Niyaz's music, described as "mystical music with a modern edge",[3] is primarily a blend of Sufi mysticism and trance electronica.[4] Niyaz adapts Persian, Indian and Mediterranean folk sounds, poetry and songs including the poetry of Sufi mystic Rumi, with Western electronic instrumentation and programming.[5]
Their self-titled debut album, released in 2005, combined 13th century Sufi and Urdu poetry with "swirling, hypnotic beats".[6] Their 2008 follow-up album, Nine Heavens, featured two discs; the second disc contained acoustic renditions of the tracks on the first disc.
Their third album, Sumud (صمود), released in spring 2012.[7] A companion piece to the album, an acoustic EP with six songs, was released March 19, 2013.
Though they have several songs with original lyrics, the bulk of their lyrics are derived from Persian and Urdu Sufi poetry by the likes of Rumi, Obeyd-e Zakani, Amir Khusrow and Khaju-ye Kermani, and folk songs from Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and other parts of the Middle East and central Asia.
12"Carmen Rizzo retires from Niyaz". Retrieved June 18, 2013. After 3 wonderful albums and touring around the world many times with the band I co-founded in 2004 with Azam Ali & Loga Ramin Torkian, I have decided to retire from the Niyaz.
