Press Archive

Reviews

YELL album reviews

YELL album review, Poney, metalchroniques.fr, Jul 2014 [permalink]

http://metalchroniques.fr/wp3/2014/arashk-yell/

Voilà un album rare. Voilà un groupe qui me conforte dans une idée que je traîne avec moi depuis plusieurs années. Voilà un OVNI qui nous vient tout droit d'Iran et chanté en Farsi. Depuis que je me suis rendu compte qu'il existait une scène metal en Afrique (google is your friend), qu'on sait qu'elle existe en Amerique, du nord ou du sud, en Asie, en Europe et maintenant aussi dans tout l'Orient (et plus seulement le Proche Orient ou l'Extrême Orient), je pense qu'il est grand temps de dire quelque chose et de le crier haut et fort : la vraie « world music », ce n'est pas les crasses pour hippie qu'on nous ressert chaque fois entre deux bouffes Bio dans un festival alternatif. Non. La vraie « world music », c'est du putain de Heavy Metal ! Pas un continent et sans doute pas un seul pays n'est épargné, Corée du Nord incluse. Je suis prêt à le parier.
Alors, les petits mecs de Arashk ont sans doute pas mal de mérite. Je ne connais de leur pays que peu de choses. Je sais déjà que leurs femmes sont souvent très belles et que leur président n'est pas en odeur de sainteté parmi nos médias et nos dirigeants (je ne pense pas m'aventurer trop loin en disant que le péquin moyen s'en fou complètement). Je pense cependant qu'ils ne viennent pas du pays le plus simple pour vivre pleinement leur passion pour cette musique. Mais peut-être je me trompe…
Laissons donc de côté ces considérations esthétiques et politiques pour se pencher sur ce Yell, sorti en 2008 (et reçu en 2012 à la rédac' mais, heu, un fâcheux contre-temps m'a empêcher de m'y consacrer plus tôt).
Arashk, c'est trois gars multi-instrumentistes qui ont décidé de faire du Heavy à l'ancienne. Ils ne révolutionnent pas le genre (quoi que, le chant en Farsi, sur base de poèmes multicentenaires et l'ambiance orientale est bien là) mais je dois avouer que certains passages sont vraiment plaisants. Étrangement, le morceau qui m'a le plus enchanté est une ballade intitulée « Groanings ». Le chant au début est un peu laborieux (c'est régulièrement le cas sur l'album) mais une fois le morceau sur sa lancée, le tout est sympa.
Ce qui est surprenant sur ce Yell c'est la capacité de Arashk à faire un morceau de chaque style, on trouve à la fois du rock « classique » sauce 70's, des trucs plus prog', plus mélo, des riffs un peu plus hards comme sur « HurMazda ». On sent que les musiciens ont du se gaver de groupes comme Rush.
En fait, le gros point noir de cet album est sa production. J'imagine que c'est sans doute le plus difficile pour des gars en Iran. Mais le chant est trop en avant, les guitares sont un peu en retrait, avec trop de compression et un son synthétique (trop d'ordinateur?). Le chant aurait mérité une petite post-prod' pour corriger les petits erreurs et lui enlever son côté « son de karaoké ». Enfin, la batterie manque de percutant.
Moi je dis quand même que tout ça est bien cool. Du metal en Iran, si ça c'est pas une putain de bonne nouvelle ! Welcome in the Brotherhood !
Poney (06/10)

YELL album review, Eva Oswald, Stormbringer, May 2013 [permalink]

http://www.stormbringer.at/reviews.php?id=9306

Das jüngste Werk von ARASHK trägt den passenden Namen „Yell“. Mit diesem Titel wollen sie herausschreien, was ihnen die Rockgegner im Iran verbieten wollen. Die Band selbst nennt ihren Stil Hard Rock mit kulturellen persischen Einflüssen und das erste was somit gleich auffällt, ist der doch sehr eigenwillige Gesang, der auf Persisch vorgetragen wird und orientalische Elemente erkennen lässt.

Für die Band ist es im Iran nicht immer leicht, da diese Art von Musik nicht von vielen Leuten unterstützt wird. Trotzdem haben sie von 2001 bis 2008 mit viel Ehrgeiz an ihrer Musikkarriere gearbeitet und ein Werk wie „Yell“ herausgebracht. Leider wurde die Band danach inaktiv, denn sie hatten keine Möglichkeit mehr im Iran Konzerte zu spielen.

