Acrassicauda

Genre: Metal

Take the number of metal bands who sing about war, death and destruction.

Subtract it from the number of metal bands with personal experience of such matters.

If you arrive at the number minus 345 billion then you've done the math correctly.

If you want real talk about war then you should meet the members of Acrassicauda.

After surviving the bombing and occupation of Baghdad, getting their practice space blown to bits and receiving threats from the death squads that roamed the streets, Acrassicauda were forced to live like refugees -- running from Baghdad to Syria to Turkey. Several months, people and filled-out forms later, the band finally arrived in New York, where they recorded their debut EP "Only the Dead See the End of the War."

Acrassicauda met the band Testament backstage at a concert in Turkey and when they arrived in the United States they found a mentor in Alex Skolnick, lead guitarist, who helped them practice and get ready to record their first EP.

Inspired by the carnage of the last seven years of their lives, the tracks that are "Only the Dead See the End of the War" were produced by Alex Skolnick, engineered by Josh Wilbur (Lamb of God, Hatebreed, System of a Down) and co-produced by Nik Chinboukas at Spin Studios in Long Island City.

Drawing from their love of Black Album-era Metallica, Slayer, and Sepultura, Acrassicauda have made a record that doesn't sound like any other metal band out there. These are the bands that gave them the inspiration to continue on until they were abl to make their music freely, but Acrassicauda has made an EP of songs that are all their own.

Like a wounded lion roaring in pain every note and every riff of these songs is born from agony and strife that can only stem from the experiences that they themselves lived. But just as they've lived their lives in the last seven years, Acrassicauda transcends mere negativity to make a beautiful, angrily hopeful record that's as real as it comes.