The Days of Lore

Black Friday: Iraq ‘n’ roll

Friday, December 5th, 2008 | fliX, musiX

Heavy metal has always drawn a lot from the drearier things in life: frustration, anger, disenfranchisement … evil-doers. So I guess if there’s any place a metal scene should be thriving it would be Iraq. But even with Saddam Hussein out of power, playing metal can be tricky business in a Muslim country that’s been fracked by the U.S. government and insurgents.

I recently watched the documentary Heavy Metal in Baghdad, which follows “Iraq’s only heavy metal band” Acrassicauda (Latin for the black scorpion found in the deserts of Iraq) as they practice and attempt to play shows amidst the day-to-day chaos in Baghdad. Their practice space gets hit by a Scud missile, concerts are shut down and, like many Iraqis, the four members become refugees in Damascus, Syria. These guys have a right to be pissed, aside from the obvious reasons. They can’t even grow their hair out. And wearing a Ride the Lightning shirt can get you into trouble (I wonder if they have to turn their metal shirts inside out like teachers made kids do when I was in junior high).

But Acrassicauda, which formed in 2001, keeps the faith in the name of rock … because, well, that’s what metalheads do—and no dictatorship, or piddly U.S. invasion, or a few groups who like to blow people up are going to stop them. The members of Acrassicauda are currently living in Istanbul trying pull resources together to make a record, meanwhile the band may have already secured legend status.

Iraq’s only heavy metal band has paved the way for “Iraq’s only death metal band.” Dog Faced Corpse—named after an infamous murder in which militants stitched a dog’s head onto a decapitated body—has been performing for only a couple of months. Damn … Dog Faced Corpse sorta makes Acrassicauda sound like Iraq’s only choir boys.

Listen to Acrassicauda’s “Psycho” (not a Sonics cover) and “Massacre” at Last.fm.

Dog Faced Corpse performing “Consanguinity” in Baghdad, 10.25.08

Tags: Acrassicauda, Black Friday, Dog Faced Corpse, Heavy Metal in Baghdad

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