On the morning of November 9, 2015, ten members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard burst into the Tehran home of Nikan Khosravi and arrested him. Nikan’s belongings were seized, and he was taken to solitary confinement, where he began a grueling series of daily interrogations and threats from the guards. Nik’s crime: playing heavy metal. As members of death-thrash band Confess, he and his bandmate Arash Ilkhani were accused of blasphemy for playing music that spoke out against the Islamic Republic of Iran and the nation’s Supreme Leader. Upon first arrest, Nik and Arash faced execution for their crimes. “Once, the warden opened up the hatch on my cell and said, ‘Get ready, you’re about to get executed! No need for trial cause you’re a heretic!’” says Nik. “And then ca...
