Peregrine Andrews Named after the Latin word for black scorpion, commonly found in Iraq, Acrassicauda are Iraq's highest profile heavy metal band. They describe themselves not as children of rock and roll, but as children of war. They formed in Baghdad during Saddam's reign, back in 2000 and, amazingly, they managed to perform in front of wildly enthusiastic audiences during the violence and chaos that followed his fall.

But like many Iraqis, they were forced by terror and threats to flee their homes. The four band members initially hoped to settle in Syria, but are now living as refugees in Turkey and struggling to continue performing their music. That's where we caught up with them in rehearsal and planning future tour dates. Like so many bands, for the good times to roll, they await that elusive record deal, but more essentially they also hope for an asylum claim to come good, so that they can be granted entry to the United States, a haven of heavy metal.