Two of Reza Yazdani’s features that distinguishes him are his unique voice and his excellent performances. He also released 10 albums so far, and received many valid rewards for The Best Album and rock piece in Iran.

• How do you evaluate Iranian Rock music compared to worldwide Rock music?

The Iranian rock music is new to the market compared to worldwide Rock music, and it has a lot to add and also Iran’s Rock music is far from the world’s Rock music. People like me or Kaveh Yaghmaei started to do that years ago.I started this kind of music with “Shahre Del” and “Parande bi parande” in 1999, Kaveh started Rock music with “Matarsak” simultaneously.I remember exactly when I recorded “Shahre Del” album in studio Saba in 1999 and Kaveh was recording “Matarsak”album.We started in those years, but if many bands want to exist and work, they could. In recent years, small bands have worked, held small concerts, and were very good and had a great potential for good things in this genre of music, but I think they are far from the distance from the famous international bands because they started this a long time ago and went and tried and and lived with it, but there are also good things happening here.

• Reza Yazdani is the first Iranian Rockstar to enter the Cinema & television as an actor and singer.It’s interesting to know since what age did you start playing music and how did you get to the professional scene of acting?

I started the genre of music at the age of 18 and professionally began compiling “Teatre Dadgahe Janjal Bar Angiz” in 1998 and published my first album in 1999.Last year I also released my 10th album named “Darham”. It has been 20 years since I started my career in Rock music, and this year we have tours with “Reza Yazdani”, we started the tours off from Tehran touring to various cities of Iran.I have read the most title credits of cinema with more disparity than other colleagues. I’ve sang twenty or some years give title credits of cinema and about 9 TV title credits.The first television opening and ending credit I sang was the TV series “Marge Tadriji” directed by Mr. Fereydoun Jirani. Regarding title credits of cinema, I began with “Hokm” by Massoud Kimayi’. I sang 5 title sequences of cinema for Mr. Kimiae and I have also been present in front of the camera twice as an actor.I also played the main role of television series. Thank god I’ve worked with great directors over these years and since I was interested in cinema, it made be become an actor. I also played several main roles and participated in at least one movie almost every year.But my main profession is not acting, music is my life and love and everything, but I also like cinema.

• You are one of the most successful Rockstars in Iran, what is the reason behind your success?

The success I gained in this genre of music in Iran is that I have tried to use minor scales and make this music Iranian, and to make it sound closer to the taste of the Iranian audience, I also have worked in Pop-Rock music, as well as soft Rock and Hard Rock;Each of these involves a favorable gender for the audience and makes the broader range of audiences be involved with us.Another reason why this happened and brought success has been the nostalgia in my reading; this nostalgia had an impact on our tracks such as “Shomal”, “Laleh Zar”, “Kooche Melli”, “Carton”, “Navar” I have a lot of nostalgia and people go on with that theme. For example, in 2006 when “Shomal” was released in the “His” album, 12 years has passed since then, however many people still send messages on the way to North saying “we are going to north and listen to Shomal”. This shows that this work does not expire and has gained popularity, and this is a code for success.

• When will your new album be released and What is the atmosphere of this album?

We’re trying to release this album with the help of Ali Oji -the producer of the album- in 2019. It has a very different atmosphere in comparison to my other albums, in addition a number of the works are close to those in the trio album of Saatha and Khaterate Mobham. I think it’s an album that people would love very much. We worked very hard on it. We have been working on it for nearly 2 years. There is a number of new things happening, and a number of new people were added to the album with respect to composing. Of course, most of the compositions were up to me as usual, but a few others were added to the adjusting process who were not in the previous albums, two or three composers participated in the composition of two or three tracks, the guys were very talented!

The album is very nice and I loved it so much, we worked very hard on it and I think it’s going to be nice. Music videos are being made, two of which are made by Ali Oji and they will be released as soon as we release the album.

• What countries will your concert tour be held in? And what country do you like the concert to be held in?

I had concerts in Canada last year at Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto. The concerts were held at Sydney and Melbourne in Australia also at Gothenburg and Stockholm in Sweden during the past two or three years. Concert tours are going to be held in Germany, specifically at Cologne, Dusseldorf , Hamburg; and in Austria and Vienna; Also at Netherlands in Amsterdam.

