Heavy Metal In Baghdad: The story of Acrassicauda

Their Bio: Born out of a basement rehearsal space in Baghdad, Iraq, Acrassicauda (the scientific name for black scorpion) is the country’s only heavy metal band. Tutored by local guitar virtuoso Saad Say—the Yngwie Malmsteem of the Middle East—and inspired by Western bands like Metallica, Slayer and Slipknot, they began writing and playing their own music in 2001. They quickly learned though, that their simple goal of performing live was going to be no easy task.Original members Firas (bass), Tony (lead guitar), Marwan (drums), Faisal (rhythm guitar) and Waleed (lead vocals) played three shows together before the beginning of the war in 2003. Shortly after the invasion, Waleed fled the country, leaving Faisal to fill the void of lead singer. Because of the security situation in Baghdad, setting up shows or even just practicing together became increasingly difficult. Aside from the basic danger of walking the streets in their hometown, the band received death threats from fundamentalists and insurgent groups who thought they were devil-worshippers or simply didn’t like them playing Western-style music. Eventually, it became completely impossible to find anywhere they could safely play. Thanks to generous donations from fans and well-wishers from around the world, the band moved to Turkey after a harrowing year spent living as refugees in Syria. In their seven years as a band they have managed to play only nine concerts—six in Iraq, two in Syria, and one Turkey. The war has all but destroyed their dream to live in peace, grow out their hair, and rock as loud as they want. Life in Turkey proving extremely hard for them, but the band continued to soldier on. They were literally a band on the run. As of February of 2009 all members of Acrassicauda currently live in the New York City area. Their Myspace: Download "Garden of Stones" mp3: Film websiite:

Channel: blip.tv Video Length: 0s Date Found: Wed, Feb 03 2010 5:47 AM Category: Entertainment Date Produced: Tue, Feb 02 2010 8:23 PM View Count: 0