Every day around the world vast numbers of people leave their home countries and migrate to another one, sometimes legally and sometimes illegally, sometimes easily and sometimes at the risk of their lives. There are thousands of reasons, but in every case emotional trauma undoubtedly accompanies such a fateful decision, with a sense of loss accompanying the desire to find something better.
That sense of loss probably accompanied the Iranian musician who calls himself Atash (a name that translates to “Fire“) when he left his homeland for Norway several years ago at age 16, but rage and rebellion were also in the emotional mix.
In his case, he sought a place where he could express himself musically in ways that were severely constricted by the oppressive religious totalitarianism imposed by the current regime in Iran. Where he found his own musical fires was black metal, and his solo project Kaaboos (کابوس), which stands for “Nightmare” in Farsi/Persian, has become the vehicle for that expression.
On Friday the 13th of October last year Atash performed black metal in front of the Iranian embassy in Oslo, as a public form of protest. One film of his performance, a cover of Taake‘s song “Nordbundet“, has already surfaced, and today we present another video from that protest performance — an electrifying original Kaaboos song called “Wrath of Gods“.
Atash has explained: “Black Metal is a powerful weapon for rebellion and my goal with the protest show outside of the Iranian embassy in Oslo, was to give the Islamic regime a slap in the face. To show them that one can only blossom and discover oneself in freedom.”
The lyrical content of Kaaboos‘ own songs also reflect that rebellious resolve, while also embracing themes of the Left Hand Path in opposition to the ruthless dominance of Islam in Iran (and of all religions everywhere). Concerning the song we’re premiering today, Atash has stated:
“Wrath Of Gods is the resemblance of liberation from religion. The track opposes this misery people are manipulated to manifest in their lives and to embrace Satanism as a means of discovering yourself and the world around you.
“Life changes with perspective and one should not narrow this down to idiotic beliefs, but to open up and understand why we are born. Religion is the gateway to self-destruction.”
As rendered at the Iranian embassy, “Wrath of Gods” is an instrumental-only performance. The recorded version (which you can find here) includes grim chants, bestial growls, furious howls, and burning screams. But the embassy performance is still full of fire and fury even without the frighteningly intense vocals and the Satanic lyricism.
The riffs rake and roil, swirl and scream, and the soloing bursts open in bright filaments of exultation. The music also channels feelings of grim determination, frenzied desperation, and esoteric spellcasting. And just as important, the song’s melodies carry forward traditions of Persian music rather than simply cloning the old traditions of Norwegian black metal.
Both fervently fierce and exotically mesmerizing, the song is exhilarating to hear. One can only hope this sonic scourge was heard in the embassy too.
Now we’ll share one more comment from Atash:
“Freedom of expression and life is what I discovered in Norway, something that I admire but also feel upset about it not being so everywhere. As an artist, to be able to fully express personal emotions and beliefs through music, and not get judged or punished for, is a gift that I’m truly grateful to have.”
Kaaboos has been operating since October 2019, with the Leviathan demo marking its first release in May 2022. A new album is in the making and is planned for an early 2024 release via Iblis Manifestations (run by Trivax mainman Shayan).
To stay abreast of developments on the path to the album’s release, follow the locations linked below (at Bandcamp you’ll find downloads of “Wrath of Gods“, the Taake cover, and Leviathan). After the links we’ve also included the video of Atash‘s performance of Taake‘s “Nordbundet” outside the Iranian embassy in Oslo.
KAABOOS:
https://www.instagram.com/kaaboos.atash/
https://kaaboos.bandcamp.com/
IBLIS MANIFESTATIONS:
https://linktr.ee/iblismanifestationspodcast
https://www.instagram.com/iblismanifestations/
https://www.facebook.com/IblisManifestations/
One Response to “AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: KAABOOS — “WRATH OF GODS””
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Super interesting story. Wonder what Hoest thinks about it, my guess is he has positive views of it. Funny to say religion is self destruction though, goes with my view that Christianity with all its torturing and suffering is actually really fucking dark and kinda actually black metal in a way.