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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (June 26, 2015)
4C THE DA ILY ASTOR IAN • FR IDAY , JUNE 26 , 2015 PART ING SHOT A w e e k l y s n a p s h o t f r om T h e D a i l y A s t o r i a n a n d C h i n o o k O b s e r v e r p h o t o g r a p h e r s The M i lky Way peeks th rough the c louds and t rees above Svensen June 17 . EDWARD STRATTON — The Da i ly As to r ian ODD ITY A h e a v y m e t a l e s c a p e f r om m a y h em I r aq b and go e s f rom w a r - to rn B aghd ad to an Am e r i c an s tud io Fa r away f rom the i r fam - i l ie s bu t l iv ing in peace , the g roup cou ld now focu s on w r i t ing mu s ic and bu i ld ing a dome s t ic fan ba se th rough l ive pe r fo rmance s . T oy ing w i th A rab i c b ea t s By V IV IAN SALAMA A s so c ia t ed P r e s s NEW YORK — The name o f the a lbum i s “G i l - game sh ,” the anc ien t Me s - opo tam ian k ing w i th supe r - human s t reng th and cou rage who unde r take s a pe r i lou s que s t to d i scove r the sec re t o f e te rna l l i fe . The ep ic ta le embod ie s the comp lex i t ie s o f l i fe and f ind ing one ’ s se l f tha t the fou r -man heavy me ta l band Ac ra s s icauda be l ieve i s symbo l ic o f the i r own jou r - ney f rom wa r - to rn Baghdad to an Ame r ican reco rd ing s tud io . W i th roo t s in Saddam Hu s se in ’ s I raq , the band membe r s d i scove red the i r love fo r heavy me ta l th rough S laye r and Me ta l l ica ca s - se t te s they dug up in the b lack ma rke t s o f the then -heav i ly sanc t ioned coun t ry . F i f teen yea r s la te r and ha l f a wo r ld away , they ’ve re lea sed the i r f i r s t fu l l - leng th a lbum w i th song s they fee l a re t rue to the i r pa s t bu t w i l l speak to anyone , rega rd le s s o f the i r pa th in l i fe . “Th i s a lbum i s l ike a d ream com ing t rue ,” sa id Ma rwan Hu s se in , 30 , the band ’ s d rumme r and one o f i t s found ing membe r s . “And i t ’ s a l so been funded by the fan s . I t ’ s such a huge th ing fo r u s to have such suppo r t , AP Pho to /Bebe to Ma t thews Membe rs o f the I raq i heavy me ta l band “Ac rass icauda , ” lead voca l is t Fa isa l Mus ta fa , le f t , d rumme r Ma rwan Husse in , cen te r , and gu i ta r is t Muhammad A l Ansa r i , rehea rse in New Yo rk . The band fo rmed in Ju ly 2000 in Baghdad . g loba l suppo r t .” The re ’ s neve r been a b ig heavy me ta l scene in the I raq i cap i ta l , pa r t icu la r ly p re -2003 when Hu s se in and fe l low band membe r s Fa i s - a l T a la l and F i ra s a l -La tee f we re g row ing up , when ac - ce s s to any th ing bu t reg ion - a l mu s ic wa s s l im . The U .S . inva s ion k icked o f f in 2003 , bu t Ac ra s s icauda con t inued to rehea r se and pe r fo rm fo r the i r t iny fan ba se , de sp i te the upheava l tea r ing I raq apa r t . “W a r ha s a lway s been a damage po in t ,” sa id T a la l , 31 , the band ’ s lead s inge r . “A s a mu s ic ian f i r s t o f a l l you t ry to su rv ive , make su re a l l you r loved one s a re se - cu re , and then o f cou r se , you ge t in sp i red . Y ou ge t a lo t o f idea change s in you r head .” In t en s e wa r , s e c ta r ian s t r i f e Saddam wa s gone , bu t w i th the U .S . inva s ion came a pe r iod o f in ten se wa r and sec ta r ian s t r i fe . M i l l ion s f led the coun t ry and many mo re we re d i sp laced . Baghdad , once a cen te r fo r cu l tu re , a r t and mu s ic , had become the scene o f b lood shed . Heavy me ta l , a s i t tu rned ou t , wa s a g rea t e scape . “The rea son we wan ted to p lay in a me ta l band i s be - cau se we we re k ind o f fed up ,” sa id Hu s se in . “ In s tead o f go ing to the rapy , o r g roup the rapy , o r hav ing po s t - t rau - ma t ic s t re s s . . . we ju s t come he re and we s ing abou t i t , ta lk abou t i t and p lay . W e come ou t o f th i s doo r fee l ing be t te r , fee l ing re f re shed .” A s fa te wou ld have i t , the i r mu s ic wou ld a l so be the i r t icke t to Ame r ica . The g roup wa s fea tu red in the 2007 V ice documen ta ry “Heavy Me ta l in Baghdad ,” wh ich de ta i led the band ’ s s t rugg le to s tay t rue to the i r a r t in an I raq tha t wa s in - c rea s ing ly ho s t i le to fo re ign mu s ic . S tud io s we re be ing de s t royed by m i l i tan t and m i l i t ia g roup s , and the cap - i ta l wa s in mayhem . The in te rna t iona l recog - n i t ion wa s g rea t fo r the i r ca ree r s , bu t a th rea t to the i r l ive s . The g roup f led to Sy r - ia , and w i th the he lp o f the documen ta ry make r s , even - tua l ly ea rned the i r way to the U .S . Bu t yea r s wou ld go by be fo re the g roup wa s ab le to f ina l ly ge t in to a reco rd ing s tud io hav ing to wo rk mu l - d t ip le job s to ea rn money an suppo r t the i r new l ive s . Then d la s t yea r , a f r iend sugge s te r they launch a K ick s ta r te c rowd - fund ing to ra i se the money fo r s tud io t ime . Fo r ty day s and $37 ,000 la te r , they we re in the s tud io . “W e have song s we w ro te l ike f ive yea r s ago , bu t we d idn ’ t have the budge t ,” sa id Hu s se in . “ I t ’ s such a huge th ing fo r u s to have such suppo r t , g loba l suppo r t .” “ I t ’ s awe some ,” sa id Moza r t a l -Hamawand i , 23 , an I raq -bo rn gu i ta r i s t who jo ined the g roup a f te r they moved to the U .S . “W e have some endo r semen t s happen - ing . . . and we ’ re wa i t ing to ge t some tou r s , have some b ig band s ca l l u s , maybe we ’ l l tou r w i th them .” Now the men in Ac ra s s i - cauda , the name o f a b lack sco rp ion found in the I raq i de se r t , a re tu rn ing back to A rab ic mu s ic fo r in sp i ra t ion . The g roup say s i t ’ s toy ing w i th some A rab ic bea t s to b lend in to the i r heavy me ta l mu s ic to c rea te a one -o f -a - k ind sound . “ I t ’ s fun to be I raq i ,” joked T a la l . “W e love the coun t ry . I t ’ s a lway s a pa r t of who we a re .” On l ine : h t tp : / /ac ra s s icau - da .com / Wh i l e o t he r n e w s p a p e r s g i v e yo u l e s s , The D a i l y As t o r i a n G IVE S YO U MORE O u r new a t e for y o u C APITAL B UREAU covers th e st F r om l e f t : Pet er Wo ng, Hi l l ar y Bor r u d , Mat e us z Per k ow s k i