Die gesamte CD ist eher ruhig gehalten, einfacher Rock mit ein paar Punk-Anteilen, zwischendurch sind aber auch ein paar verzerrte Hard-Rock-Melodien anzutreffen. Generell kann man sagen, es ist nicht unbedingt etwas für den westlichen Geschmack, aber dennoch haben sie etwas kreiert, was die meisten Leute so bestimmt noch nicht gehört haben, denn orientalisch angehauchter Gesang mit Stromgitarren zu vermischen, ist nichts Alltägliches.

Die Produktion der CD und die Aufmachung des gesamten Werkes sind nicht herausragend, aber dennoch finde ich es wichtig über Bands zu schreiben, die in ihrem Heimatland wenig Chancen haben, sich Gehör zu verschaffen.

YELL Album Review, Jeanny, Osnametal.de, Feb 2012 [permalink]

http://www.osnametal.de/cdreviews.php?articleId=2714

Metal aus dem Iran? Arashk sind mit ihrem Album Yell dem Geist ihres Landes voraus.

Schwierig hat man es im Iran, sowieso in der arabischen Welt, mit Metal. Obwohl es das Desert Rock-Festival gibt, wird über kreischende Gitarren die Nase gerümpft. Umso bemerkenswerter, dass Arashk ihren eigenen Weg gehen.

Dennoch dürfte Yell für europäische Hörer sehr gewöhnungsbedürftig klingen. Instrumental erinnern die Songs mehr einer Rockpolka als Metal. Instrumentensicher sind die drei Jungs, das ist zu erkennen. Leider ähnelt ein Song dem anderen. Und sobald der Gesang einsetzt, fällt dem Metaller die Frise vom Kopf. Pouyan Khajavi hat zumindest für europäische Verhältnisse keine geeignete Stimme. Noch dazu versteht man sein Englisch kaum. Und auch der Mischer hat bei den Aufnahmen des Albums wohl geschlafen.

Bis auf die Lyrics, die persische Geschichten erzählen, sollten Arashk die orientalischen Einflüsse zu Fall bringen. Mit Yell werden Arashk in Europa keinen Anklang finden, bleibt für die Band zu hoffen, dass sie in ihren Gefilden die Jugend an die Gitarre bringen. Vielleicht klappt es dann ja auch mit einem globaltauglichen Album.

[GERMAN] YELL review, Underground Empire, Stefan Glas, May 2012 [permalink]

http://www.underground-empire.com/article.php?idx=2153

Auf dem Cover ihrer 2008er CD »Yell« drehen sie uns den Rücken zu, und auf der Rückseite präsentiert sich das Bandphoto farblich verfremdet. Dies alles hängt damit zusammen, daß die Musiker von ARASHK einer Beschäftigung nachgehen, die in ihrer Heimat nicht gern gesehen wird: ARASHK stammen aus der iranischen Hauptstadt Tehran, wo die Band im Jahr 2001 von Pouyan Khajavi (v, g, b) und Shahram Khosraviani (d) gegründet wurde, zu denen 2004 der Gitarrist Salim Ghazi Saeedi stieß, der mittlerweile auch als Solokünstler aktiv ist.

Für Musikfreunde, die in den Bereichen zwischen Progressive, Metal und Rock wildern, haben ARASHK ein sehr interessantes Werk geschaffen, was nicht nur damit zusammenhängt, daß aufgrund der für unsere Ohren sehr exotisch anmutenden Sprache ein ungewöhnliches Klangbild entsteht; sondern auch die Songs an sich sind unkonventionell gestrickt, ohne daß dabei vordergründig wie bei manchen anderen Bands aus dem orientalischen Raum Einflüsse aus der traditionellen Musik zur Geltung kämen.

Sicherlich ist bei ARASHK spieltechnisch noch einiges zu optimieren, und auch die Aufnahmetechnik entspricht nicht westlichen Standards, doch solche Maßstäbe wollen wir an dieser Stelle erst gar nicht anlegen, sondern uns freuen, daß die vielfältige Progressive- und Metalszene um eine weitere Facette bereichert wurde!

