Remember Acrassicauda, the Iraqi metal band I blogged about a while back? Turns out they’re no longer in Iraq, but in Syria, along with a good number of other Iraqi refugees. Unfortunately the band’s visas start expiring on October 10, and so far the Syrian government has been all too willing to deport refugees back to the war zone, which is a death sentence for many. Vice Films and VBS.TV, producers of a documentary about the band that premiered last month at the Toronto Film Festival, are trying to raise $20,000 to help Acrassicauda find a safer place.
“Due to increased security precautions throughout Iraq,” the press release says, “it became difficult to practice—much less get through a show—without literally risking their lives. As the situation worsened in Baghdad they began receiving death threats from insurgents and religious fundamentalists accusing them of Satanism. The war has now all but destroyed their dream of living in peace, growing their hair long, banging their heads and shredding as loud as they want.”
H/T Dana Myerson at Biz 3.