Arash Ilkhani

Arash Ilkhani, also known as ‘Chemical’, is a heavy metal musician from Iran. Since 2010, Ilkhani has been part of the band ‘Confess’, alongside fellow bandmate Nikan Khosravi, also ICORN resident in Harstad, Norway. Through their bold and unapologetic music, ‘Confess’ have continuously addressed social, political, and cultural issues in Iran. Aside from being a musician, Ilkhani was also a teacher of English in Iran.  

Having formed the band as teenagers, Ilkhani and Khosravi self-released the band’s initial singles, and produced its first album entitled ‘Beginning of Dominion’ in 2010. Subsequently, ‘Confess’ released four singles: ‘Encase Your Gun’ (2012), criticising the Iranian regime’s crackdown on the 2009 ‘Green’ democracy movement, ‘Painter of Pain’ (2012), ‘This Love’ (Pantera Cover, 2013), and ‘Edge of Mind’ (2013). A year later in 2014, ‘Confess’ released a six-track EP entitled ‘Back to My Future 2/4’.

The Iranian authorities have severe bans on music tackling socio-political and taboo subjects, meaning that artists are often censored, repressed, and arrested. With the music and lyrics of ‘Confess’ challenging authority and religion, and the nature of metal music being one of rebellion in a musical, lyrical, and aesthetic sense, Arash Ilkhani’s work was seen as particularly transgressive and a clear target for the Iranian Regime. As a result, both Ilkhani and Khosravi were charged with ‘insulting religious sanctities’ and ‘spreading propaganda against the state’ due to their band’s lyrics, their illegal underground label, and giving interviews to media outlets abroad.

Both Nikan Khosravi and Arash Ilkhani were offered ICORN residencies in Harstad, Norway, where they arrived in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Since then, their band ‘Confess’ has expanded to also include three Norwegian musicians Roger Tunheim Jakobsen (drums), Steffen Normark (guitar), and Edvard Sundquist (bass). In its new formation, ‘Confess’ has continued working and released its most recent album ‘Revenge at All Costs’ in 2022. The record includes a number of songs aimed at spreading awareness of Arash Ilkhani and Nikan Khosravi’s experiences of living and working under the Iranian regime.