Current
* Nikan "Siyanor" Khosravi – vocals, guitar (2010–present)
* Arash "Chemical" Ilkhani – bass (2011–2012), DJ, sampler (2014–present)
Past
* "Mr. Master" – DJ, sampler (2011–14)
* "DicTator" – guitar (2012–14); touring drummer (2015)
* Samir "Outsider" Malikoghlou – drums (2015)
* Erling Malm – rhythm guitar, bass (live member, 2019–20)
* Roger Tunheim Jakobsen – drums (2019–2022)
* Edvard Sundquist – bass (2020–2022)
* Steffen Normark – guitar (2020–2022)
Discography
Studio albums
* ''Beginning of Dominion'' (2012)
* ''In Pursuit of Dreams'' (2015)
* ''Revenge at All Costs'' (2022)
EPs
* ''Back to My Future'' (2014)
Singles
* "Encase Your Gun" (2012)
* "Painted of Pain" (2012)
* "Edge of Mind" (2013)
* "Phoenix Rises" (2018)
* "Evin" (2019)
* "Army of Pigs!" (2019)
* "Evin (live)" (2020)
* "Eat What You Kill" (2020)
* "Megalodon" (2021)
* "Ransom Note" (2021)
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{Authority control
2010 establishments in Iran
Groove metal musical groups
Iranian heavy metal musical groups
Musical groups established in 2010
Musical groups from Tehran
Nu metal musical groups
Thrash metal musical groups