Ahoora  - Awkward Diary

In all honesty it’s a small miracle that Iranian trio Ahoora’s soon to be released third album ‘Awkward Diary’ has reached us here in the west, considering the turbulent political and social environment within the Islamic Republic at present, let alone the highly repressive stance of the divided country’s government towards freedom of expression, rock music in particular. As the first metal band featuring vocals to perform live in Iran, the band continually persevere with their passion in spite of very real danger, to the extent of releasing their two previous albums in defiance of Iranian law; and undeterred by the immigration laws of their country that have deprived them of opportunities to play prestigious shows abroad, ‘Awkward Diary’ is indeed among us. What’s more it’s a highly impressive work in its own right, up there with the likes of their contemporaries elsewhere in the world.

Featuring twelve tracks of enigmatic, compelling progressive rock that brings together elements reminiscent of Muse, Dream Theater and Devin Townsend at his most contemplative (see last year’s ‘Ki’) with an array of electronic effects, samples, and eastern flavoured ambience drawn from their rich cultural heritage, this is genuinely interesting and inventive stuff which deserves to be heard. Even putting aside the album’s far from conventional origins, ‘Drizzle Knight’ and a raging ‘Unattended’ stand as highlights of a sometimes disturbing, always absorbing musical voyage, while lead single ‘Crimson Baby’ constitutes one of the album’s most accessible compositions , a heartfelt tribute to Neda Agha-Soltan and all those who died in the conflicts following Iran’s presidential election last June. The exotic ‘Perfect Day’ and freewheeling, darkly hewn ‘Ellipsis-Diagnosis’ demonstrate the band’s seismic stylistic development since their early days of traditional, Maiden/Iced Earth influenced heavy metal thunder, twisting and turning wilfully, and very much following their own design.

Spanning genre and mood to great effect, Ahoora have created a mature and thoughtful work that certainly warrants its place in the CD collection (or as it may be, hard drive) of adventurous listeners. Head over to the band’s Myspace for a closer look... like me you may conclude that their dedication deserves to be richly rewarded.

www.myspace.com/ahooraband