Previously, members of the Iranian hard rock band Confess have been sentenced to over fourteen years in prison and 74 lashes for their music.

Hard rock and metal are considered satanic music in Iran, but Arsames writes to Loudwire that they are not Satanists at all, but that their music is about Iran's ancient culture.

“Our music is about our old culture, history… They think we are Satanists when we growl and play fast music. They think that the skulls on our shirts mean that we are satanic musicians ”.

Prohibited from working and talking to the media

They tell Loudwire that they were arrested in 2017 in their studio during a rehearsal.

"They imprisoned us that day and our families were not told where we were for a week."

They say that they were released after paying the bail, but that they were forbidden to work, sell their merchandise and talk to the media. Their social media accounts and their website were also shut down.

"We started new ones and were active until the court called us again and sentenced us to fifteen years in prison. That is why we had to flee Iran. "

Arsames has recently published a video on its official Youtube channel where they talk about their views on punishment, a punishment handed down by the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Mashhad.