I would like to have a gig in Canada again because it was both; very good and very welcoming, despite the fact that it was a big arena, tickets were quickly sold out. I thank my fans for this great welcome in Canada, and we hope we can get back to Canada, and also hope we have a successful European concert tour this year.

• How do you see the future of Rock music in Iran and Does the Iranian Rock music have the potential of globalization?

As I answered in the second question, it’s progressing and good things are happening. Iran has the potential of globalization, but I cannot predict when and at what level this will happen. It’s a bit hard to predict.

• Do you have a new idea to create new tracks, or could you change your route?

Yes, I’ve always had new ideas and I always do. I always work with thoughts and contemplation, and much obsession, and I dedicate writing albums and work hours everyday on what I do, whether in the field of music, cinema, theater or television. We are always full of ideas, the supervisor of a group that is with me is Ali Oji; each of the other guys who work with us use idealization, and we discuss and talk about them. Regarding the video clips, as well as video arts that are broadcasted on concerts on LEDs. All of our tracks have video art of which are full of meanings, they take a lot of efforts and creativity. There are always new ideas and I try to use them in my tracks, and I’m one of the singers who try to not repeat themselves in albums and always try to provide my audience with something new. Maybe my lasting key of success for all these twenty years I’ve worked on while still at the first level of music in this country, is effort dedication and working hard.

Now, as the first one will hear this news and publish it, because we don’t yet want to make it out to the media, is that I along with a band of the best musicians and composers in Iran called the “52 Hz Whale Band” are doing a new project in Iranian rock music with impressive set of tracks we have collected and a whole different new genre of Rock music in Iran that we will present.

We invite you to watch “Mixed” (Darham in Persian ) music video of Reza Yazdani:

Edited by: Amged Mahmoud.

Reza Yazdani‘s special concert was held with an enthusiastic reception by the audience as it was extended for the second time due to the call of the audience who failed to attend the concert because the tickets sold out fast.

As all concerts by Reza Yazdani,The final piece of this performance was “The Persian Gulf” piece that the audience song along while standing up in order to honor our beloved country.

In this concert, which was particular to the Reza Yazdani‘s 20th year of work in the field of rock music, a selection of his 10 released albums was performed with a great performance.
This popular singer’s domestic and foreign concert tours will start again at the beginning of 2019 and his new album, which, according to him and its producer, Ali Oji, will be a different and unique album will also release very soon.

Reza Yazdani, born in 1973, is an Iranian singer, actor, composer, music arranger, guitar player and songwriter who has enjoyed a lot of popularity since he entered music, where for many years he has been considered as one of the two top Iranian singer in Rock style.
His unique voice and excellent performance can be pointed out as features, which distinguish him from others.

While in Iran, most of the rock music fans are young people, Reza Yazdani has fans of all ages from child to elderly people, and for years, he has been standing at the position of the topmost and most popular rock singers in Iran.
He has so far released 10 albums called vague memories, duel in the mirror, at 25 o’clock, forgetting hour, clocks are sleeping, personal cell, heart city, nostalgia, hiss and Tangled. In his work record, he has acting, composing and singing for several films, as well as composing and singing for many theaters, which make him a record holder in this regard in Iran.

Reza Yazdani has also received credible music awards in Iran for the best rock album and music piece.

The theme of the lyrics was different than the usual topics we are accustomed to. Such as, Society, Freedom, Fights, as well as Personal, political and economic issues.

The music of the track is really rich, I found great dominance for the all instruments, great harmony, aggressive vocals, melodic guitars, and oriental influences.

In the beginning of the track, I realized that there is a big electronic part in the effects; you can’t miss them.
The vocals were good but I didn’t like the way of singing in minute 2:42 of the track and if you listen to them, you wouldn’t find any logical reason for using them by this way.
In the minute 5:30 pure oriental part invades the riffs. This part was really great. The solo was also great and powerful. Some parts carried a beautiful blend between oriental tastes and western music style.
This track really confused me, because I found some parts that were really good and some of them were weak or just below average. This track deserves 5 out of 10.

