Acrassicauda is an Iraqi Heavy metal band formed in 2001. It is often credited as being the first heavy metal group to emerge from Iraq. The original band consisted of three Arab members and one Assyrian (Tony Aziz Yaqoo). The band formed and played concerts under the regime of Saddam Hussein. It became well known outside of the local Iraqi metal scene after Vice magazine did a profile of the band. It received even greater coverage when it was profiled in a feature-length documentary about the band and its troubles in Iraq called Heavy Metal in Baghdad. The band's first album was released on March 9, 2010. Because of its increased fame after the Iraqi regime change, the band started to receive death threats from Islamic militants who thought that the band was worshiping Satan. Due to this and the increasing violence in Baghdad the members of the band fled first to Syria and then Turkey before being granted refugee status in the United States of America. Most of the band settled in New ...