Six Degrees Records announced recently that the June 24, 2008 release of Niyaz’s new album, Nine Heavens, will feature two discs. The second half of the album will have acoustic versions of the electronic tracks on the first CD.

Nine Heavens is Niyaz’s sophomore album and features nine original folk tunes and mystical Sufi poems from Iran, the Indian sub-continent and Turkey. The album focuses on the connection between the music of the three regions, delves further into their traditional melodies and bridges the traditional sounds with modern electronics.

This talented trio released their self-titled debut album back in 2005 to international acclaim. The record debuted at number one on iTune’s World Music Chart and remained there for numerous weeks. Iranian born, Indian raised vocalist Azam Ali is fist captured the world’s attention as co-founder and member of the best-selling duo Vas. Fellow Iranian Loga Ramin Torkian, the multi-instrumentalist and composer for Axiom of Choice, and two time Grammy Award nominee producer, programmer and mixer Carmen Rizzo round out Niyaz.

In a continued effort to create political and social awareness, Niyaz has quickly become a musical pioneer to a generation of Iranians who struggle to maintain their cultural identity while living in the west where they are often times portrayed in a negative light by the media. It is their aim to transcend cultural and religious boundaries through their music by using the ageless spiritual poetry of revered mystics whose works reveal the commonality of the human experience and can serve as a unifying factor in today’s diverse societies.