Hazeen is an anti-racist Muslim black-death metal band from Sydney, Australia, comprised of Safdar Ahmed (lead vocals and guitar) and Can Yalcinkaya (drums, darbuka, occasional vocals). We have played shows in an abandoned theme park, an anarchist bookstore, a zine fair, and art spaces like Shh Centre, Cement Fondu and the MCA in Sydney. We have been featured in the ABC three times: in the ABC Artsville documentary, You See Monsters (dir. Tony Jackson, broadcast on 28/11/2017), in The Mix (12/11/2018) and in Compass (20 March 2022).
Safdar Ahmed and Hazeen participated in documenta fifteen in 2022. As part of their contribution, they released their debut album Sovereign Murders with Berlin’s Piranha Records. Safdar Ahmed says:
“For our first album ‘Sovereign Murders’ we are collaborating with Kian Dayani, who plays bass guitar and daf drum, and Kurdish-Iranian trash metal guitarist Kazem Kazemi, who was held as a refugee in Australia’s offshore detention camp on Manus Island for 6 years. Our music confronts the expanding field of racism, Islamophobia and bigotry in the contemporary world, critically tackling the tropes of far-right wing ideology, ‘timebomb’ demographics, refugee panics and taqiyya/halal-food conspiracies. ‘Sovereign Murders’ will combine the energy of underground metal with Turkish and Iranian rhytms.”
You can listen to the album and buy a digital or vinyl copy on bandcamp. The vinyl album is also available for purchase on Can Yalcinkaya’s online store.
Watch a live performance of our song “Creeping Sharia” below: