Det er ikke bare Global Metal som tar for seg hardrock i land der man til vanlig ikke finner musikkstilen. Vice Magazine har laget dokumentar om bandet Acrassicauda fra krigsherjede Irak.

Global Metal vises på årets Hove-festival, og omhandler metalens globalisering. Nå er også filmen Heavy Metal In Baghdad ute på markedet. Acrassicauda er et band som startet i Irak under Saddam Husseins regime, men som senere har måttet flytte ut av hjemlandet sitt. Inspirert av band som Slipknot og Metallica forsøkte de å øve og spille i Irak, men fikk stadige trusler, og ble angrepet av grupper som anklaget bandet for satanisme. Etter at folk rundt i verden ble oppmerksom på bandet har de mottatt penger slik at medlemmene nå lever i Tyrkia. Et band på rømmen. Og et bevis på at metal lever selv der den blir undertrykket.

Filmen har fått priser på filmfestivaler i Toronto og Berlin, og er nå i vanlig salg.

Hjemmesiden til Heavy Metal In Baghdad.

Mastodon og Neurosis kommenterer filmen her.

Bandets siste artikkel i bloggen sin:

This is the band fourth blog and this is the only possible way to keep in touch with you guys since it’s hard to write to all of you (wish we can). The band still in Istanbul trying to find his way out, continuing the struggling with daily life of refugees and am telling you it’s not easy, not easy at all. Other than crying over our situation the good thing is that we are about to record 3 new demos, most of it are new songs we were able write here in Turkey, hopefully we will be done with them in the 15th of May. So far that is all what we can hold on to cuz there is not much to expect for the near future. The movie will come out soon and that means more media attraction and more new reporters trying to find an interesting headlines to make their way to the first page of the newspaper or a magazine but I guess this is how it goes in the new world. What we still can’t understand is who we really are… the Iraqi heavy metal band or the four iraqi refugees cuz sometimes these 2 different stories doesn’t seems to combine together.

We suppose to be a power source for the people, this is how we think of the heavy metal and this how we see it regarding the fact that we are also passioned about it. Music supposed to give us strength to face our problems in our daily life and some of us got a lot of them but when it comes to be unable embrace your guitar your bass or your drums or any of the instruments which through you are able to express your feelings your passion your rage your anger and so on … for any of these stupid reasons your family or your neighbors or because you can’t afford to rent studio for an hour these things as simple and stupid as they sound it might demolish you, leave you defenseless and slowly it will suck the power of life out of you. Cross fingers hoping you will never get to experience that sometimes it makes you feel like you are cursed for choosing this path and the only gateway is either closed or hard to reach just because who you are or where you from. Every day brings new challenge that you are not up to with out your power sources. Your music, your home, your friends and so much more living of the broken hopes and dreams of the day that you will be able to gain all of them back. The only thing you got in your pocket to rely on is your belief. This is the only thing that keeps us all going forward and not look back.

Stay metal,

ACRASSİCAUDA

Filmtraileren:

Fra en screening av filmen. Første halvdel handler om Heavy Metal In Baghdad.