Confess
"The Most Controversial Iranian Metal Band. The Iranian Metal Guerillas!" - LOUDWIRE
Confess is a Groove Metal band formed in 2010 in Tehran, Iran. The experience of living under a theoretical political system built the ideology of the band based on the expressions that are the mixture of criticism of organized religion, talking about the sociopolitical situation, and speaking of the personal issues of a man living in the modern world.
The first album "Beginning of Dominion" was released on January 1st of 2012. By 2014 Confess released 4 single tracks and one EP called "Back to My Future". Encase Your Gun" was of the singles that were written after the Iranian regime suppressed the Green Movement in 2009.
Confess started to work on their second full-length album. On October 28th of 2015 "In Pursuit of Dreams" was released via Opposite Records which was founded by the frontman of Confess. Only 2 weeks after the release of their new album Nikan Khosravi (Vocalist/Guitarist) and Arash Ilkhani (DJ/Sampler) were arrested by The Revolutionary Guards in Tehran and taken to Evin prison. The main charges were Blasphemy and Propaganda Against The State. Different songs and interviews were the reason for this arrest. Some of the songs that were from their last release were "Teh-Hell-Ran", "Thorn Within", "Dysentery" and some older songs such as "You Will Payback!" released 3 years prior.
After spending 3 months in solidarity confinement and another 15 months of imprisonment in the public sector of Evin prison Nikan and Arash were released temporarily on bail (the equivalent of 10,000 USD) until the trial. At that time the main concern was the possibility of the death penalty because of Blasphemy. The first trial gave each of them 6 years of jail time. Both asked for an appeal. During waiting for the appeal court, Nikan started to write the next album because he know that he wants to fight back in his way! In 2017 he decided to leave the country and moved to Turkey because of his safety after being threatened by the government multiple times. Through a process, Norway invented him and granted him political asylum in December 2018. When he was in Turkey he started to release songs to fight. In the spring of 2019, Arash went to appeal court and felt that he won't be able to beat the case so he also decided to move to Turkey through the same process he could finally join Nikan in Norway in May 2019.
In July 2019 the appeal court announced the sentence in their absence. They gave Nikan 12 years and 6 months of imprisonment plus 74 lashes (with additional charges)
and gave Arash 2 years of jail time.
In answer to that Confess released EVIN This song is about the jail that they were kept in and the experiences that they went through. Later on, in an interview with Loudwire Nikan described this song as "The Punch Back!" and their reaction to this brutal verdict as the punishment for their artistic expression.
The first album "Beginning of Dominion" was released on January 1st of 2012. By 2014 Confess released 4 single tracks and one EP called "Back to My Future". Encase Your Gun" was of the singles that were written after the Iranian regime suppressed the Green Movement in 2009.
Confess started to work on their second full-length album. On October 28th of 2015 "In Pursuit of Dreams" was released via Opposite Records which was founded by the frontman of Confess. Only 2 weeks after the release of their new album Nikan Khosravi (Vocalist/Guitarist) and Arash Ilkhani (DJ/Sampler) were arrested by The Revolutionary Guards in Tehran and taken to Evin prison. The main charges were Blasphemy and Propaganda Against The State. Different songs and interviews were the reason for this arrest. Some of the songs that were from their last release were "Teh-Hell-Ran", "Thorn Within", "Dysentery" and some older songs such as "You Will Payback!" released 3 years prior.
After spending 3 months in solidarity confinement and another 15 months of imprisonment in the public sector of Evin prison Nikan and Arash were released temporarily on bail (the equivalent of 10,000 USD) until the trial. At that time the main concern was the possibility of the death penalty because of Blasphemy. The first trial gave each of them 6 years of jail time. Both asked for an appeal. During waiting for the appeal court, Nikan started to write the next album because he know that he wants to fight back in his way! In 2017 he decided to leave the country and moved to Turkey because of his safety after being threatened by the government multiple times. Through a process, Norway invented him and granted him political asylum in December 2018. When he was in Turkey he started to release songs to fight. In the spring of 2019, Arash went to appeal court and felt that he won't be able to beat the case so he also decided to move to Turkey through the same process he could finally join Nikan in Norway in May 2019.
In July 2019 the appeal court announced the sentence in their absence. They gave Nikan 12 years and 6 months of imprisonment plus 74 lashes (with additional charges)
and gave Arash 2 years of jail time.
In answer to that Confess released EVIN This song is about the jail that they were kept in and the experiences that they went through. Later on, in an interview with Loudwire Nikan described this song as "The Punch Back!" and their reaction to this brutal verdict as the punishment for their artistic expression.
