Fuck the so-called "Weϟϟt", and marg bar amriKKKa
Album description:
On September 22, 1980, the Iraqi military under the command of Saddam Hussein, unprovoked, supported and heavily armed by the Western and Arab worlds, invaded an economically devastated and militarily weakened Iran following the events of the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Through a brutal campaign of violence, terror, and the illicit use of chemical weapons against civilian populations, the Ba'athist dictator sought to quickly conquer his oil-rich neighbor in order to fulfill his nationalist fantasy of becoming the region’s dominant power. Despite facing crippling economic sanctions, a substantial lack of proper military equipment and training, and the world's major powers collaborating against them, the Iranian people retaliated and held their ground throughout one of the bloodiest conflicts in modern history and prevented Hussein from taking even one inch of their land.
This album is dedicated to the myriad Iranian soldiers (many of whom were young volunteers) and civilians who lost their lives as a result of the eight-year Iran-Iraq war, as well as the countless Kurdish victims of the Al-Anfal genocide. May they rest in peace and remain forever free from the failures of mankind.
Notes:
The title of this release is derived from the moniker used by Iranian forces in reference to the first battle that took place in the city of Khorramshahr / خرمشهر. Due to the heavy loss of life sustained by the extreme and brutal violence carried out by the Iraqi army against both Iranian soldiers and civilians alike, the city which was once home to many of Iran's upper class families became known as خونین شهر (transliteration: Khooninshahr), the City of Blood.
In Narrow Graves - The title of this track references a line from the poem " A Poem for War / شعری برای جنگ" by the acclaimed contemporary Iranian poet Qeysar Aminpour / قیصر امینپور, whose work is renowned worldwide for its innovative prose and compelling anti-war themes.
Halabja - As implied by its title, this track was inspired by the horrific events that took place on March 16, 1988 in the Kurdish city of Halabja, Iraq during the final days of the Iran-Iraq war. The opening lyrics, "come and see", allude to director Elem Klimov's eponymous masterpiece, which captures the horrors of war with an unsettling and harrowing realism very few filmmakers have been able to achieve.The lyrics "a silent city" are a nod to the stunningly beautiful collaboration album by the legendary Kayhan Kalhor and Brooklyn Rider, whose title track also serves as a requiem for the events that took place on that dark day in Halabja.
Song Lyrics: Beyond the filter Of this stifling mask Through the noxious fog Of mustard gas Past the barbed terrain Mined and vast Lies the playground Of blood and ash Where Saddam's dogs Shall breathe their last As we advance And push The bastards back Like choking rats In an iron grasp Their weakened battalions Succumb to Our violent wrath
Bullets burrow through Flesh, skulls, and jaws On gushing wounds Death tears and gnaws Men's intestines suspend From barbed wire Caustic sprays of Machine gun fire We wade through A mire Of guts and limbs In a void absent Virtue or sin Where Western arms And an upper hand Prove futile against A child who would Die for his land
For the innocent Lives consumed By the jaws Of Sarin's fumes With malice We incinerate The cowards and Their puppet state
For our children Burned alive While aboard IR655 Slaughtered by The U.S of lies We send their pawns To their grim demise
Every corpse Adorned with lead Every sundered bone And severed head Every drop of blood That is shed Paves the path to Avenge our dead
Blood demands blood
Alone, against the world We stand And vanquish all Who invade our land
Through a hail Of grenades and scuds We reclaim The City of Blood
The West And their puppet Saddam Are no match For Mother Iran
By the blood of پارس خلیج فارس Forever ours