Iranian metal CONFESS and Ayatollah Khamenei

President Donald Trump's objective of getting of rid of the current leadership in Iran has made Iranian metal musicians wonder about the future of Iran and also the future of metal music by Iranian musicians in Iran and outside.

Here is an interesting example.

On February 1, 2026 the Iranian vocalist and guitarist for the band Confess, Nikan "Siyanor" Khosravi, who now lives in Norway, wrote his thoughts about the events taking place in Iran now, and in particular after the death of the dictator Ayatollah Khamenei. Confess is the band that was the subject of one of the episodes of the Hulu documentary series "Into the Void: Life, Death & Heavy Metal." It includes an episode titled "Confess: Iranian Metal Crusade" that documents the history of the Iranian band Confess. The episode focuses on the 2015 arrest of members Nikan Khosravi and Arash Ilkhani by the Revolutionary Guard in Tehran on charges including blasphemy and anti-state propaganda. It details their time in solitary confinement, their subsequent release on bail, and their flight from Iran through Turkey for political asylum in Norway. The documentary highlights the legal and physical risks associated with performing heavy metal in Iran and tracks the band's transition to recording and performing as political exiles.

This is what he wrote:

"I’m sitting here trying to write something that makes sense of all this, but it’s harder than I expected. So instead, I’m just writing the first things that come to mind.

I’ve always thought about this day. I’ve tried to picture it. I imagined it would feel surreal, but what surprises me most is how ordinary it feels. Don’t get me wrong, it is a huge deal. It might be hard to fully understand, especially for Westerners, but Ali Khamenei was always present in Iranian life. Always on TV, in our schoolbooks, his portrait hanging in classrooms, shops, airports, malls, billboards… that constant 'big brother' presence.

Now that he’s gone, it feels like time has paused for a moment. This is a man tied to the shattered dreams and broken hopes of generations. A man connected to deaths, exile, and countless separations for 36 years. He should have been held accountable for his crimes against humanity, and it’s hard to accept that he never faced justice.

I want to believe this is the beginning of a new era. I feel hope. I feel happiness. But there’s also an anxiety I can’t quite explain. No one really knows what happens next. No one knows what will come out of this. I’m worried about the future of my people and my country.

Now Khamenei is gone, but his regime is not. Not yet. And I hope this moment doesn’t turn into chaos, like what we’ve seen in the region before when dictators fall. We have to stay vigilant, to make sure this doesn’t just become a replacement. The same system with a new face, maybe even more calculated.

I congratulate all Iranians, from every walk of life. More than anything, I wish I were home to witness this moment in person.

This is history we are living through."

Confess - I'm Your God Now (HD) Free Confess