But it's not all doom and gloom in the land of the Ayatollahs. There does seem to be a real preponderance of Black Metal of various stripes in Iran, yes, but I've come across the odd more, shall we say, traditional metal band hiding out there. These guys even play Power Metal!
Suicide in B Minor --- Whispers in Crimson --- 2014 (Independent)
Another band with just the one album, Whispers in Crimson must feel a little like the one guy who doesn't like to play baseball/football (delete as appropriate to your geographical location) at school. While everyone else is off praising Satan and getting on the Ayatollah's wick, they reserve their lyrics for more esoteric, at times even political themes. The opener on this album is pure Power Metal, with fluting keyboards, growling guitars and galloping drums, as the title track rocks along really nicely from the start, some great shredding from Amarali Nourbakhsh, vocal duties taken by Herbie Langhans, and he has a good voice too, sort of a cross between Biff Byford and Timo Kotipelto from Stratovarius. Great keyswork from Hadi Kiani, and the rhythm section of Arash Moghadam on drums and Jalal Gholami keep everything ticking over nicely.
This opener is quite long, over eight minutes, and goes through some changes over the course of its run, with some very strange lyrics which I'm not even going to attempt to interpret (I'm just happy they sing in English!), but “Nightmare within a dream” is even longer, the longest track in fact at just over ten and a half minutes. It opens on a rippling keyboard line and then takes a very progressive metal slant, with keys and guitar working in tandem, and in fact it's two minutes before any vocals come in. It drives along really well, slowing down for a quite melancholy moment in the sixth minute, with something like violin or cello coming in, and then a fine guitar solo, very evocative and emotional. Looking at the lyric, it seems to be about Saddam Hussein, with a very telling final line from him:
”Betrayed by the House of the White” Indeed. Very deep, guys, and a clever little idea: hit the Great Satan while actually also insulting your hated neighbour. Two with one stone. Like it. Also props for paraphrasing Edgar Allan Poe in the line
”All that we see or seem/ Is but a nightmare within a dream”. I'm impressed. This is some top level writing.
Slowing down now for “Project sinister”, with of all things, Blair's confession. Man, these guys are more political than Orphaned Land, and that's saying something! And they can play. This reminds me of an Iron Maiden semi-ballad, with added Bush for good effect. The song speeds up halfway with some great guitar and some fine bass, and I must say, the more I listen to this band the more they grow in my respect. They really know what they're doing. Sounds like some sort of ethnic instrument there (oud?) and we're off into a big guitar solo, while Christianity gets it in the neck as they power into “Do you believe?” Very anthemic with mournful, majestic guitar and fluting keys, acoustic guitar also joining the melody and supplemented by strings keyboards. Sung in a ballad style, I could see this going down very well on stage, particularly in their home country. It has just enough dismissal of Christians while still hinting that the “other side” may not be right just because the enemy is wrong. Great song.
Some lovely piano too then another fine guitar solo, the shortest track at just over six minutes and it leads into one almost as short, as vocal duties are handed to Nourbakhsh for “Coming home”, with some really beautiful guitar and piano, a little discordant which makes it sound somewhat ominous. It picks up into a big angry, triumphant guitar riff as the piano continues behind, then takes the limelight for a great solo, and again we're two minutes in before we hear the vocals of Nourbakhsh, and if this is an example of what he can do the guys should let him sing more. There's some real talent in this band. Mind you, his vocal style would be more suited to AOR I feel; there is something of a tremor in it and there are some notes he simply can't hit, but he gives it a great shot.
The next track seethes with anger against the repressionist regime of their home country, as they roar
”The genie in the bottle is gay/ The president denies it before he goes to pray” and “Us for fools (To Iran)” does indeed seem to be a note of hatred to their government. It's a fast paced, sprightly, uptempo number driven on peppy keyboard from Kiani, and with Langhans back behind the mike there's a powerful angry delivery. In fact, looking more deeply into it, and without knowing the sexual preferences of these guys, the song seems to be a backlash against the intolerance towards homosexuals in Iran, where I believe being gay can get you a death sentence. But there seems to be an undercurrent here too, that it's well known that major political figures may not be as straight as they make out, when Langhans snarls
”We don't have that kind around here/ But the Vice and the President/ Well that's what people say.” Strong stuff, and they underline the traditional historical view of Iran from storybook tales in two ways: by using sort of Arabian arpeggios in their music and by demanding
”Does this seem like the land of Aladdin to thee?”
Returning to their love of Poe, the closing track is an interpretation of one of his greatest stories, the tale of revenge, betrayal and eventual burial alive that is “The cask of Amontillado”. With a heavy rock motif running through it, it's given a sharp, raging feel by the vocal of Langthans as he relates the story, taking the role of the killer. There's a great energy in the song, mostly driven on the keys of Kiani, very progressive indeed, and some fine solos from Nourbakhsh. IN the fifth minute of the seven it runs for, a dark little bassline becomes an almost funky guitar run as the song slows down and acquires extra menace, with the sound of metal striking stone, presumably meant to represent the cellar being bricked up as Fortunado (with classic Poe irony in the name of his victim) sleeps, unaware he is being entombed alive. A fine and somewhat frenetic guitar flourish, which I take to be the murderer's descent into madness, finishes the song but I feel it's a little rushed and abrupt, my one criticism of the song, and indeed the album, because when you've been going as well as this you really need to end well, and sadly this does not.
TRACKLISTING
1. Suicide in B Minor
2. Nightmare within a dream
3. Project Sinister
4. Do you believe?
5. Coming home
6. Us for fools (To Iran)
7. Cask of Amontillado
Another truly tremendous album from a criminally ignored band. Whispers of Crimson could easily hold their own against anyone on the world stage, but the fact that they're caught in a web of religious intolerance and theocratic tyranny means the chances that their music might reach beyond the dark, suspicious borders of Iran is remote to say the least, and that is indeed a crime.