The ongoing events in Iran highlight the daily struggles that now-Istanbul-based Cats Season know all too well, having escaped their country following a horrifying raid. Upon escaping the country, the event fuelled the band’s mission to craft a powerful “cultural deathcore” sound that represents a new generation of Persian youth and they describe as “chaotic, painful and honest.”
The Cats Season project began back in 2017 in Tehran, when vocalist Mufasa and bassist Mattin auditioned for another band that never came to fruition. But the duo got together to start recording music inspired by ideas around elements of metalcore, deathcore and post-hardcore, which helped standardise their process and contributed to their unique sound. And they soon completed the lineup with guitarists Mahan and Maynard and drummer Sina.
On the sound they’ve crafted, Mustafa explains: “It’s rooted in modern metal, but it isn’t confined by genre. There’s deathcore, nu-metal, electronics, and cinematic elements, but the focus is always on feeling and impact rather than labels. We call it cultural deathcore. We aimed to make something that hits the same the first time you hear it in your earphones and the 1000th time, when you’re feeling down and sick of everything that brings you down.
The band, whose name represents a cycle of newborn kittens populating the streets of Iran on random days, were forced into a life-changing move in 2020. A targeted raid by religious extremists – based on the music that the band creates – shut down their Tehran studio, destroyed their gear and forced them to relocate.
On that event, Mustafa told us: “Horrific, for us it was a truly traumatising experience. We were subjected to everything from being Satanists under a radical Muslim government to creating a cult and promoting occultism. The people who raided our studio used every trick in the book, from bribing the cops to threatening our closest people and beating us.
“I filed a case against them for home invasion, and it took a whole year and a half of us going through the most stressful situation. We were present at the studio when it happened, and there is a really traumatic video of the event, which the Islamic court of the Islamic Republic seized from us, instead of protecting us. They were afraid of it making it to the Internet, they put us through hell, and by 2020 I was completely convinced that if we want to continue doing music, or even exist, there’s no place for us in this country. I don’t even want to go down the super-corrupted justice system that failed to protect our rights in every possible way. I had to abandon my six years of studying Pharmacy to be a doctor to save myself from everything that went down.”
But rather than silencing the band, that terrifying event lit a fire that pushed Cats Season to take their music to new levels. They started up Cats House Media when they moved to Istanbul in early 2022 and rebuilt their studio as a workshop for merch, a music studio and events. The band made it into the final five of the Wacken Metal Battle last year, and is looking to book more artists who “want to come and play a kick ass show.”
To give us a taste for their music, the band sent us the intense Grave Of All Great Things, the second track on their 2024 album Revolution. It opens up with moody guitars and spoken vocals that end with a big scream taking us into heavy guitars and drums. Those continue into a crushing opening verse led by wild vocals, which eventually drops back into echoey spoken vocals. The pace suddenly drops with light electronic sounds, before a menacing low-tuned guitar creeps in and is joined by a terrifying prolonged scream. The guitar continues alongside all manner of electronic noises to bring the track to a chaotic conclusion.
On the track, Mustafa said: “Grave of All Great Things came to life from the last demo we made back in Iran, and it also refers to how we felt at the time. The reception has been intense and surprisingly personal; people connect to it on a deeper level than we expected. For new listeners, expect something heavy but not hollow: aggression with intention, atmosphere, and emotional weight.”
The album also includes the excellent Black Ocean, which you can check out in the video below, the powerful Poison, title track Revolution and the intense final track Detached 1011001. And there’s more music to check out from the band, including their 2020 debut EP Late Repentance.
The Cats Season sound is heavily inspired by the 2000s nu-metal scene that their members grew up on. They call out bands like Korn, Slipknot, System Of A Down and Linkin Park, as well as deathcore bands like The Art Is Murder and Suicide Silence, but members draw on a wide range of influences. Mustafa says he listens to a lot of dark trap and hip-hop, from Eminem to Suicide Boys, as well as heavy metal pioneers like Black Sabbath. While Maynard listens to Thall black metal, Maynard is more into slam and brutal deathcore, and Mattin is into groove, bass and modern jazz. While the band as a whole draw influence from film scores, electronic music, and sound design in their approach to texture and space.
And on what inspires them to write music, Mustafa explained: “Real experiences. Things that emotionally motivate us to change the world around us for the better, and things that we went through. From displacement, anger, loss and identity to losing everything and finding yourself. A lot of the writing comes from living under pressure and watching systems fail people. There’s confrontation, but also reflection. It’s not artificial rage, but more of a documentary of emotions.”
There’s plenty more to come from Cats Season, who are working on new music that Mustafa says will be “heavier, sharper, and more refined.” And he added: “The focus is quality and impact rather than constant output. I think we’re facing a bigger challenge now than we were facing in Iran. We have to overcome visa issues, as sad as it sounds. We plan to tour as extensively as we can in the next two years. after finishing demos and recording for our debut LP while releasing new singles as the new year starts. We would take any opportunity to bring Cats Season to different towns and venues. This is our prophecy and we left our lives to do so.
“This isn’t a trend project or a TikTok band chasing breakdowns. Cats Season exists because it has to. We come from the background of being strangers in your own country and being left out because the system wants you to. Everything you hear comes from real stakes, real losses, and real conviction. If people connect to that, they’re already part of it.”
You can follow Cats Season on Facebook and Instagram, and check out their music on Spotify, Bandcamp, Apple Music and YouTube.
Listen to Cats Season and more new bands on our Spotify playlists GigRadar Core and GigRadar Metal
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