Wer sich für ARASHK interessiert, findet auf deren Homepage oder den diversen anderen Internetpräsenzen, die man von dort aus erreichen kann, einige Reinhörmöglichkeiten: http://www.arashkband.com/

Abrahadabra album reviews

Sovereign album reviews

Ustuqus-al-Uss album reviews

Visit here: http://www.salimworld.com/press-archive.htm

Interviews

BBC Persian, Behzad Bolour, Interview on Abrahadabra release, 19 Jan 2007 [permalink]

You can listen to the audible interview here. [in persian]
The interviewer at BBC Persian, 7th Night radio program is Behzad Bolour.
Salim: Hi Behzad, and all people who are listening us, I’m Salim from Arashk Band, I play electric guitar, keyboards and also do the mastering and mixing of songs.
Pooyan: Hi, I’m Pooyan, I play electric guitar and I’m the singer of the band.
BBC Persian: Guys who have visited our website (shabe7.com) must now be familiar with your faces as your photos are now available on our website. So, when did you establish the Arashk band?
Salim: Arashk has been established in year 2001; At first Pooyan and Shahram established the band and I joined the band with some delay.
BBC Persian: Ok, so I ask Pooyan, what does Arashk mean?
Pooyan: As you know, Arashk was a great king of Parthia Empire, and also it is a Persian name.
BBC Persian: How many albums are recorded?
Pooyan: We have made 3 albums but 2 of them are finished. The Abrahadabra album and the Sovereign album are instrumental, but Yell (Faryad) album is a hard/progressive rock album which uses Persian classic poems, its style somehow differs from two other albums. Salim: As we have played together for a long time, our style has changed and the result is 3 albums with different kinds of music. The Hourmazda song [which you are currently playing] is from Yell album.
BBC Persian: We are talking to Arashk band, Pooyan and Salim, you say you play progressive rock, what do you mean of that?
Salim: I think that’s a kind of music that is more focused on solos and varying rhythms; it somehow pays more attention on the melodies.
BBC Persian: Have you had any concerts in Iran?
Salim: Up to now we have had 3 concerts in Iran; all of them were at universities, because they don’t have the problem of acquiring permission. Recently we were getting ready for another concert in Tehran, but the government canceled all of the them and they have somehow banned running concerts.
BBC Persian: So they should build a place and name it Bangers' House!!
Salim: [laughs] I absolutely agree!
BBC Persian: So Arashk band, you just get together and play? Having no concerts and no CD’s out in stores?
Salim: You know in Iran we have so many problems with publishing an album, so we decided to sell our music via our website, nowadays independent rock (indie rock) is becoming more popular among listeners.
BBC Persian: Pooyan, do you sell your new album, Yell, on your website?
Pooyan: Not yet, it will be published soon. But now the Abrahadabra is ready for purchase.
BBC Persian: Then how do you feel these days about playing music in your band? Don’t you feel hopeless?
Pooyan: Well, I don’t know, I play music because if I don’t, I can’t live, I have to play music.
BBC Persian: Where do you play? I mean do you have a place for your band?
Pooyan: Yeah, we have a place for playing, it is a small room in Shahram’s house, we get together there.
BBC Persian: And where have you recorded your music? In studi?
Pooyan: Well, better to say in our home studio, we record in our private studio and record the songs ourselves.
BBC Persian: As you must know, today, hip-hop music is more popular in Iran, and people listen to Iranian rap and hip-hop more than Iranian rock players, and also rap and hip-hop singers are composing more songs than rock bands. What do you think about that? Don’t you think one reason is that making a rap song is very easy? You’ll just need a microphone and sampled music.
Pooyan: I think, as you said it can be an important reason. And you know, in all over the world rap and hip-hop has become more popular among people, TV channels play more rap and hip-hop than rock music. In Iran, people are doing the same as other countries. People don’t pay much attention to rock music
BBC Persian: What do you think about the fact that most of the rap songs are over 18, because of the kind of language that they use?
Pooyan: Well, I know so many people [in Iran] who just listen to this kind of music because of the kind of the language being used; because they haven't heard bad words in an [Iranian] song before, so they say “Oh, how amazing, that’s cool” and they listen to that, people don’t listen to the music any more, they just listen to the words. We don’t appreciate that.
BBC Persian: But at the beginning, rock music did this too, I mean rock bands started to talk about ordinary things. But it was a movement itself; as it was against having a complicated worldview and so on and by this method they became popular among the people.
Pooyan: That could be true, but I don’t think like that!
BBC Persian: Thank you Arashk band, Pooyan and Salim, keep on playing rock music. Have a good time, bye.
Link to BBC "7th Night" radio program website

