Nikan Koshravi

Nikan 'Siyanor' Khosravi is an Iranian heavy metal musician, songwriter, and co-founder of the band Confess, alongside Arash Ilkhani. In 2014, Khosravi established the independent label Opposite Records to enable the band to produce its own music in Iran. Confess released its debut album, Beginning of Dominion, in 2010, followed by four singles that criticized the Iranian regime’s crackdown on the 2009 Green Movement. In 2014, the band released a six-track EP, Back to My Future.

In 2015, Khosravi was arrested and put on trial, sparking international support from the global metal community. He faced several charges in Iran, including blasphemy, illegal underground activity, anti-religious and anti-regime lyrics, and interviews with banned foreign radio stations. Fleeing to Turkey, he later secured an ICORN residency in Harstad at the end of 2018, where his bandmate Ilkhani joined him a few months later. In a largely symbolic ruling, an Iranian judge sentenced Khosravi in absentia to 12 years in prison and 74 lashes.

Since relocating to Harstad, Confess has regrouped, adding three Norwegian members and continuing to create music and perform.