Fast forward to 2018, when both Nikan and Arash obtained refugee status in Norway. Confess started experimenting with seven strings and adding modern death metal sounds. But the groovy headbanging spirit of their musical DNA is very much alive. After some changes in the line-up in 2022, Dennis Alexander Olsen, Ole Stensgård, and Håkon Løberg 3 new Norwegian musicians joined the band.
They’ve been playing in public without fear of repercussions ever since. After several concerts in Norway, their latest milestone has been the Norwegian mini tour in April 2022. They also opened for Mayhem at Festspillene i Nord-Norge and have had soldout shows in Oslo, Larvik, and Harstad between 2020 to 2022.
Finally Confess released their long-waited album “Revenge at All Costs”, their third studio album on January 21st of 2022 via Rexius Records. An album that is inspired by the tragedy that they went through when they were in their early 20s. And storytelling record that projects the dark side and hopes that they have in their path of fighting for freedom!
The feedback on the new album has been phenomenal! Metal Hammer UK magazine gave the album 8/10 and called it “One Of The Holty Pillars Of Metal in 2022!” Also, they added “Revenge At All Costs” to “Top 50 Most-Anticipated Metal Albums Of 2022”! In March of 2022 Metal Hammer magazine picked our last album, “Revenge At All Costs” as “One Of The Best Metal Albums Of The Year!”. Also, our last album was ranked 33rd among "The 50 Best Metal Albums of 2022" by Agoraphobic News.
The other respected Rock and Metal magazines which interviewed the band and reviewed the album are Hard Rock Italy (8/10), PowerPlay UK (8/10), Metal Hammer Germany (5/6), RockTribune Belgium (8/10), Metal.de (8/10), Devolution magazine UK (8/10) and so many more! Also during the new album campaign, Nikan did many interviews with big media outlets (newspapers, websites, podcasts, TV shows, radio channels) such as The Guardian, BBC (Newshour), BBC (Cultural Frontline), SkyNews, CBC (As It Happenes), Manoto TV, Voice of America, Iran International, Clash Magazine UK.
In September of 2022 Confess signed a worldwide management deal with The Flaming Arts Agency and Extreme Management Group. Right now we are planning on doing tours with well-respected metal bands in the EU and UK. Despite all the attacks still coming from the Iranian regime such as hacking the official Instagram page which led to losing 15,000 followers and making the official Facebook out of ACCESS, Confess is still going strong and inspired more than ever and they're working and their fourth studio
album which is planned to be released on mid/late 2023.
They’ve been playing in public without fear of repercussions ever since. After several concerts in Norway, their latest milestone has been the Norwegian mini tour in April 2022. They also opened for Mayhem at Festspillene i Nord-Norge and have had soldout shows in Oslo, Larvik, and Harstad between 2020 to 2022.
Finally Confess released their long-waited album “Revenge at All Costs”, their third studio album on January 21st of 2022 via Rexius Records. An album that is inspired by the tragedy that they went through when they were in their early 20s. And storytelling record that projects the dark side and hopes that they have in their path of fighting for freedom!
The feedback on the new album has been phenomenal! Metal Hammer UK magazine gave the album 8/10 and called it “One Of The Holty Pillars Of Metal in 2022!” Also, they added “Revenge At All Costs” to “Top 50 Most-Anticipated Metal Albums Of 2022”! In March of 2022 Metal Hammer magazine picked our last album, “Revenge At All Costs” as “One Of The Best Metal Albums Of The Year!”. Also, our last album was ranked 33rd among "The 50 Best Metal Albums of 2022" by Agoraphobic News.
The other respected Rock and Metal magazines which interviewed the band and reviewed the album are Hard Rock Italy (8/10), PowerPlay UK (8/10), Metal Hammer Germany (5/6), RockTribune Belgium (8/10), Metal.de (8/10), Devolution magazine UK (8/10) and so many more! Also during the new album campaign, Nikan did many interviews with big media outlets (newspapers, websites, podcasts, TV shows, radio channels) such as The Guardian, BBC (Newshour), BBC (Cultural Frontline), SkyNews, CBC (As It Happenes), Manoto TV, Voice of America, Iran International, Clash Magazine UK.
In September of 2022 Confess signed a worldwide management deal with The Flaming Arts Agency and Extreme Management Group. Right now we are planning on doing tours with well-respected metal bands in the EU and UK. Despite all the attacks still coming from the Iranian regime such as hacking the official Instagram page which led to losing 15,000 followers and making the official Facebook out of ACCESS, Confess is still going strong and inspired more than ever and they're working and their fourth studio
album which is planned to be released on mid/late 2023.
Country of origin:
Iran/Norway
Genre:
Groove Metal