Progarchives.com interview with Arashk by Torrod Fuglestag, May 2010 [permalink]

http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=67120

ARASHK are a progressive metal band from Tehran, Iran consisting of Pouyan Khajavi (guitars, vocals, bass), Salim Ghazi Saeedi (guitars, keyboards) and Shahram Khosraviani (drums). ARASHK members are eastern minded guys who enjoy western music and bring their own unique interpretation of progressive rock. The band is mostly instrumental but does include some vocals.
(Anonymous biography writer, ProgArchives)
Excellent. Bands like Arashk have an interesting story to tell and I was delighted when I was able to do an interview with them. Both Salim and Pouyan answered my questions.
***********************************************************************

Your band is a band with even it's own cultural position and is important enough to merit a Wikipedia article. I refer to that one for the biography.
But what is your musical philosophy and what does Arashk mean ?
Pouyan: Arashk is the name of the founder of Ashkanian Empire (Arsacid Empire). Although Arashk’s reign as a king was not long (250 BC to 247 BC) but the empire he established, ruled Iran for about 600 years. He was the one who regained Iran’s freedom from the dominance of Seleucid Empire which was a Greek Empire ruling Iran. His name stands for standing against the unpleasant situation and trying to change. We have tried to blow the spirit of moving in our songs, we have also tried to emphasize on the fact that living beings should break the surrounding boundaries to survive and this is not merely limited to our lyrics but most importantly exists in our music.
The book Heavy Metal Islam: Rock, Resistance and the Struggle for the Soul of Islam By Mark LeVine describe an own Islamic scene with it's own music. Please tell us more about your scene and the life and censorship situation in Iran.
Salim: Iranian music industry is administered in a very old fashioned way and is isolated from outside world. So we’ve preferred to focus on customers outside Iran specifically to adapt to ever growing demand of digital music. Censorship exists but I believe a healthy and up to date business environment is more critical. There are technological limitations for ebanking in Iran - which are mostly due international embargos. Meanwhile Iran is not bound to international copyright laws.
Pouyan: A serious problem in Iran is that events that lead to gathering of youths are being prevented and this policy becomes more serious when it comes to Hard Rock … So in Iran we cannot have live performances which is vital for a rock band, as a result Iranian rock bands tend to immigrate to foreign countries so they can at least play for people and have their connection with people which is the main point in any kind of art.
What is the difference between pop/rock music in the west and the Iranian scene?
Salim: In my opinion, however that there are growing trends for pop/rock music among Iranians, the dominant music scene in Iran - even among many younger generations - is still traditional music. Most of Iranian people enjoy their ancestor’s heritage… You know sometimes even in a weird way! Iranians have a kind of mythological impression on everything… e.g. we have sayings like “The Art does belong to Iranians”. Of course these are merely reflections of traditional and outdated views that still dominate. I think it makes Iranian artists pretentious and outmoded not even in form but in idea.
Pouyan: As Salim and I mentioned above, in Iran, rock music is not permitted to be communicated to people and its fans. As a result, the only kind of music that is widely available to public is Iranian traditional music (although even traditional music is not completely free from censorship!); so maybe people still listen to traditional music because they don’t have quite a choice among Iranian artists.
Rock music in general (English rock bands and Iranian ones) is being listened by a small portion of today’s young generation in Iran. But Iranian Pop music which is quite different from American and European Pop music has always been popular among people, but they face limitations for selling on the market. In the past, people used to copy music from each other’s tapes. But after MP3 came in, copying has become even easier. So songs are shared in the internet and people download them and give them to each other. In recent years, American Hip-Hop music has been growing more popular among the youth, and so, came the Iranian Hip-Hop. Iranian musicians who work in this genre are growing in number, but again all the music is shared through the internet and songs are not allowed to be sold on the market.
Please give me your (long or brief) thoughts and lowdowns on your albums.......
Salim: Arashk has released four albums from which I have composed Abrahadabra, Sovereign and Ustuqus-al-Uss that are all instrumental progressive rock. The fourth album, Yell, is a hard/progressive rock album, mainly composed by Pouyan. In Yell, I have had contributions for rhythm guitars and some secondary guitar solos.
Abrahadabra from 2007
Salim: Abrahadabra is a reflection of my exaggerated personal feelings. It is the first endeavor to my idea of “pictorial rock” - i.e. the composition of sounds that recite sequence of mental pictures. Actually all of those instrumental tracks have a real-life story behind them. There are very vague allusions to these stories in CD booklet. e.g. “Route” is a story of a death ceremony and reflects the mourning over dead in way that is done in eastern culture. Or “Told to the Bird” is story of me confessing to a bunch of flying birds in a ritualistic way… In one word I was very lovesick, idealist and outraged while composing them.
Sovereign from 2007
