Hossein Hadisi

Hossein Hadisi (formerly known as HOZZEN; a solo thrash metal project, active in Malaysia (2005–2007)) is a music composer and performer living in the UK. Hossein Hadisi's music tends to be 21st century modern and avant garde, although hints of Persian music and his own individual rhetoric are traceable in most of his works. Hossein plays violin, piano and guitar and also plays a few Persian instruments, mainly Tar. Apart from composing and performing, Hossein makes films and teaches music.

Biography
Hossein Hadisi has been playing the piano, violin, electric guitar, bass guitar, keyboards and a few other instruments since his childhood and has also been active in some other fields of arts, such as writing and directing short films. He started learning piano at the age of six. He later picked up violin as his main instrument. At the age of 17, Hossein started performing music professionally as violin soloist in Kerman Television Symphonic Orchestra (with Savic Ghazarian), and also as piano and guitar player and vocalist in Hamoon and Mahtab music groups.

Having already studied Persian vocal and instrumental music alongside his classical music training, at the age of 18 he started studying composition with Kambiz Roshanravan in Hawaii School of Music branch in Tehran, Iran. In this very school, he also studied violin with Siavash Zahireddini and also had jazz piano and vocal sessions with Andre Mooradian. After moving to Malaysia in 2004, Hossein pursued his musical career with CZF (in Penang), Hungry (in Penang & Kuala Lumpur)and Hozzen (in Kuala Lumpur) projects, while still composing, recording and producing music professionally for film scores, music albums and multimedia projects.

Since year 2007, Hossein has been studying composition with Michael Finnissy, Michael Zev Gordon and Andrew Fisher and is also teaching music.

Pessimistic (2007)
Hossein Hadisi has been playing and performing music professionally since year 2000 around Iran, Malaysia and UK in pop and rock bands such as Mahtab, Hamoon, CZF & Hungry. He has also been the solo violinist for Kerman Television Symphonic Orchestra in 2001 with Savic Ghazarian as the conductor. His thrash metal music career (with the stage name HOZZEN) brought him success in Malaysia by production of his debut album, "Pessimistic" (2006), which put Hossein Hadisi second on Channel [V]'s AMP chart for two months since its release in June, 2007. Along with this success, Hossein Hadisi has produced Pessimistic video clip for Channel [V] which has been daily introduced on the AMP chart program during these two months. After the release of the first album, Hossein Hadisi has been "The Most Popular Artist" in both Metal and Thrash Metal categories of AMP chart. Pessimistic, is an album with abstract concepts, mainly anti-war themes, showing a diversified range of songs, from slow rock (After All) to psychedelic rock (Vitamin K) to thrash metal (Desert Sand). Hossein Hadisi’s music in Pessimistic shows roots in classical music, as well as hard core thrash metal and is a guitar based music, mainly with uses of heavy rhythms and riffs.

The success of the debut album has got Hossein Hadisi many reviews and listings in local and international papers and websites, including Encyclopaedia Metallum and Metal Lyrica, as well as Channel [V]'s AMP website.

All the vocals and instruments are by Hossein Hadisi himself; showing a range of diversified style with influences from different genres, mainly centred on hard core rock music with influences from bands such as Megadeth, Black Sabbath and Slayer. The track list for this album is :


 * 1) Binary People (4.28)
 * 2) Desert Sand (3:23)
 * 3) Tired (4:45)
 * 4) Pessimistic (4:24)
 * 5) Revelation (5:11)
 * 6) Blooming (3:46)
 * 7) Master of Disaster (3:23)
 * 8) Impotent (3:30)
 * 9) Golgotha (5:33)
 * 10) Vitamin K (3:04)
 * 11) Wolf (3:42)
 * 12) After All (4:10)

Far Close (2008)
After a relative success with the Pessimistic album in Malaysia, Hossein Hadisi had a major shift in style by studying, researching, teaching, composing, performing, recording and producing modern classical music in the UK (2007 - current). This set of new works make up his second album, "Far Close" (2008), which consists of piano and violin pieces. "Sexual Rejection Was The Reason To Murder" (parts I - VIII) forms the first half of the album with eight sections of a long piece (9':26") composed for violin and piano. This piece is composed based on the ideas on "comprovisation" (Michael Finnissy), in an attempt to produce a rather improvisatory music based on composed ideas. The next track, "The Double Edged Passion" is a short violin solo.

The second half of the album, consists of 11 variations for solo piano (14':34"), named "Far Close". These variations are based on ideas of the Persian music mode of the Chahargah; adopted in a modern way and in a rather foreign, alienated piano rhetoric. "The Decision Was Made at 5am Sharp" is a duo, originally written for the Keynote+ ensemble (Kate Ryder on piano and Jane Chapman on harpsichord). This piece uses a prepared piano based on John Cage's preparations in contrast with a harpsichord; a rather unfamiliar wedding of two of the oldest and youngest members of the keyboards family. The final track of the album, "What We Didn't Say In The Funeral" is a quartet written for the Gemini ensemble. This piece features two violas, a flute and a bass clarinet in a rather sad, slow music which moves towards a happier, more rhythmic ending. Performances of these two ensembles are featured on Hossein Hadisi's Official Website.

Hatred In My Smile (2009)
Hossein's third album, "Hatred In My Smile" focuses on vocal music, mainly with emphasis on Persian concept of Dastgah & Goosheh. Although the music never completely complies to the tradition, in uses material and mainly, perhaps the rhetoric in an individual way. The soprano voice on these tracks is performed by Sarah Sammons & the male voice is Hossein Hadisi, himself.

The lyrics of these pieces are taken from Hafez, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Gerard Manley Hopkins and Edna St. Vincent Millay. Although the main emphasis of the album is vocal music, a good deal of the instrumental parts are featuring Tar & Daf, as they are originally Persian instruments. apart from Tar being the central instrument, the woodwinds play the second important role in this album. Lots of Bassoon solos and Flute lines highlight the characteristics of Hatred In My Smile.

The track list for Hatred In My Smile is :


 * 1) Hatred In My Smile (The Windhover)
 * 2) The Ravelling Rose
 * 3) Palestrina's iPod
 * 4) A Cloud In Trousers
 * 5) I Hate My Loved Ones
 * 6) Mirage
 * 7) Hossein Express & Grapes (feat. HOLA)
 * 8) Gilaki
 * 9) Gently Behead the Monster
 * 10) Dust
 * 11) The Windhover (a capella)
 * 12) Fear Of Perdition