Depressive Suicidal Black Metal, or DBSM (not to be confused with BDSM!
) is a subgenre I've never had much interest in. I generally prefer my music to be, if not upbeat, at least cheerful enough that I don't feel like stringing myself up. However it seems appropriate perhaps to bring our short journey across this troubled country to a close with an artiste who specialises in just such music, as without wishing to judge a place I have never been or taking everythign the news says as gospel (I'm sure there are aspects of Iran that are unutterably beautiful) it does seem that the prevailing attitude there is a sort of sullen resentment, a low-key wish to rebel and the idea of a people held barely in check by a brutal, repressionist regime.
So is it any wonder then that thoughts would turn to darker, more unwholesome avenues? If you play your music in a country where, I did hear at one point, music itself is frowned upon unless it's for the glory of Allah, and where metal, being seen as “the devil's music” everywhere and most surely particularly here, is virtually banned, then it would seem you're going to be less disposed towards rocking out and ****ing the system and will withdraw into the protective coccoon of dark ambient solitude and reflection, as it would seem is the
modus operandus of this guy.
Desolate Eden --- Zakhm --- 2010 (Thorn Laceration Records)
Before you ask, “zakhm” apparently means “wounded” in Persian, and it's actually a word so commonly used there that there's apparently a TV soap by the same name, so I had some difficulty finding this album even on YouTube (no chance of getting it anywhere else of course) and yes, irt is a one-man operation, a guy who goes by the ironically appropriate name of Sad. That could be his real name, or it could be a corruption of something like Said, but you don't really care about that do you? This is more an EP than an album, but it runs for as long as the Helzgloriam one did, so it's much of a muchness really. Total time just under twenty-nine minutes.
A low, moaning synth perhaps (or it could be a guitar) with the sounds of wailing and crying, kind of reminds me of the imam calling to prayers, and speaking of prayers, there are tolling bells and also the sound of women screaming. Nice. This opener is called “Adhan in blackness” oh! And he's using Grieg's “Aase's death” as part of the melody. That's clever and insightful. Points for that certainly. Perhpas not as many points though, as it seems the entire melody is based around that piece. Skilfully used though, but I'd prefer to hear his own music. As we do now, in the title track, and there's a powerful, romping guitar and thundering drums before his vocals come in, such as they are. I have never listened to DBSM before, so I suppose this is typical of the vocal style, but again it's Black/Viking/Pagan metal, that screech, a tortured wail that precludes any attempt at making out any sort of words, so I couldn't tell you if he's singing in English or not, though the titles of the songs are all written in it.
I guess it's more about creating a feeling, an atmosphere, an emotional connection (or lack of one) than actually being able to understand what's being sung, and in that our man Sad succeeds well. The music itself is slow but powerful, not as slow as Funeral Doom but certainly with a dark grandeur all of its own. “60 seconds after die” is more ambient, more restrained with a rising guitar and perhaps keyboard line (I can't tell what he plays as, as is usual with these one-man efforts, all that's credited to him is “all instruments”) with another screaming vocal, almost spoken this time, and another, lower, darker one behind it. Whether that's someone else, a tape effect or him multitracking his own voice is again something I'll leave up to you to decide if you listen to this. More sounds of wailing and general human misery (I feel the darker voice may be meant to be Satan, or even God, who knows, and reflecting the belief that there is in fact nothing to look forward to when you die) and the music keeps more or less the same basic chords right through.
Nice sort of reflective guitar opens “Unholy earth” with a vocal so stretched it sounds like it's actually mechanised, almost like Grindcore slowed down to a snail's pace. It's actually quite relaxed and there's not too much singing at all in it. More uptempo, so to speak, is “Fancy”, shortest track here at just barely over two minutes, and with an actual hook in the melody, hell with an actual melody! Sounds like there may be some synth here too. It's followed by “God called devil”, which has a ringing guitar motif and a sort of evil-sounding vocal. It's a slow, ponderous piece that seems to owe much to Doom Metal, not mad about it to be honest. Thick black bass opens “A pain with the name of mortal” and there are more assorted screams, but there's not a lot in it to be honest.
And that leaves us with the closer, with much agitated screaming and a pounding guitar and drumbeat, as “Dark room” allows us to bid farewell to this troubled soul, with a rather nice and expressive guitar outro to end the song.
TRACKLISTING
1. Adhan in blackness
2. Desolate Eden
3. 60 seconds after die
4. Unholy earth
5. Fancy
6. A God called devil
7. A pain with the name of mortal
8. Dark room
It's probably the best way to leave this country, too, with one man shouting out his pain and anguish to an uncaring world, his cries falling on deaf ears and failing to touch stone hearts. It's the most traditional (and probably wrong) view of this enigmatic country, but short of going there or finding someone who has, and who can correct me, I'm left with only the impressions news corporations feed me about Iran. And its music, by and large, tends to support this in many ways. Certainly, I can say that there is some diversity and the hope that some of these bands may become known outside the walled city of Teheran, but in a country not really given to ideas of freedom and personal expression this seems a remote hope at best.
But I have certainly been impressed by the talent here, the music and the songwriting: a whole lot more than I had expected to be. While it's true that the largest percentage of bands here are of the Black/Blackened/Depressive Black Metal stripe, there are those who step outside those somewhat rigidly drawn boundaries and dare to sing of other things than how miserable they are and how they hate their country. The potential here seems to be pretty damn big, and you do tend to wonder what will happen if this particular genie ever bursts out of its bottle, and how the Ayatollahs and the hardline Islamists are going to be able to return it there. Here's hoping for a jailbreak real soon!