Salim: Sovereign is an instrumental recitation of Shahnameh (The Epic of Kings) i.e. an extensive Persian epic poems written by Ferdowsi (935–1020) as a collection of Persian mythologies. You will find western rock instrumentation with eastern flavor. Some songs I think are apt to be adapted for traditional Iranian dance; especially “Sovereign” and “Harem” tracks. I am looking forward choreographic performance adaptation for this work whenever possible. Imagine Iranian “Coffee-house” paintings and belly dance with distorted guitars performing cheerful rhythms… Unusual combination? No, to me that sounds all natural!
In this album Pouyan contributed to generating some theme ideas for some songs.
Ustuqus-al-Uss from 2008
Salim: In this album I somehow inclined to jazz fusion and classic instrumentation. I think the eastern “blend” still dominates e.g. in “Ustuqus-al-Uss-al-Avvalin-val-Akharin” which I think is the most progressive tune I have ever made (The second catchy guitar solo is performed by Pouyan). Some songs are extremely personal e.g. “Naught been I thou” which is a off-beat jazzy with unusual dance elements… These songs are my utmost fears and hopes - to a degree that made me mute from communicating by words. And thus they become instrumental sounds…
Yell from 2008
Pouyan: The composition of the songs in this album started from the very beginning of our band, and most of the songs were made before Salim joined the band; but the recording and mastering of this album took so long! This album is a true Persian rock album, where the lyrics are in Farsi and some are chosen from Iranian classic poems. But the soul of each song is very avant-garde; not old fashioned and dusty! Each of the songs has its own spirit, mostly they draw you a scene. For example the song “Yell” (lyrics by Ferdowsi) is the conversation between a rebel and the king, (which is an Iranian ancient myth, Kaveh and Zahhak). One can consider it as a theater. “Falcons of the Sky” is also an epic music which describes a scene about jet fighter pilots fighting in the sky and the feelings one would have in that situation.
What is the latest update from your band ?
Salim: Arashk has been inactive recently. I am now focused on composing a solo project which will be released within a few months. It is mostly combination of screaming electric guitars, electronic rhythms and classical orchestra… Beside the standard Audio CD edition, I am mixing a dolby surround DVD (Quadra or 5.1 mix) that can be listened in home theaters.
Pouyan: Actually I have lost my appetite in music recently and that’s because we are not able to do anything public in Iran! (I guess I’ve said it so many times in this interview!) But I’m trying to change my way and think about other types of music, recently I’ve composed 6 Turkish folk songs with electric guitar, piano and daf (an Iranian musical instrument) and I had a great feedback from the listeners, however that the performance was very private for some of our friends. So I’m trying to free my mind to discover new possibilities in music.
How is the distribution of your albums and what is your experiences with the music industry ?
Salim: We have been indie artist and maintained the distribution ourselves and limited to outside Iran. Of course we look forward future possibilities.
Pouyan: Well, It’s a very hard thing to sell your music through the internet without serious advertisement, concert and without having anyone to know you! But we still had the chance to be able to sell our albums, even in small numbers.
I guess this is a pretty difficult question to answer, but how would you describe your music and who would you compare yourself with ?
Salim : I have an extremely versatile taste for listening music. I listen to electronic music, classic and heavy metal in a row. Actually it was http://www.progarchives.com that for the first time used the term “progressive metal” for the band. Actually Arashk consists of composers that gather from time to time to contribute.
Pouyan: We don’t have commitment to a specific kind of music; we play whatever which feels right. I don’t think it would be a right thing to compare different music bands with each other, but if I want to describe the music we play - especially the album Yell, it would be some kind of hard rock music with kinds of eastern taste. This album may sound like several hard rock and heavy metal bands such as Rainbow, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Megadeth and so many other bands. Yell album may sound like the rock music played during 70’s but heavier and more rhythmic than them. It happened to me once that a friend told me there’s a song by some band that sounds like one of ours, but that’s just coincidence and it’s not a strange thing as long as we all play some kind of rock.
Do you have any regrets in your career ?
Salim: Making music makes me to suffer more... So if there should be any regret, it is the selection of this path itself... But it has been long time ago I stopped concerning about its ‘philosophy’. Now I am just doing the work...
How do you see the future of Arashk as a band ?
Salim: It mainly depends on the geographical location that each of us reside in future.
What is the daytime jobs of the Arashk members ?
Salim: I have part-time job to have something on the table. The rest of time I am busy composing.
Pouyan: I’m still studying! … Master of science in electrical power engineering! Which has nothing to do with art and music! So I still don’t have a job.
What is your five all-time favourite albums ?
Salim:
[1] Nevermind (1991) by Nirvana
[2] You Had It Coming (2001) by Jeff Beck
[3] Thelonious Monk Plays the Music of Duke Ellington (1955) by Thelonious Monk
[4] Electronic (1991) by Electronic
[5] Youthanasia (1994) by Megadeth
Pouyan:
[1] Brave New World (2000) by Iron Maiden
[2] Floating (1974) by Eloy
[3] Emerson Lake & Palmer (1970) by Emerson Lake & Palmer
[4] Seasons in the Abyss (1990) by Slayer
[5] I Can See Your House From Here (1979) by Camel
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A big thank you to the band for this interview. Their albums can be bought from here, their PA profile is here and their homepage is here.

