Late Heavy Metal in Baghdad Review

Everyone else has reviewed it, so I might as well. Heavy Metal in Baghdad, produced and directed by Eddy Moretti and Suroosh Alvi and presented by VBS.TV’s Vice Films, is an extremely vital document for everyone to see – not just metal fans. If you ever took your freedom of cultural expression for granted, you won’t after seeing this film.

H.M.I.B. features the Iraqi metal band Acrassicauda (Latin for ‘black scorpion’) in war-torn Baghdad from the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 to the present day. Playing metal in muslim countries has always been difficult, but with fall of Hussein, Acrassicauda had a brief moment in which freedom of expression seemed possible. Those hopes were dashed when Iraq collapsed into bloody insurgency and the streets around them devolved into chaos. The band fought to stay alive, eventually fleeing to Syria and then Istanbul, where they now struggle to maintain a meager existence.

For a person like me, who thinks nothing of walking into a church or shopping mall with a Slayer shirt on, this film was a true eye-opener. How often have I taken my own freedoms for granted? How often have I lost sight of the freedom of expression that I mindlessly exercise in my own culture, with no thought to the responsibility that entails? I can’t help asking myself these questions while I witness the sheer balls with which the members of Acrassicauda lead their lives. Everything has a price, and Acrassicauda is paying it.

One of the most powerful aspects of H.M.I.B. is its honest, street-level portrayal of life in present-day war-torn Iraq. The absence of sanitization and mainstream media vetting is truly energizing. Moretti and Alvi really dig down into the personalized aspects of war and do so without becoming ham-fisted or overly sentimental. Aditionally, the sheer D.I.Y. courage of H.M.I.B.’s entire production team cannot be lauded enough, which ads further testament to their achievement. Who else but true metal fans would literally con their way into a war-zone to tell such a story? If anybody is living the metal ethos, it’s Acrissicauda and the H.M.I.B team.

Acrassicauda's MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/wwwacrassicaudas5com

Film Website: www.heavymetalinbaghdad.com