Iranian groove/death metal band Integral Rigor released theit new single Fallen on April 3rd 2020. Telegram channel Heavy Metal Daily conducted interview with band's mainman, vocalist and guitarist Reza Rostamian.
Hey there! Tell us about yourself and your band.
Hi! I’m Reza Rostamian, founder of Integral Rigor from Iran. I’ve started playing electric guitar since 1995. Currently I’m doing vocals & guitars beside my band mates Masoud Moghaddari (Guitars) and Shahriar Rajabpour (Bass).
What's the story of you becoming a metal musician? What bands was the most influential for you?
Like many other metalheads, I’ve discovered metal music when I was a teenager about 10-11 years old and realized that this is the type of music I would like to listen and enjoy. I think my band mates have kind of the same story too. My influences include some 90s thrash and groove metal bands like Pantera, Annihilator and Sepultura, which were very active and famous back then.
Integral Rigor is active more than 10 years now (according to Encyclopedia Metallum). What is the state of Iranian metal scene? Is it developing through the years? How many metal bands in Iran now? How many metalheads? Which genres are popular?
There were not many bands back then in Iran. But this has increased a lot in recent years and today there are some good ones here, maybe not as much as the rest of the world, but you can see at least about 50 active ones. I see a really bright future for metal music in Iran and it feels like we are living in the 80s of US right now in Iran with the new wave of metal bands rising. The number of bands and metalheads is increasing daily and people are getting more familiar with this genre. The youth have at least listened to this genre a couple of times and would be willing to go to live shows if possible. There are fans of all genres with different tastes from classic rock to modern Djent. I would say that bands with oriental roots are more popular here.
To us here in Russia Iran seems to be a country with very strict laws, especially religious. Is it OK to play or listen to metal in your country? Is there any problem with wearing metal merch? How many metal gigs going on (in not so pandemic times)?
It is true that there are limitations for producing/publishing music and performing live shows in Iran. Some religious rules are very strict especially for concerts. For example there are some holy religious months in which gigs are completely banned for all music genres (not only metal music), which would be about 4-5 months per year. Also there are some days on other months that are forbidden like the days of deaths of Islamic Imams and prophet. Moreover, it is generally difficult to get a gig on the normal times too as you have to get multiple permissions from different authorities for every single gig, in which every authority have it’s own troubles. Nevertheless, we are trying our best to overcome these obstacles and continue doing what we love to do.
On wearing metal merch, it used to be some limitations from religious authorities. But it’s not a problem anymore with the growing number of metalheads.
Right now, there aren’t many metal gigs, maybe a few small performances per month. But there is clearly a great potential for more and larger gigs if there were more opportunities and less restrictions for bands to do tours and release music legally.
Tell us about recording process of your latest single - Fallen. Was it different from your previous works?
The main difference was that all three of us were involved in the process of creating Fallen. There were more thoughts behind this track in music, lyrics and productions wise and we stayed focused to deliver the highest quality in the history of the band.
What is your favorite metal artist right now? Do you know (or like) any Russian metal bands?
The favorite bands of all three of us would be Meshuggah & Gojira, which I think are two of the most important bands right now. We do actually like some Russian bands a lot and we have listened to so many bands so far. I can’t pick one, but I know for sure that if my band mate Masoud was answering, he would choose Abominable Putridity. We hope to see Russia one day and be fortunate enough to do a gig in your beautiful country.
What's next: new album, music video, world tour?
We are in search of a good record label to help us spread our music and reach larger audience worldwide. Until then, we have decided to release new single tracks and music videos. A new track will be released in about 2-3 weeks and you will be the first one to know that it is called “Brain Blind”.
Also we are very interested in a world tour if we have a chance despite all the exclusive hardships for us Iranians. But we won’t stop until we get what we want.
Can't avoid this question: how's coronavirus situation in Iran? Quarantine, cancelled gigs - all that stuff as elsewhere?
Like any other places around the world, we’ve stayed in quarantine for about two months, all the gigs for all music genres have been cancelled. We had arranged a few live shows in Iran, which were also affected by this situation and it made the whole thing even harder for us. Unfortunately, in Iran the official statistics of the Coronavirus affected people can’t be trusted, so it’s harder for people to take wise actions to fight with this virus.
Finally I would like to thank you for this interview and all your efforts, it means a lot to us. Just want to say that unlike what you see in the media, people of Iran love Russia and all its people and respect you. Hope to see you someday soon! Stay safe!
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