kahtmayan
Ancient Iranians called the 26th night of Persian calendar Kahtmayan
. As this night did not exist in the Arabic calendar it did not undergo any change after Arabs invasion of Iran.
As Kahtmayan reflected ancient Iran and was a purely Iranian name, Homayoun Majdzadeh picked it for a Metal band he formed in late 90s.
The main idea behind Kahtmayan was creating music that was based upon eastern melodies and rhythms along with a dark magical atmosphere. Such atmosphere and melodies allowed Homayoun to
reflect on the feelings he had about his hometown.
Homayoun gave Kahtmayan a head start by performing music accompanied by instruments such as “Acoustic guitar”, “Oud”, “Daf” and etc. The initial lineup of the band included: “Homayoon
Majdzadeh” (guitar), “Ardavan Anzabipour” (bass), “Ali Khodadoost” (keyboard), “Khaled Sanadzadeh” (drums). In [YEAR] Kahtmayan began to work on a side project along with its originally targeted
music genre. The project was then developed into an instrumental progressive metal album written and arranged by Homayoon Majdzadeh called âVirtual Existenceâ. The band members decided to
release the album under the name of Kahtmayan and hence âVirtual Existenceâ became Kahtmayanâs first album. After composing the album, the band took the album to stage and performed it live in
concerts.
Final recording of âVirtual Existenceâ was left incomplete as Khaled and Ali both got separated from the band. With two new members joining the band; “Vanik Vartanian” (drums) “Ali Azhari” (guitar),
Kahtmayan soon had a new line up.
Considering the new band membersâ musical preferences and capabilities as well as the rising popularity of thrash metal genre in Iran, Kahtmayan embarked on composing and recording a thrash metal
album called “Exirâ. Due to limitations enforced by Iranian authorities the band could not include vocals in Exir and the album had to be released as an instrumental thrash metal album. The last straw
hit when the band was forced to abandon their live performance by the officials in 2005. Despite all the problems and disappointments surrounding the band, Kahtmayan performed Exir album in
studio and released a DVD of this performance.
Soon after releasing the DVD, Vanik, the band drummer, left the band and Iran and Kahtmayan once again was faced was faced with the challenge of pursuing its initial musical genre. The remaining
members of Kahtmayan assembled and began working on the demos, which had been put aside for years and were supposed to be chosen as Kahtmayan’s main music. A number of guest musicians
accompanied Kahtmayan in those years.
In the meantime, a guest keyboardist namely “Orod Anzabipoor” joined the band, and helped to get done the undone recording of the Virtual Existence album in the year 2009. In the early 2009,
Kahtmayan got a chance to work on the almost forgotten project that was initially planned to be Kahtmayanâs musical debut. This was made possible with newcomer drummer “Saeed Piltan” so eager to
put his best foot forward for this and Homayoun shouldering responsibility as the bandâ vocalist.
The bandâs efforts later developed into the album âRisen from Ashesâ which will be recorded in near future. Risen from Ashes will be Kahtmayanâs first album featuring vocals and is centered around a
dark and an aggressive atmosphere adopted from the many old ideas Kahtmayan was initially planning to materialize at its outset. âRisen from Ashesâ has truly risen from the ashes of what the band has
been through and reflects the perseverance, hard work and the determination of the band members to survive through all hardships.
