MIND INVERSION

After nearly 5 years of war and waiting, heavy metal has made its inevitable return to the city of Baghdad. In 2003, Iraqi thrash metal Acrassicauda band was the last metal band to play in Iraq (as documented in the awesome fucking movie Heavy Metal in Baghdad) before being forced to flee to Turkey, and according to a great USA Today report security has recovered to a level that makes it possible for fans to gather and express their love of metal once again! At a private dinner club on the shores of the Tigris river, 250 Iraqi’s clad in black gathered to rock out to the anthems of local death metal bands Brutal Impact and Dog Faced Corpse.

Seriously, how unbelievable is that? As Muthana Mani of Brutal Impact indicated to USA Today, during the war “being a member of heavy metal’s unique subculture could amount to a death sentence”. After being threatened from every other force in Iraqi culture, metal was forced to go underground to be practiced and grow behind closed doors. Five years have passed, though, and these band’s felt that it was time to just say “fuck you” to the extremists in Iraq and bring metal back into the public.

Among the hundreds of concertgoers in attendance that night were everyone from veiled females to corpse painted shaved head males. Most of the patrons were attending their first metal concert ever. But while the appearance of the some attendees might not have matched the expected, most of the metalheads there knew exactly what to do and how to act. Like I indicated in my review of Global Metal, no matter where you come it only takes the passion inside to be a part of the global metal community. This situation is a perfect example of how youth around the world can use metal both as voice of dissent and a source of personal therapy.

The video that USA Today captured of the concert (at the top of the page) is goosebump inducing, and it’s very inspiring after years of constant reporting on attacks from Iraq. If the traditional black garb doesn’t convince you that these fans know what they were doing, perhaps the mosh pits, broken tables, and Metallica sing-along would. It’s a beautiful thing! Good luck to all the Iraqi metal bands that are struggling to persevere; the rest of the community is looking forward to the future of Iraqi metal!