You mentioned the meaning of Kahtmayan on your website, but what does it mean, or what does it represent to you?
The name means ancient Iranian astronomy, the 26th night of the moon in specific. It is different, because it stems from ancient Iranian beliefs, with astronomical meaning.

You guys had major line-up changes, many people leaving and many joining, why so? And who is the final line up?
We started about 17 years ago, and we had around 6 different line-ups. We started as a progressive metal band; however, the situation in Iran made us an Instrumental band. At that time, we had a keyboardist, and around 2001, a guitar, bassist and a drummer joined in. Then we shifted to a style more of thrash metal with our album Exir. We dis-banded, and then all members changed, except for the bassist. We worked with a lot of vocalists, because of the situation in Iran, in addition to lack of performances.

How did the idea of starting Kahtamayan come to you?

When I was 14, I was flipping channels on a DVD, and I was trying to get the European channels. Suddenly, I found a band called Iron Maiden! And they were IT for me. Simply, DVDs were truly a savior, because at that time there was no Internet or satellite.

When was your first time on stage, and how was it?
12 years ago in Tehran, it was the first live metal gig to take place. We did a lot of concerts at that time, and then all of a sudden, there were no concerts at all.

We heard that you had a concert in Iran not long ago, how was it? And how did you manage to put a concert under this government?
Since we are an old band in Iran, they trust us. Accordingly, we want to start a new state and build a safe atmosphere in line with this genre of music. It was the first real metal concert in 10 years.

You are now rehearsing your new album Rising from The Ashes, when is it expected to be out?
We do not have a release date yet, but we will play some tracks in the next few concerts.

Comparing the two previous albums together, how do you think you guys developed since you started till today? Musical and lyrical wise, in Exir and Virtual Existence.
The first two albums were not exactly an idea. I like to write and compose; it is part of my Middle Eastern identity. But there were a lot of problems. First, it was the ability to complete and use a single Iranian riff in a track. I like harmonies and making real Middle Eastern music, because of my beliefs in mystical themes. I like to use many riffs. Second, the problem was with the vocals. We tried a lot of Iranian vocals, and I was looking for a specific thing. I had in mind someone who can sing tradition Iranian music, alongside the standard metal music, and I just did not find someone like that. I tried to fix everything myself. I tried to sing, and the direction of music, about the concept, and after that. These tracks go back to 10 years earlier. Now, those ten years of hard work are of course way tougher in comparison to the current capability to compose more effortlessly, and in harmony with the other members.

What were the obstacles you faced in Iran in recording and producing your music?
Around 7-8 years ago when we started recording Exir, we did not have anything to help with recording. None of the studios available in Iran can provide what would record an up-to-par metal song. The quality was never good. It was not easy to find our favorite equipment or instruments. The time you would find something you like, the prices were awfully ridiculous! I tried to learn it all by myself, both the mixing and mastering. I tried to read a lot about those. However, these days you cannot do it all by yourself. Conversely, in our upcoming album we are going to have impeccable sound. We learned a lot through the past decade. We are going to use the best of what we have right now. Technology has made a lot of things possible.

How does the Metal Scene in Tehran look like?

The metal Scene in Tehran is growing every day, as a guitar mentor, I see a lot of young people coming to learn how to play the guitar and drums. It is getting huge, still underground, but huge.

Have you performed outside the Middle East region?
No, but we are planning to have live concerts in Europe.

What are the bands that influenced your music?
Everyone has his own style, from thrash and glam metal in the 80s, especially when taking into consideration that Folk Iranian music is a huge influence. We use a lot of Arabic instrumental signatures, in contrast to some Iranian harmonies. Interesting as it is, there is this Arabic music tradition called “Zar” – it’s like a big tradition to dismiss evil spirits from people.

Does your songs come out from personal experience?
I am a big fan of Shaman, magical and mystical things. I had my very own real experience with that. Many times I hear the melody in my head. Coming out from this experience, it transforms into guitar riffs, just as ‘Dark of the skies’ mean sacrifice, it means a lot for me.

Share with us your funniest moment on stage.
Once at a concert, the fans were sitting down, acting conservative, while we can see them eager to move and head-bang. It is just not possible because of the government.

