In many ways “Heavy Metal in Baghdad,” which hits theaters in New York and Los Angeles this month, is a tale of Iraqi youth. Acrassicauda’s young members—Tony, Marwan, Faisal and Firas—are educated and Westernized, and though they’re intensely loyal to Iraq, they yearn for a place where a Slip Knot T shirt won’t get you killed. Playing heavy metal in a Muslim country has never been encouraged, but there was a brief time— between Saddam’s fall and the chaos that ensued—when, like many Iraqis, they hoped real change would come. Their music, though, only underscores how the song remains the same: the grinding percussion and wrenching lyrics of tunes like “Massacre” conjure the whizzing missiles, mortar blasts and shotgun fire of daily life. “Sometimes, if I don’t play drums as hard as I can, as fast as I can, [I feel like] I’m going to kill someone,” says Marwan. Whether you love or hate metal, Acrassicauda’s struggle to stay together—and alive—will rock you.
