Documentary on Heavy Metal Gives a Different Perspective on the War in Iraq

Published: July 17, 2008, 11:37 am

Tags: media journalism, middle east, politics news, pop culture, race ethnicity culture, religion spirituality

Even though Heavy Metal in Baghdad never hit the mainstream movie theatres, the documentary, released on DVD earlier this month, is already a hit. Produced by VBS.TV which was founded by the owners of Vice Magazine (i.e. the Hipster bible), I had some initial doubts about the story of a group of young men in Baghdad who had started ACRASSICAUDA (Latin for Black Scorpion) the only official metal band in Iraq because of the magazine's troubling tendency to favor hipster racism. Passionate about bands like Metallica, Iron Maiden and Slipknot, Firas (bass), Tony (lead guitar), Marwan (drums), Faisal (rhythm guitar) and Waleed (lead vocals) started as a cover band, eventually incorporating their own music into their sets. Because of Saddam Hussein's dictatorship the political and religious climate, the band had a difficult time putting on shows, only playing 3 before the war started in 2003. Firas tells director Suroosh Alvi about the time they were asked to play by Hussein to promote

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