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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 “Virtual
Existence”. The band members decided to release the album
under the name of Kahtmayan and hence “Virtual Existence”
became Kahtmayan’s first album. After composing the album,
the band took the album to stage and performed it live in
concerts.
Final recording of “Virtual Existence” 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 members’ 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 "Exir”. 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
Kahtmayan’s 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 band’ vocalist.
The band’s efforts later developed into the album “Risen
from Ashes” which will be recorded in near future. Risen
from Ashes will be Kahtmayan’s 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. “Risen from Ashes”
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.
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