Guest Heavy As Hell Report post Posted May 30, 2003 Just found a link to this article on Brave words board. Pretty interesting read. The reporter seemed to me to be a bit condescending towards Metal though Baghdad -- Snapping his long neck up and down as if it were on an elastic band, Waleed Moudhafar flails around with the microphone and lets loose a hoarse, ugly howl. "They wanna war for the rest of future "They said you don't need it much longer "They wanna war and you wanna peace "And you know you got -- got kill the beast." While other Baghdadis are expressing their discontent with the postwar chaos by protesting in the streets or looting anything that isn't nailed down, Moudhafar is doing the next worst thing -- playing music so harsh that the dark message of the lyrics seems mild by comparison. Moudhafar's band, A. Crassicauda, is Baghdad's sole heavy metal group -- or "death metal," the term he prefers. It couldn't be further from the Iraqi cultural mainstream, where conservative Islam is becoming more dominant. But the band's members are typical in at least one way -- they want a ticket out. To anywhere. For young men with dreams of greater headbanger glory, Iraq, even liberated from Saddam Hussein, is too small a pond. "Iraq, man, there's nothing here," Moudhafar says. "The scene is in other places. Life is in other places." Moudhafar and his band -- the name is the scientific term for black scorpion -- hope their gig this night will help them get out. They're playing on the roof of a local hotel for a TV show, "Bridge to Baghdad," whose New York freelance producers hope to sell it to major networks. Will the networks pick it up -- and, if so, will the music industry bosses in Los Angeles notice? Inexplicably, it seems that the moguls failed to take advantage of a previous version of the show in March, parts of which were used by "Good Morning America" and MTV. So the band has to continue its daily grind in Baghdad. Most of the five members are students -- Moudhafar, 19, is finishing high school, and the rest are in college. During the war, the U.S. missiles raining down on Baghdad put a crimp in their practice time. "We each just practiced our own parts in our homes, listening to the bombs fall," says Tony Aziz, the lead guitarist. They also had wartime personal crises to deal with. Moudhafar became the family patriarch while his father, an army officer, was off fighting the Americans. He moved the family to a safe house outside the city and spent long hours singing pop songs -- music that he hates -- with his three little brothers to drown out the sound of the explosions. All the band members speak Americanized, nearly fluent English, although none has been outside the Mideast. They picked up their English by "watching a lot of movies, listening to music lyrics -- you know, Metallica, Slayer, Staind," Moudhafar says. All their songs are in English. Heavy metal should be either in English or German, says rhythm guitarist Faisal Talal. "Arabic doesn't fit." Moudhafar interjects with sudden hauteur, "We don't want just anybody to listen to our music. It should be, like, an educated person." Under Saddam Hussein, the band was obliged to write a song praising the dictator. "We had to do it. We had no choice," Moudhafar recalls. At every concert they played "Youth of Iraq," which went in part: "Follow the leader "Saddam Hussein "He'll make them fall "Drive them insane" "Damn, I'm really mad we can't sing that song anymore," says Talal. "It was our best song. The chorus was too much, it was great." Now the band no longer has to worry about Hussein's thought police. "Iraq after the war is just what our music was always about, except more so, " says Talal. "It's metal." Oddly, perhaps, some of the members describe themselves as religious. "Islam means a lot to me. We put in a lot of lyrics about God, about Islam," says Moudhafar, incongruously stroking his Iron Maiden T-shirt, which portrays a grinning, fiendish skull. There isn't much obviously Islamic in the repertoire this night. The band plays its heart out, hoping a big-shot network like MTV might take notice again. The young men joke darkly that their tape will be picked up only by some podunk American station and their one song relegated to the final credits. Moudhafar just about blows it at the beginning when, instead of starting the song, he bellows into the mike: "I waited 19 years to say just one thing. F-- Saddam Hussein!" The show's co-producer, Brent Renaud, shakes his head silently, wincing. The band has one song, one chance to impress the moguls thousands of miles away. It's called "Massacre." It's a gut-wrenching shriek, the lyrics raw and powerful: "My boy is crying "My boy is starving "His mother's heart inside is burning "They stole my land "They stole my home "They stole my flesh "They stole my bone "It's a change of devolution "It's a change of devolution." The song lasts four minutes. Then it's over. The band members sidle off to the wings and start arguing among themselves. Whose fault was this? Whose fault was that? Is Moudhafar trying to be a prima donna? "Even during the regime, Waleed struck us as the kind of teenager Americans can relate to," says Renaud. "He has trouble communicating with his parents -- they hate heavy metal music and the black clothes he wears -- and the kids in school think he's a freak. And basically, he doesn't give a s-- about any of this. "I think like young people anywhere who are a little different than the kids around them, maybe a little too smart for their own good, Waleed has an uncertain future. I could as likely see him at 30 years old, alone, sitting in a dark room listening to old Def Leppard records, as I could see him running the country." In the meantime, the band is stuck in Baghdad, with its ovenlike temperatures, frequent blackouts, uncollected garbage and masses of newly unemployed. "I'll go to Mongolia, man, I don't care. Africa. What do you think?" asks Aziz with a grin. "I know they'll like Iraqi death metal there." How bad can it be over there if they've got raging death metal? Sure, there's only one band. But still. