ICONOPHOBIC

Iranian composer and multi-instrumentalist Salim Ghazi SAEEDI first appeared a few years back as one of the core members of the metal band Arashk, which now has a total of four productions to its name. "Iconophobic" is his first solo album, and was issued in the summer of 2010.

If you enjoy the thought of encountering compositions with distinct influences from the Middle East and Iran, blending classical music, folk music and rock, spiced with a few metal touches, Salim Ghazi Saeedi has created a must-have CD in the shape of "Iconophobic". Always seeking, always adventurous, experimental and challenging, his creations may not be the most mainstream-oriented around, but are also far removed from the avant-garde parts of any musical universe. Highly recommended, particularly to an open-minded art rock audience.

Originally a self-taught guitarist, Iranian composer Salim Ghazi Saeedi was born in Tehran in 1981.The turning point in his life comes in the 90's, when he first listened to Nirvana and Kurt Cobain, who was the reason he started playing the guitar in 1999.In 2004 he joins the local Prog Metal band Arashk, he becomes their leader and releases no less than four albums with them.Arashk fell in hiatus in 2009, rising a chance for Saeedi to compose and develop his own ideas.The seeds of his efforts became the ''Iconophobic'' album, released independently in 2010.

The evolution of a self-taught guitarist to a composer of deeply experimental/Avant-Garde Music is really surprising.In ''Iconophobic'' Saaedi evokes the works of JOHN ZORN, UNIVERSE ZERO and KING CRIMSON, producing difficult, inventive, short pieces, drawing inspiration by Chamber/Orchestral Music, Jazz and R.I.O in equal doses along with a slight Eastern influence in specific moments.The basic contents appear to be the programmed orchestrations, some sound effects and loops and his omnipresent hard-edged electric guitar.The album is pretty dissonsant with no room for melodies, focusing on cinematic atmospheres and experimental tendencies.However the overall result seems often to go nowhere.The blend of jazzy, cinematic and orchestral soundscapes with some heavier guitar passages sounds chaotic, directionless and even forced with series of impressive patterns ending up to create a total mess.The heavy use of programmed instrumentation decreases also the enjoyment of the album with plenty of mechanic sounds next to pretty limited natural echoes.This one appears to be among the albums, where complexity ruins the talent of the composer.

There is some true potential in Saeedi's ideas, it is just not fully revealed in ''Iconophobic'', which sounds like a work created strictly for fans of Experimental Rock.A creative but eventually rather immature work.