The members of Iranian metal band Arsames have been arrested. They were charged with performing in a “satanic metal band and being against the Islamic government” and face 15 years in prison.
Metal Injection reports that the arrests happened in July and that the band is out of jail after paying bail. They are currently laying low while awaiting trial.
Iran has been a notoriously dangerous place to be in a metal band. Iranian metalers Confess have been vocal about their legal woes, having been arrested in 2015 and charged with “Blasphemy; Advertising against the system; form and running an illegal and underground band and record label in the satanic “Metal & Rock” music style!; writing anti-religion & atheistic, political & anarchistic lyrics and interview with forbidden foregin radio stations.” Singer/guitarist Nikan “Siyanor” Khosravi remarked last year about the musical situation in the country, “If your music talks about reality as you see it, the socio-political issues of the country, they will come to shut you up…Musicians, film directors, writers, journalists; believe me, there are lots of them in prison right now.” Many artists out of the country prefer to leave rather than deal with the consequences of being a band there.
Arsames formed in 2002 and released their debut full-length, Immortal Identity, in 2010. In 2011, they released a five-song covers EP, Persian Death Metal Tribute To Warriors Of Metal. Their last release, a one-off cover of Slayer’s “Raining Blood,” was put out in 2014.
You can follow Arsames and their story on their Facebook, Instagram and YouTube channel.