Torrod Fuglestag, May 2010

Featured Artist on Stave Magazine, Christy Claxton, Feb 2007 [permalink]

Arashk: A world away, but really right here with us.

By Christy Claxton - Editor

I was at the gym the other night, and I could see, but not hear one of the many televisions airing some kind of modern day war movie. Although I couldn’t hear it, I could tell that the storyline had to do with a small group of American soldiers in some kind of distress. I tried to read the closed caption dialogue, but was too far away to see it clearly. However, I knew this group of soldiers was intercepting the “enemy’s” radio transmit because the closed caption would say: (somebody speaking Farsi.) Ooohhhh those Iranian bad guys! Isn’t that just all-American of us? Popularize the vilification of a nation we really don’t understand except in simplistic, fundamentalist, self-censored terms. For you history neophytes, that’s a wordy way of describing “nationalism.” And that’s not a good thing. It’s just around the corner from fascism. So let me set some folks straight on Iran. Just like all Americans aren’t Bush-like idiots in boots, not all Iranians are scurrying around looking for low-tech ways to bring about Jihad. Actually, it’s a country of mostly nice people. And just as some “radical” Americans embrace Middle Eastern culture (if you haven’t tried the food, you’re really missing out), some “radical” Iranians embrace Western culture; including something as universally “sinister” as Hard Rock. A music both countries’ fundamentalists would consider evil, but don’t anybody tell them they actually agree on something, or the world might suddenly stop turning. A few weeks ago, Salim Ghazi Saeedi of the rock band, Arashk, contacted me. He invited me to sample his band’s music. It is a mixture of Western metal and Middle Eastern/Oriental melodies and scales that give Arashk a heavy gritty sound with this beautiful overlay of music most Westerners are hardly familiar with. Needless to say, I was fascinated, so I explored their website and myspace site. Arashk is based in Tehran, Iran, and they make it no secret that they are hoping to break artificial bounds and bindings. Sounds psychedelic, doesn’t it? And truthfully, the music feels a little trippy. But in a good way. A way that opens our minds to possibility; to universal oneness and peace through music. When I replied to Salim’s email that I would definitely write about Arashk because it was a positive statement from two nationalities that need to find peace through understanding and common ground, his response was, “the boundaries are broken!”

Indeed. Arashk’s latest release is “Abrahadabra.” It is an instrumental album composed and performed by Salim, and it reflects the hopes, agitations and quests of the composer. Something tells me that Salim’s music represents many people of his country. Regardless of where rock music is composed, it is always about breaking bounds and breaking rules and exploring freedoms within many conscious states. And it always speaks for many; not just a few. Future Arashk albums will explore the functional faculties of “being,” and carry on the message of breaking though boundaries and bindings. This is music about freedom; however each of us defines it. Whether we need to break free of personal oppression, relationship oppression, or religious or political oppression, Arashk explores a universal theme and reaches around the world to share it. In Iran, Arashk may be considered radical and even dangerous, and in America, Arashk would be considered radical and dangerous, too. Once again, rock music breaches a taboo. And this one needs to be broken and embraced, so check out Arashk, and buy yourself a CD and experience the oneness and the vastness that is Arashk.