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:	post by Dissector at 2004-09-27 14:57:20

Here's the rest of the article
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The music was a difficult and dangerous obsession during Saddam Hussein’s regime. Many record stores refused to stock heavy metal because it was associated so closely with the U.S. Those that did stored the CDs in back rooms or under the counter and sold them only to trusted customers. Albums whose covers depicted religious, satanic or sexual imagery – all mainstays of heavy-metal art – were banned…

On the advice of their music teacher and mentor, Saad Zai, the musicians wrote a tribute to Mr. Hussein called “Youth of Iraq.” (Sample lyrics: “By following the leader Saddam Hussein/we will make them fall, we will drive them insane…") The lyrics to “Doll,” a song ostensibly about a failed love affair, say it’s “time to change the actor…it’s time to say stop,” which fans knew to recognize as a subtle attack on Mr. Hussein…

After the U.S.-led invasion, the band looked forward to a future free of censorship and other restrictions on its music, but the unrelenting tumult is taking a heavy toll. While band members say they haven’t gotten any flak over their music from the government or religious leaders, some say their parents don’t approve because of the threat of violence.

Mr. Talal says Acrassicauda had an easier time performing under Mr. Hussein, because it had been approved by the government and had its choice of venues. Today, the Orfali gallery has been turned into a government building frequently guarded by U.S. troops, and the Rabat hall is in an area of the city beset by street crime and political violence. None of the city’s other clubs or halls are willing to book the band because of fears that a concert of American music would be targeted by terrorists.

Worse, the band’s former lead singer, Walid Rabiaa, has gotten death threats as result of his day job as a translator for the British Broadcasting Corp. He is planning to move to Canada. Mr. Talal says he was so shaken by the sight of a severed head at the scene of a suicide bombing that he couldn’t practice or compose new music for weeks.

Some former fans, meanwhile, say they no longer want to listen to songs about anger and sadness while they live in a country that has seen too much of both in recent months. “Heavy-metal music doesn’t belong in Iraq anymore,” says Ziad Ali, a mechanical engineer who walked out of the Iraqi Hunting Club concert before the plug was pulled. “It’s a luxury we can’t afford right now.”

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