By Mark LeVine

It's not often that heavy metal bands from the Middle East make it to the States, but in July the Sunset Strip witnessed what was surely the first meeting of three powerhouses of Middle Eastern metal on its hallowed ground—Egypt, Iraq and Iran.

Musician-scholar Mark LeVineFor well over a millennium they have been rival centers of Islamic culture, and more recently have been political rivals. Much more recently they have been home to three of the most intense metal scenes not merely in the Middle East, but in the world.

Nothing makes for a good metal scene like war and oppression, and Iran and Iraq have had about as much of both as any country could take. Egypt has been safe from war the last three and a half decades, but the mercifully ended rein of Hosni Mubarak was among the region's most effectively repressive for most of that period.

Event Details

Date/Time: 

Jul 7 2011 9:00pm - Jul 8 2011 12:30am

Price: 

$10 advance purchase
Click here for Brown Paper tickets

Where: 

Whisky A Go-Go
8901 West Sunset Boulevard
West Hollywood CA 90069

On Thursday July 7, Angelenos will have the rare opportunity to catch some of that heavy metal Baghdad you've already heard so much about, when Iraq's Acrassicuada or "Black Scorpions" play live at the venerable Whisky A Go-Go. Opening for them is the female-fronted Egyptian metal band, Massive Scar Era.

Heavy Metal in Baghdad: your purchase benefits LCC programmingLike the recent book Heavy Metal Islam, also out in 2008, this documentary opens up a whole new perspective on Iraq and the Middle East. Writing for Filmcritic.com, Chris Barsanti comments: "If there was any doubt that music feeds the soul, it has been put to rest by Eddy Moretti and Suroosh Alvi's frustrating but nearly impossible to forget 'Heavy Metal in Baghdad'. If popular perceptions are to be believed, then every Iraqi citizen would be a worshipful Muslim who hates all pop culture (particularly anything emanating from America) with a fervent zeal. Not so the Metallica-loving lads of Acrassicauda, the heavy-metal quartet from Baghdad portrayed with true concern and understanding in a documentary that succeeds (almost in spite of its filmmakers) in illustrating the necessity of art in even the worst situations.