Band:	Sabke Morde
Album:	PeeranSal
Style:	Progressive metal
Release date:	June 20, 2020
Guest review by:	notheory

01. Roya
02. Ashoob
03. Avar
04. Marha
05. Peere Borna
06. Madari Peer
07. Beenam
08. Seebe Sorkh
09. Hame Yeksoo

"It is impossible to get blood out of a stone," said the wise old man in code. So why bother?

PeeranSal starts with a dream, both musically and conceptually - some unspecified entity tells the old, fruitless, and humble protagonist that he should wake up and run to the blind forest if he wants to live. The wide-eyed protagonist drifts through some events that seem bizarre to him: extreme savagery of his fellow man; downfalls of multiple kings and their major kingdoms; losing his home, his city, and the people whom he knew. An abhorrent awakening, a bell that you cannot unring. Where do you flee to when everything you know is lifeless and in ruins?

It's a tale about a man who is forced to accept the horrid reality that we all face, but refuses to. It's "PeeranSal" for him, a metaphorical passage to death, closer than ever before. He tries man and nature, "desperate and forlorn," and loses his hope and mind in the end.

Not just conceptually, but musically, too, PeeranSal is an ominous dive into madness. The music accompanies this grand tale elegantly and it's very diverse. Mostly it doesn't adhere to any established style or structure: it features elements of Western classical music; opera; a complex, thick texture; polyphonic phrasing; rich dynamics; a lively choir; complete orchestration; unruly, jazz-inspired, King Crimson-style drum solos; and Iranian and other Eastern folk instruments and melodies, as well as the Persian language. And, of course, all of these are cultivated on an extreme metal podium, with amazing clean vocals. And yet, all of these elements feel so united and whole; it doesn't feel like a fusion of genres or styles. It's exceptionally smooth. The artwork is inspired by the Dutch Golden Age and has a top-notch quality to it; it exhibits the world that the old man experienced.

It's unimaginable that all of this was done by a single guy (plus some guest backup singers), living in a country where serious art is mostly frowned upon or banned. I guess adversity really makes a man wise. This is a highly recommended piece of art.