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, who 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 Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, with a metal umlaut) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop music, hip hop, funk, industrial music, industrial, and grunge. Nu ...

, 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 game ...

. The duo released two albums before they were arrested on 10 November 2015 and held in

solitary confinement Solitary confinement (also shortened to solitary) is a form of imprisonment in which an incarcerated person lives in a single Prison cell, cell with little or no contact with other people. It is a punitive tool used within the prison system to ...

Criminal charges and conviction

After their arrest, the duo potentially faced

execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in ...

after being charged with

blasphemy Blasphemy refers to an insult that shows contempt, disrespect or lack of Reverence (emotion), reverence concerning a deity, an object considered sacred, or something considered Sanctity of life, inviolable. Some religions, especially Abrahamic o ...

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 that 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; advocating 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 Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

'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 (''asylum'' ), is a juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereignty, sovereign authority, such as a second country or ...

in Norway and their petition was granted. On 9 July 2019, the

Islamic Revolutionary Court Islamic Revolutionary Court (), also known as the Revolutionary Tribunal (''Dadgahha-e Enqelab''Bakhash, Shaul, ''Reign of the Ayatollahs'', Basic Books, 1984, p.59-61) is a special system of courts in the Islamic Republic of Iran designed to try ...

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 Lashes may refer to: * Lashes, a form of Flagellation Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, Birching, rods, Switch (rod), switches, the cat o' ni ...

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

* Nikan "Siyanor" Khosravi – vocals, guitar (2010–present) * Arash "Chemical" Ilkhani – bass (2011–2012), DJ, sampler (2014–present)

Discography

Studio albums * ''Beginning of Dominion'' (2012) * ''In Pursuit of Dreams'' (2015) * ''Revenge at All Costs'' (2022) * ''Destination Addiction'' (2025) 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) * "Slaughterhouse" (2024) * "Expedition" (2024)

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