A word to the bands who just started?
Be you! Believe in your music, and play from your heart, and have some fun.

What is your dream?

The first goal in our lives is music. Everything else revolves around it. We want to be the biggest rockstars! We want to preform at the biggest festivals on huge stages. We believe in our music, and I wish it reaches everyone around the world.

What about today’s show? Are you excited?
We never played in Dubai or a club before. It is very exciting. Usually in Iran, there are a lot of guards, big stage, and only one band playing. So this is must be very cool, and I am looking forward to it.

So, tell us a little bit about it. How did you get in contact with Metal East Records and the idea of playing in Dubai?

Our manager Amir does most of the planning. He has a lot of good connections with great event managers. We want to introduce the real meaning of Kahtmayan to the people, and because we never played abroad, we thought Dubai would be a good start. After all, they gave us the green light and here we are!

What do you guys expect from the metal music scene in Dubai?

I do not know what to expect! This is a completely new metal scene to me, and different music standards from both the bands and the fans. We are strange for them, and I am worried about their reaction towards us. That is why we thought we should play many of our instrumental tracks tonight.

There’s something confusing your fans is that they don’t know the exact genre of your band. Give us the final thing.
Oriental, technical and eastern metal.

Interviewed by: Jimmy Bakr and Mustafa Knoxville.
Written by: NJ Bakr
Edited by: Duha Mousa

For starters, tell us what does Arrivl mean? What does it represent?

It’s inspirational. How we got inspired from a lot of people and a lot of things as well as the experience we went through and getting through tough time, hope the same for our fans, and that they would get inspired from our songs.

How does a Death Metal band work in Iran, ‘cause we know it’s a little bit of a touchy subject?

Actually, it was a little bit of a tough situation for all of us, and anyone who plays any Metal genre. We’re doing our best in the underground scene and working hard just because we love it and love Metal music, and we have a target and a purpose. And we want to inspire people.

And how did you guys meet?
First, Vahid introduced me –Fazel- to Milad. We were talking about music and what we want to do about it, then Andre joined and finally Hamed, the vocalist.

Did the line up ever change, or you were the same since you started?
We started in 2009. We didn’t change a lot; we had a different vocalist and a previous lead guitarist. The current line up:
Hamed, and Fazel on guitars
Fazel, and Andre are new members, Vahid and Milad are the ones who started the band.

Tell us about your lyrical themes and sound approaches.
Destruction, being rebellious, and some sort of inner darkness. Musically, we’re almost experimenting with what sounds nice to hear, however we go for more of a technical approach to get into the root of Black and Death Metal with a hint of modern touch.

You guys are touring the Middle East, tell us more about it. And are you thinking of touring Europe anytime soon?
Actually, this is our first gig “Metal Eastern Night Vol. 2”, and we are really looking forward for it. We want people to listen and enjoy our music, and as I previously mentioned, we aim to inspire people. We’re trying really hard to go there! Before playing our concert here in Dubai, we had chitchats to tour with some bands in Europe but nothing is definite. But yes, it’s a main target for us. We want to expand our fanbase here first then head out there!

What about next year? Have you decided your plans for next year yet?
Of course. After a few gigs here, we are going to settle to start recording our next album. We don’t have a definite Record Label yet, but we are working on it. As well as hoping to work with a famous music producers.

Since when did you guys started playing music? And is this something you’ve wanted to do and preform professionally?
The mastermind of the band is Milad. He writes the songs, he manages the band, and it’s best if he answered the question. I’m very passionate about it. I’ve always wanted to have a band, deliver good music and tour around. All of us are just lucky to be here.

What are the bands that inspired you? Main inspiration.
Different bands and so many different genres inspire all of us. We are really different, and although we all play the exact same thing and in the same band and we really enjoy and love what we do. We come from different musical backgrounds. We range from Post-Rock, Glam Metal, and Melodic Symphonic Metal, all the way up to Black Metal.

And if you guys would advice younger bands who just started, what would you tell them?
Take it personally! And do whatever you want and whatever you love. Listen to your heart and put it as a main target and enjoy it. Don’t start with something that you want to do for the money or fame, start with what’s inside you.

