Looped soundbites telling tales of oppression, persecution and imprisonment for being a heavy metal musician in Iran set the scene for Revenge At All Costs, the latest offering from Iran/Norwegian groove metal crew Confess. It was a journey for Confess vocalist/guitarist Nikan Khosravi which started at high school in Tehran with a CD full of videos of ’90s/’00s metal bands that ultimately took him to jail following the release of Confess’ second album, In Pursuit of Dreams, in 2015. As expected, Revenge At All Cost is an album packed with seething anger and resentment towards those by whom Nikan and many of his friends have been persecuted purely for their music taste. However, listen to “Phoenix Rises,” the second track on the album and you’ll hear Confess pummelling through their groove ...