Iraq Metal Band Forced Out Of Iraq[views:3160][posts:6]___________________________________ [Sep 27,2004 2:55pm - Dissector ""] I got this from the Relapse board. If I remember correctly wasn't there another thread about a metal band from Iraq on this board. If there is I can't find it, I want to see if it's the same band. ------------------------------------------------- Popbitch.com is reporting that the Iraqi metal band ACRASSICAUDA have fled to Jordan after threats by radical Islamists in Iraq, prompting the web site to remark, "So U.S. and U.K.: well done for the new, free, liberal Iraq." Back in August, The Wall Street Journal published an article describing ACRASSICAUDA's difficulties of reviving culture and entertainment in a society ripped apart by war. A short excerpt from the article, which appeared in the WSJ's August 17 edition, follows: The members of ACRASSICAUDA honed their English by singing along to black-market MEGADETH and METALLICA CDs. They developed their stage moves by copying what they saw on pirated videotapes of American rock concerts. Now they’re learning a different lesson: the difficulties of reviving culture and entertainment in a society ripped apart by war. The four members of ACRASSICAUDA, which means Black Scorpion in Latin, hope they can prove just as resilient. The young men — singer Faisal Talal, bassist Faris al-Lateef, drummer Marwan Mohammad Riyak and guitarist Tony Aziz — met as high-school students and formed the band, along with another member, in 2000. Scions of prominent families, they were drawn together by their love of Western heavy-metal bands like SLAYER and JUDAS PRIEST, which appealed to their feelings of isolation and disillusionment. "It's about feeling powerless and lonely and wanting to scream out because no one else is paying attention to what you’re feeling," says Mr. Lateef, 23, who has spiky hair, a goatee and tinted sunglasses that he wears indoors. "The songs were sung by Americans but they could easily have been written by us as Iraqis." Read more . |
| ___________________________________ [Sep 27,2004 2:57pm - Dissector ""] Here's the rest of the article --------------------------------- The music was a difficult and dangerous obsession during Saddam Hussein’s regime. Many record stores refused to stock heavy metal because it was associated so closely with the U.S. Those that did stored the CDs in back rooms or under the counter and sold them only to trusted customers. Albums whose covers depicted religious, satanic or sexual imagery – all mainstays of heavy-metal art – were banned… On the advice of their music teacher and mentor, Saad Zai, the musicians wrote a tribute to Mr. Hussein called “Youth of Iraq.” (Sample lyrics: “By following the leader Saddam Hussein/we will make them fall, we will drive them insane…") The lyrics to “Doll,” a song ostensibly about a failed love affair, say it’s “time to change the actor…it’s time to say stop,” which fans knew to recognize as a subtle attack on Mr. Hussein… After the U.S.-led invasion, the band looked forward to a future free of censorship and other restrictions on its music, but the unrelenting tumult is taking a heavy toll. While band members say they haven’t gotten any flak over their music from the government or religious leaders, some say their parents don’t approve because of the threat of violence. Mr. Talal says Acrassicauda had an easier time performing under Mr. Hussein, because it had been approved by the government and had its choice of venues. Today, the Orfali gallery has been turned into a government building frequently guarded by U.S. troops, and the Rabat hall is in an area of the city beset by street crime and political violence. None of the city’s other clubs or halls are willing to book the band because of fears that a concert of American music would be targeted by terrorists. Worse, the band’s former lead singer, Walid Rabiaa, has gotten death threats as result of his day job as a translator for the British Broadcasting Corp. He is planning to move to Canada. Mr. Talal says he was so shaken by the sight of a severed head at the scene of a suicide bombing that he couldn’t practice or compose new music for weeks. Some former fans, meanwhile, say they no longer want to listen to songs about anger and sadness while they live in a country that has seen too much of both in recent months. “Heavy-metal music doesn’t belong in Iraq anymore,” says Ziad Ali, a mechanical engineer who walked out of the Iraqi Hunting Club concert before the plug was pulled. “It’s a luxury we can’t afford right now.” |
| ______________________________________ [Sep 27,2004 3:08pm - the_reverend ""] the original article was posted on here somewhere. I think I also saw it on cbs or something like that. |
| ____________________________________ [Sep 27,2004 4:09pm - BornSoVile ""] doesn't surprise me. i could see the same happening here eventually, say within the next four years. Civil liberties are taking a beating these days. |
| __________________________________ [Sep 27,2004 4:17pm - heimdall ""] i saw this band on metalarchies they are the only band from ira q on there. |
| ________________________________ [Sep 27,2004 6:50pm - xmikex ""] hopefully Iraq will have the freedom and prividge to sit at their computers and bitch about how Iraqi metal is better than Iraqi hardcore, and vice versa. |
| ____________________________________ [Sep 27,2004 6:57pm - MyDeadDoll ""] haha, good call |