Melbourne International Arts Festival

Melbourne premiere of ‘Heavy Metal in Baghdad’
w/ Black Cobra (USA) and Ruins

The Forum, Melbourne – 14th October 2009

***Click here to view more photos***

“We live in a heavy metal world” said one member of Iraq’s only heavy metal band Acrassicauda, of that there is no doubt. The scene is Baghdad in 2004, soon after the fall of dictator Saddam Hussein, and the story is that of 5 individuals attempting to live their life with creative freedom whilst surviving civil war and a full scale invasion by the American led coalition.

While the idea of the story was likely driven by macho bravery and improved journalistic credentials, the 84 minutes of ‘Heavy Metal in Baghdad‘ offers the audience a façade of the heavy metal story and the search for a bands identity, before deepening to discuss the underlying problems surrounding the war-torn country including religion, the Iraqi war, life under a dictatorship, and the mass exodus into neighbouring countries from Iraqi citizens.

The fine line between the film crew’s endeavours to help the Iraqi metal band, and the telling of ‘a good story’ are sometimes muddled, with the band themselves being forced to prompt the producers to take a larger step in helping the band out by facilitating and financing the bands debut release. But ultimately, it is a good story, and shines a positive light on both the heavy metal culture and its possible unification with that of a Muslim country.

Soon after the screening concluded, the majestic setting that is The Forum hosted the first band of the night – Ruins. Bringing their blackened death metal to the venue, the band played what could likely be the heaviest and most demonic music ever played in the iconic venues 80 year history.

Decked out in corpse paint, vocalist/guitarist Alex Pope’s powerful vocals and aggressive melodies delivered a concrete performance appreciated by the still strong attendance. Drummer Dave Haley put in an expectedly powerful and very impressive show, as fans of Ruins and Dave’s main band Psycroptic have come to expect. Live band members Joe Haley and Kai on Guitars and bass were also solid as the band powered through a half hour set of songs from their catalogue.

The highlight for me of their set was the opening track from their album ‘Cauldron’, where front man Pope introduced the band as “We are Ruins from Tasmania, Where Time is Left Behind”. Ironic in some aspects, however the island state is leading the way in Australian heavy metal with a disproportionate number of original and inspiring bands relative to the size of the metal scene.

Black Cobra was a band that I was unfamiliar with until organisers of the event announced their line-up. Hailing from San Francisco, USA, the guitar and drums two piece played a highly energetic array of their material. With somewhat of an underground following, it felt as if the crowd actually grew in size – as if 50 extra people crept from their hollows in the leather lounges at the back of the venue.

Heavily down tuned, the duo held a massive sound throughout their set, an atmosphere that far and away exceed my expectations on what a two piece could sound like. In fact the stage presence of a singing guitarist and a drummer also exceeding my expectations, with the band seemingly holding a drug meets Punk induced stupor, quite entertaining and the crowd appreciated it too, with the band being called back for a brief two song encore.

The venue and the aura gained through the Greco-roman interior suited both the screening of a heavy metal film, and the otherworldly compositions of the two performing artists. And the quality sound and lighting set up also treated the audience to a visual delight, the benefit of a great venue and a well managed event.

Review by Brendan Amos
Photos by Scott Boelsen

Thanks to Samantha @ MIAF for the passes.