How many albums do you have out?
We have one full-length album As the Eternal Winter, it contains 8 songs and we are going to play some of them in Metal Eastern Nigth Vol. 3. For our next album, we are still planning it.

Tell us about the artwork of the album?
The artwork is basically explaining the album title, just as someone who was lost in a dark, cold situation. Our designer, Ihsan, designed it.

What sort of obstacles did you face forming this band?

We basically live in a country where all sort of music is banned, man! You can do nothing! You can’t express your feelings with music or art or any kind of artistic performance. It’s a restricted area. And about being a Metal band, we are usually associated with Anti-Christ and Satanist. As well as finding a proper place to practice, and this is why we are playing here. The government would never let us play. Dubai is just awesome because it embraces different kind of music and all these Metal gigs.

Are you excited for the show tomorrow?
Of course!

How does it feel playing for the first time, mind there will be a lot of people there!
It’s pretty much hard! It’s our first time on stage and we don’t know what to expect. We practiced a lot and a lot of rehearse. It was difficult but we did it anyways! We just want to share our music and style tomorrow night and I know we can do it.

What is a band you’d like to share the stage with?
Our favorite bands! Dream Theater, Rush, Behemoth, Moonspell, Mayhem, Emperor and many more, hopefully Norwegian Metal bands!

Would you consider playing in Egypt one day?
We definitely would like to play in Egypt; we would love to share stage with Scarab!

When do you expect to reach big festivals? Let’s say Wacken, for example?
It will be probably hard! But we can do it. But we need more experience, exposure, and more audience. It’s the biggest Metal festival in the world; it’s already difficult for anyone to reach! However, it’s not unreachable, I believe we can do it. Just like any other bands who perform theirs now! One day we will go there, but there are a few stops first.

We even got together with them after the gig to know how they felt after their first on stage. So guys, tell us how you feel?!
Andre: I feel absolutely amazing.
Fazel: I feel great, and my hands are still shaking.

Interviewed by: Jimmy Bakr and Mustafa Knoxville.
Written by: NJ Bakr

– Check them at: http://www.arrivl-music.com
– Listen to their music here. 

Kahtmayan is based in Tehran and it was formed in 2003, and the meaning of the name of the band according to the band’s history section in their official website is the 26th night of the Persian calendar. This album is only instrumental metal which would mean that this review will only focus on their musical technicality and execution, since the band claimed in their official website the following:

“The main idea behind Kahtmayan was creating music that was based upon eastern melodies and rhythms along with a dark magical atmosphere.”

And after reading a bit more about the band’s history, they mentioned that their line up got changed and so their genre of music changed since Thrash Metal is the main genre of metal in Iran, and that the government stood against having vocals in their band which lead to them taking the path of playing Instrumental Thrash Metal, which would show the struggle that metal music faces in the Persian lands.

When I first hit the play button on my music player , I wasn’t really impressed with the first 2 or 3 tracks , but then the album got really interesting with the way it was played and executed. To start off with in general on how the album sounded like, it was atmospheric with a lot of keyboard synths which was the interesting part of the whole album – it even reminded me a bit with the synth sounds that some of the main stream Iranian music that I saw on TV when I was bored and flicking through channels on my satellite receiver for some reason – and with a very slight hint of folk keys in there, but I’m not really sure about that part.

The technicality of the guitarist gained my respect since it sounded really professional and with a whole lot of taping techniques, hammering, and interesting licks and slides that for some reason sounded a bit like what would Joe Satriani do if he joined a Thrash Metal band. I also noticed that the band didn’t keep the album Thrashy all the way. That would indicate that they were more on the progressive side of things, the sounds went from atmospheric to dark to somewhat mystical, which I have to say that the keyboardist nailed it with his choices of synths.

The missing element in all of this – and I know it’s not the band’s fault – is the vocals and what would be their own lyrical theme, if that element was present in the band I would feel that it would bridge the gap in their music that I would say with all due respect is really good, but I feel that they made the music this way so when they have the chance of having a vocalist, they would have the music ready for him to rip out his vocal abilities onto them.

In conclusion, they are a skillful band that with better luck would be band to wait for net album to see how they would grow musically.

Here is one of their tracks that caught my attention from their album, ‘Irreversible’. Check below.