Acrassicauda

Hailing from Baghdad, this Heavy metal band were the first (and currently only) Iraqi metal band to prosper. "A lot of heavy metal bands talk and sing about war and death and destruction, but they haven't experienced it; We have." said bass player Firas al-Lateef. After the invasion of The middle east by the US and the end of Saddam Husein's reign, bomb shots and cross fire filled the air on a daily basis. "We didn't expect to survive," Talal, the guitarist and lead vocalist for the band said. "During war, it's stay home, lock your door and stay indoors as much as you can. Missiles and bullets were coming down from the sky." "We spent nights when we didn't know if we would wake up the next morning," drummer Marwan Riyadh adds on.The band received several threats of death if they did not stop playing. "It said, `You better quit this. It doesn't fit with the Iraqi traditions or religion. Stop it or you will die,'" al-Lateef recalled. "We were afraid, but we figured we could die soon anyway, so the hell with it." Then, in 2005, their rehearsal space, along with amps, guitar, and bass fell victim to rocket fire, getting destroyed in the process. Aziz and Riyadh, soon followed by the others made their way to Syria. A year latter, they moved to turkey after their visas expired. Two years later, the band finally got their dream and made it to America, where they are today. "We're still in the process of figuring it all out," said drummer Marwan Riyadh, 24. "But we feel real optimistic about things. We're trying to fit in with a new culture and a new society and absorbing what's all around us. Our heads are spinning."

Largely taken from:
Parry, Wayne. "After Saddam and bombs, Iraqi band rockin' in USA." MSNBC 8 March 2009. AP

Anyways, that's a little teaser of this bands history. There is a excellent documentary (if you don't mind bad language)called "heavy metal in Baghdad." go check it out
here