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest CoreyLazarus416 Report post Posted May 30, 2003 I'm actually very interested in hearing them. ...Century Media...they sign a bunch of awesome bands...SIGN THESE GUYS NOW! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Nevermortal Report post Posted May 30, 2003 Yeah, and bring back Old Skull while you're at it, dammit. What, no one likes Old Skull? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Heavy As Hell Report post Posted May 30, 2003 CoreyLazarus416 Posted on May 30 2003, 05:32 PM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'm actually very interested in hearing them. ...Century Media...they sign a bunch of awesome bands...SIGN THESE GUYS NOW! I think they would be a hit for a while, but once people got used to the idea and novelty of Iraqi DM, they would probably be exposed as a lousy band. I would be pretty cool to see them make a good name for themselves. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest CoreyLazarus416 Report post Posted May 31, 2003 They won't be exposed as a lousy band if they're good, though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Heavy As Hell Report post Posted May 31, 2003 True true. I hope that if they get picked up they do well. I would have no hesitation buying a cd of theirs. I'm not at all trying to imply that they would be shit and have no chance for sure. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Agent of Oblivion Report post Posted May 31, 2003 I bet they suck. Moudhafar, 19, is finishing high school They picked up their English by "watching a lot of movies, listening to music lyrics -- you know, Metallica, Slayer, Staind," Moudhafar says. one of these things is not like the other... The song lasts four minutes. Then it's over. The band members sidle off to the wings and start arguing among themselves. Whose fault was this? Whose fault was that? Is Moudhafar trying to be a prima donna? Drama! Oh dear! Waleed has an uncertain future. I could as likely see him at 30 years old, alone, sitting in a dark room listening to old Def Leppard records That's a likely bet. Say no to political propaganda metal. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest CoreyLazarus416 Report post Posted May 31, 2003 And say "yes" to mindless lyrics about entrails being spilled. METAL!!!!! Regardless of possible ulterior motives, I'm still interested in hearing them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Vitamin X Report post Posted June 1, 2003 They picked up their English by "watching a lot of movies, listening to music lyrics -- you know, Metallica, Slayer, Staind," Moudhafar says. one of these things is not like the other... I was thinking the exact same thing with those exact same words. Odd. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Agent of Oblivion Report post Posted June 1, 2003 Oh I'm not saying I don't want to hear them, I am just betting that they suck. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest NoCalMike Report post Posted June 2, 2003 I want to hear them. My friend has a japanese death metal band and it is similar, yet different than american death metal. I have avulsed, and someone told me they were from Mexico. Damn I want to hear this song. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Agent of Oblivion Report post Posted June 2, 2003 If memory serves, Avulsed is straight up NYC gore. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest CoreyLazarus416 Report post Posted June 2, 2003 Brujeria is death metal in Spanish. You have not LIVED until you've heard how good death growls sound in Spanish. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest NoCalMike Report post Posted June 3, 2003 Brujeria is death metal in Spanish. You have not LIVED until you've heard how good death growls sound in Spanish. I'm at work so I need to ask this for future reference. Can I find this artist on kazaa? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest CoreyLazarus416 Report post Posted June 3, 2003 Should be able to. I do believe it was a side-project of Dino Cazares and Raymond Herrera from Fear Factory. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Agent of Oblivion Report post Posted June 3, 2003 Brujeria is death metal in Spanish. You have not LIVED until you've heard how good death growls sound in Spanish. I actually had a conversation about growls in other languages with a friend of mine. We tried some cheesy growls with conversational phrases in french and german, as well as spanish and italian. German and Italian were probably the best, if I had to choose, we thought Russian would probably be good, as would something like Swahili, maybe. I'm pretty sure Neurosis does some stuff in Sanskrit, and Nile's all over the Egyptian shit. Japanese is pretty amusing, and I've heard a couple bands use Latin, but that's about it... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
