'Death' metal rocks Baghdad again

Sectarian violence in Iraq gives material for band group's lyrics, as an intolerant post-Saddam atmosphere puts them at risk.

The band Dog Faced Corpse has started to play live shows in the Iraqi capital.

BAGHDAD // In the chaos of Baghdad there is no better soundtrack than death metal. Its fast-tempo riffs, growling lyrics and blast-beat drumming perfectly encapsulate the mood of the capital. It is a city of horror. It is the city death metal was made for. The landscape is post-apocalyptic, the tales of savagery never-ending. The bombs, murders and sectarian violence that have wrecked this country provide endless material for lyrics, but for Dog Faced Corpse, Baghdad's only death metal band, surviving to tell the world the horrors of this country is the challenge.

"We are the first and only death metal band in Iraq. There is heavy metal, but we are death," said Lateef Ahmad, the 22-year-old drummer and founder of Dog Faced Corpse. A beheaded body left in a Baghdad street topped with a dog's head was the inspiration for the band's name. This was Baghdad at its most savage and it had a profound affect on Ahmad, who wears his hair tied back in a ponytail. "We don't give a s*** about religion or sectarian crap; we live for the music," he said.

For the past few years Iraq has been on the brink of a sectarian civil war and although in the past year the security situation has improved, for Baghdad's death metal fans there are still many dangers. "This society is f***** up," Ahmad said with a shrug. "Wearing a metal shirt is a problem, especially after the war." During Saddam's time, before the US led invasion of 2003, there were numerous heavy metal shops in the capital. The city's hard-core metallers could buy T-shirts and cassettes of their favourite bands.

After the invasion, as the country descended into chaos, the shops were closed by Shiite death squads and al Qa'eda insurgents. They roamed the country at will and saw the metallers' black jeans, long hair and goatees as signs of western corruption. To be different in post-Saddam Iraq is dangerous. After a recent gig Ahmad received an anonymous phone call. "I've had many threats ? after the gig I got a phone call, they said: 'We know you and we are coming for you.' I closed the phone, I've got used to it.

"Listening to metal, with long hair and a goatee, they think we are blasphemous," he said. Despite the threats and dangers of playing in a death metal band, the members of Dog Faced Corpse - who include a Kurd, a Christian and three Muslims - insist they will never give up. "Metal is a release; it is a release for anger and depression. We can't do anything [about the situation], but through metal we can talk to the people by music. We can say what is inside," said Mothana Mani, 21, the group's vocalist.

Ahmad agreed: "With this situation every Iraqi might turn to murder; with metal we can put this anger into music. Death metal is the only style of music that can explain what I feel and what is happening here." The lyrics to the group's debut song Consanguinity - Latin for "of the same blood" - is a rallying cry against sectarian violence. "In this endless circle of submission and grudge, a conspiracy of a brother against me. Have you connived to consanguinity we share? A sick appetite is taking over us," the song rages.

It is a song that is all the more powerful for what the band has gone through. Members have seen friends kidnapped and killed or leave the country after death threats. "One guy I knew, Omid, he used to be a metal head, long hair, too - some guy killed him in front of my eyes," said Mani. "It was a cold-blooded killing." "He was shot in the head," Ahmad added, between drags on a cigarette. Because Baghdad has no recording studios, the band has not yet been able to record a proper demo. They record in a bedroom with one microphone, but have started to play live shows.

At the first show, 250 people gathered, most in black T-shirts and jeans, but some women were wearing traditional headscarves. The mosh pit was alive and tables were broken, the ultimate release for Baghdad's besieged metal heads. "It was thrilling, so f****** awesome," said Ahmad. "We didn't expect that many people. It happened to be the most fulfilling of great days." Mani, who whipped the crowd into a frenzy, added: "It was shocking ? imagine 250 people screaming your name, just wanting to sing. It was awesome."