Acrassicauda

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Acrassicauda
General information
Genre (s) Thrash metal
founding 2000
Website www.acrassicauda.com
Founding members
Firas Al-Lateef
Tony Aziz
Electric guitar
 Faisal Talal
Marwan Riyak
Walid Mudhafar (until 2003)
Current occupation
Electric bass
 Firas al-Talif
Electric guitar
 Tony Aziz
Electric guitar, vocals
 Faisal Talal
Drums, vocals
 Marwan Riyak

Acrassicauda is an Iraqi thrash metal band from Baghdad . For a long time they were considered the only metal band in Iraq; only recently have other metal bands formed in Iraq.

Band history

The band was formed in 2000 by bassist Firas al-Talif, guitarists Tony Aziz and Faisal Talal, and drummer Marwan Riyak and singer Walid Mudhafar. The band played their first concert in the summer of 2001. Until Saddam Hussein's fall , all concerts had to be approved by the Ministry of Culture, which required the band to perform a piece that the government or Hussein praised. The fourth appearance in the band's history was recorded in November 2003 by Vice Magazine and MTV . In Vice Magazine article published No War for Heavy Metal on Acrassicauda. On January 5th, 2004, the last concert with Walid Mudhafar took place before he fled Iraq to Canada. Faisal Talal and Marwan Riyak took over the vocals ever since. The group's next appearance in August 2004 at the Iraqi Hunting Club in front of 200 visitors was prematurely canceled by the organizers.

In July 2005 the group's last concert took place at the Al-Fanar Hotel in Baghdad. After the band members received death threats from Islamic fundamentalists , it was impossible to give further concerts. On July 28, 2006, an explosion destroyed the shop and instruments used as a rehearsal room. In August Tony Aziz and Marwan Riyak fled to Syria, shortly afterwards the other band members followed. In Damascus, Acrassicauda played a concert in December 2006 and recorded a three-piece demo CD. Before the band members had to sell their instruments half a year later to pay the rent, they had another gig.

In mid-September 2007, the documentary Heavy Metal by Eddy Moretti and Suroosh Alvi was presented at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival in Baghdad . He follows the development of the band from the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 as a result of the Iraq war until 2007. The band members were not granted entry permits, so they could not attend the premiere. Since the Syrian government did not want to extend the residence permits for Iraqi refugees, the band members were threatened with deportation on October 10, 2007. A collection of donations by Vice Magazine enabled the Acrassicauda musicians to travel to Istanbul at the beginning of October . The band has played three concerts there so far. The band members were also not allowed to enter the film show at the Berlin International Film Festival in February 2008. With the support of the UN , all band members managed to travel on to the United States in 2008 and 2009, their families stayed behind in Iraq.

Two days after the last member of the band entered the USA, they were greeted by members of the band Metallica after a concert in Newark . Metallica singer James Hetfield presented them with one of his guitars. Acrassicauda recorded the EP Only the Dead See the End of the War in 2010 under the direction of Axel Skolnick ( Testament ) . Since they came to the USA, the band members, who now live in New Jersey , have been making a living by doing odd jobs. In the summer of 2014, a crowdfunding campaign at kickstarter.com concluded with a result of 37,000 US dollars, with the help of which the band financed their debut album Gilgamesh , which was released in April 2015.

style

The lyrics of the band are mostly in English, there are also some Arabic passages. Acrassicauda sees itself inspired by Slipknot , Slayer , Judas Priest , Megadeth , Metallica , AC / DC , Crematory , Kiss , Dimmu Borgir , Mayhem and Sepultura . Overall, the band plays Thrash Metal with predominantly rough vocals and influences of Arabic music in the melody. Firas Al-Talif plays a five-string bass. On the Toronto Star , Walid Mudhafar said of metal:

“It is about death and suffering and that is what Iraqis have now. The rage of the street comes out through our music. "

“It's about death and suffering, and that's what we Iraqis have right now. The anger of the street comes out in our music. "

- Walid Mudhafar in the Toronto Star

Half a year later, Faisal Talal said:

"There's a lot to be angry about these days, and we want to give people a way to get that out."

"There's a lot to be angry about right now, and we want to give people a way to let that out."

- Faisal Talal in The Wall Street Journal , Aug. 17

The name Acrassicauda, ​​originally A. Crassicauda, ​​comes from the scorpion species Androctonus crassicauda from the Buthidae family , which lives in the Iraqi desert and is considered very dangerous. The band said:

“Only a certain part of the Iraqi body is bad. The rest is good - just like the scorpion. "

“Only a certain part of Iraqis is bad. The rest is good - just like with the Scorpio. "

- Walid Mudhafar in the Toronto Star

Discography

  • 2004: The Black Scorpion Demos , Beginning of the End (3:12), Psycho (2:58), Underworld (4:37) (demo, 10:48 minutes)
  • 2006: The Damascus Demos , Message From Baghdad (3:32), Between the Ashes (5:07), Massacre (3:47) (Demo, 12:28 minutes)
  • 2007: Heavy Metal in Baghdad OST ( film soundtrack for Heavy Metal in Baghdad with seven tracks)
  • 2010: Only the Dead See the End of the War (EP with four tracks)
  • 2015: Gilgamesh (album with 12 tracks)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Iraqi Heavy Metal Band Unable To Land Gigs In Society Ripped Apart By War ( Memento December 5, 2005 in the Internet Archive ), August 17, 2004 (accessed October 30, 2007).
  2. ↑ Heavy Metal Breaking Bonds in the Middle East , kuci.org, accessed on March 5, 2012 (English)
  3. ↑ ACRASSICAUDA BLOG: Dear visitors dear fans and who ever may concern , accessed February 13, 2008.
  4. ^ A b Jan Jaedike: Acrassicauda . Beer instead of bombs. In: Rock Hard . No. 331 , December 2014, p. 50 .
  5. ^ One Band Moves Its Metal Out of Iraq , October 3, 2011.
  6. ↑ Acrassicauda's Official First Full Length Album. kickstarter.com, accessed December 20, 2014 .
  7. ↑ Frank DiGiacomo: Baghdad's Acrassicauda Releases Debut Album, 'Gilgamesh': 'There Are a Lot of Statements'. In: billboard.com . March 27, 2015, accessed May 2, 2016 .
  8. ↑ a b Blabbermouth: Report: Iraqi 'Death Metal' Band A. CRASSICAUDA Plays First Concert Since Fall Of SADDAM Regime ( Memento from August 28, 2005 in the Internet Archive ), January 25, 2004 (accessed October 30, 2007) .

Web links