What could possibly be more metal than fleeing your own country to avoid a prison sentence of 15-years for playing heavy metal music? That’s what has happened to Iranian metal band Arsames. They were forced to flee Iran after being convicted of playing heavy metal music and being Satanic. The band was arrested in 2017 while they were in the studio rehearsing. They were brought to jail and even their own families were not told of their whereabouts for a week.
The band eventually paid bail a month later and were temporarily freed. The band had their social media pages and website banned and were told that they could not play their music or sell their merchandise until their final court date. They could also not share their story with the media. A few weeks ago, the band were called and told that the court had sentenced them to 15 years in prison. It was then they decided that they had to flee the country.
The band released the following statement on their Youtube channel:
“Is it a crime that we are playing metal music!?” they begin. “Is it [a] crime that we are talking about Persian history?! Is it a crime that you think we are into Satanism when we have songs about Cyrus the Great and monotheism!? And Is it a crime that we love music and our country?!”
No, it shouldn’t be a crime, fellas,
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