Nina Saeidi is wearing a green, gold-encrusted robe and holding an antique knife above her head. After unsheathing the blade, she pokes it into her stomach, then makes a slitting motion across her throat. Although these may seem like the ritual actions of a priestess, Saeidi is actually performing on stage at Bristol festival ArcTanGent last weekend, singing with her metal outfit Lowen in a crammed tent.
“It’s a Turkish Ottoman dagger,” she tells me backstage later that day. “I got it in some very cool, obscure-looking vintage shop in Turkey last year. I’m really interested in historical items from that region – but, because I can’t go to Iran, I have to gather things from around the Silk Road and places like that.”
