JASON KAPCALA ONLINE
  • North to Lakeville
  • About
    • Appearances
    • Publications

Stacking Stones
​A Creative Craft Blog

From the mind of Jason Kapcala comes an eclectic journal dedicated to the study of creative writing, rock music, tailgating, and other miscellany. The musings, meditations, contemplations, and ruminations expressed here are my own unless otherwise indicated. Please feel free to share your comments, thoughts, and opinions, but do so respectfully and intelligently.
Return to Stacking Stones

Saturday Morning Soundtrack: "Garden of Stones" -- Acrassicauda

4/20/2013

5 Comments

 
Picture
Right now, in our rock and roll writing class my students are finding rock music that inspires them and creating flash nonfiction pieces we are calling "Liner Notes" where they try to capture their elusive, sometimes visceral reactions to the music, using lyrical language, a critical eye, and vivid imagery. This week's entry comes from Dan Joyce, a music blogger who runs the website Green Chamber Studio and a longtime friend.


About Dan:

Music has always been an important part of my life, so I've decided to write about it. There is so much to learn about every type of music out there. You can't judge a person at first glance, and you can't assess a band just by listening to one song. Just as our lives twist and turn, so does the music around us. One of my missions is to spread the word of metal because there's so much great stuff out there, and because I feel there's a lot of misconception. If you listen you can hear a lot different influences in metal music that you might not expect. Who knows, maybe you'll even find something you like. This is rock. This is life. What are you listening to?



"Garden of Stones" -- Acrassicauda (2010)

While many bands struggle to make it big in their hometown, trying to bring their music to as many people as they can, Acrassicauda has faced hardships few of us can imagine. As an Iraqi death metal band, formed in the latter years of Saddam Hussein’s regime, Acrassicauda sought to bring their music up in a hostile environment in which their sound was illegal. 

Stop and think about gravity of that for a moment. 

We take for granted the freedom of choice in our art and music. But even amid suffocating oppression, music finds a way. The subjects of the documentary, Heavy Metal in Baghdad, you see the band’s struggle as they and their fans literally risk their lives to play and experience the music they love. Seeking refugee status, they fled Iraq for Syria, Turkey, and finally the United States.

Only The Dead See The End Of War is a 4-track EP, easily available in the US. This tight, concise EP summarizes their sound and their struggle. Here, the album’s title is not a gimmick, but a stark representation of truth. With songs, “Message From Baghdad,” “Garden Of Stones,” “Massacre,” and “The Unknown,” Acrassicauda play an updated and dynamic version of old-school thrash (think Slayer and Metallica’s pre-Black Album years). With lead singer Faisal Talal’s haunting howl they demonstrate love for their craft and share their journey through the best medium they know. “Garden Of Stones” charges ahead with tight, muted guitar and precise drumming. Lyrically, the group explores the tragedies of their world. “I heard the angels cry / I crave what's mine / All that I have known / Now buried beneath / The garden of stones.” The lives and people they have known are buried (often literally) in the rubble of dictatorship and foreign intervention. The music is not dark or sad simply for effect, but like the EP’s title, the music represents the truth of their experience and that of their fans and fellow countrymen that have seen the end of the war. 

Acrassicauda has also been featured on NPR. The documentary, “Heavy Metal in Baghdad,” has been available on Netflix, but can also be found in its entirety on YouTube.

If you would like to write a Guest Entry for the "Saturday Morning Soundtrack" series where you creatively respond to one of your favorite rock songs, don't hesitate to contact me with queries.

Subscribe to Stacking Stones

5 Comments
Susan Sauter
4/24/2013 12:08:51 pm

I don't care much for this musical piece but I appreciate it and the struggle for freedom.

Reply
Kap link
4/25/2013 06:04:01 am

Thanks, Dan, for another great post/song! Their backstory really puts some things into perspective for us, I think.

Trying to figure out who the lead singer reminds me of (sound-wise). James Hetfield maybe?

Reply
Dan
4/27/2013 04:51:40 am

The lead singer reminds me of James Hetfield, too. The band cites Metallica as one of their major influences. Over the last decade I've noticed an increase in new bands bringing back some of the thrash-metal influences from the 80's and early 90's.

This kind of song reminds us that our struggles can can be expressed through many different vehicles, yet the message maintains a sense of universality - something we find in ourselves to relate to each other.

Reply
Kap
4/27/2013 05:05:33 am

Very well put.

That phenomenon holds true in writing, too. The most personal, individual, idiosyncratic, and specific pieces ironically tend to be the ones that speak most broadly to the human condition.

Dominique
4/27/2013 08:10:34 am

I totally heard the Metallica in there, too.

One of my students went on a Metallica rant a couple of months back, but he was a non-traditional student who was my age, so we were able to have a lively academic discussion, and the rest of the class, turned on Bruno Mars on the iPods or something, and looked down their noses at the "old fogeys." I am pretty sure that Dan is right, though. The nods to thrash metal have become more and more apparent.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Jason Kapcala

    Writerly meditations, craft notes, tailgating recipes, musical musings & more.

    RSS Feed

    Subscribe to Stacking Stones


    Categories

    All
    Artist Interviews
    Autobiography Vs. Memoir
    Avoiding Cliche
    Contests
    Course Announcements
    Cover Letters
    Essay Structure
    Ethics
    Featured Student Writing
    Fictive Devices In Creative Nonfiction
    Fictive Devices In Poetry
    Flow
    Foreshadowing
    Form
    Fraudulence
    Free Writing
    Guest Blogger
    History
    Humor
    In Memory
    Journal Reviews
    Kent Haruf
    Metaphor
    MFA Backlash
    Multi-Genre
    Must Read!
    Name That Blog Contest
    Narration
    Narrative Structure
    Nonfiction Vs. Creative Nonfiction
    Novel Writing
    Open Vs. Closed Narratives
    Other
    Planning
    Plot
    Poetic Turn
    Point Of View
    Publishing
    Reading Poetry
    Reflection
    Revision
    Rock & Roll
    Saturday Morning Soundtrack
    Setting Goals
    Sideshadowing
    Strange Bedfellows
    Sunday Afternoon Tailgate
    Teaching Writing
    The Challenger
    The Challenger
    Time In Writing
    Transcribing
    Triggers
    Truth Vs. Truth
    What Makes A Writer?
    Woodworking
    Workshopping
    Writing And Television

    Featured Links

    Amy Correia 

    Canyon Voices

    Cleaver Magazine

    Cubicle Struggles

    The East Bay Review

    Eccentric Chai

    Fletcher's Grove

    Four Way Review

    The Good Men Project

    Green Chamber Studio

    Justin Wants to Feed You

    Long Story, Short

    ​Main Street Rag
    ​
    Masque & Spectacle

    ​Outrider Press

    Prime Number

    Recommended Reading

    Renée K. Nicholson

    Saturday Morning Soundtrack 
    (@ Youtube)

    Saw Palm

    Sling Magazine

    Souvenir

    SummerBooks

    The Summerset Review

    TypeWell

    ​Urban Farmhouse Press
Write to live.
© 2020 Jason Kapcala. All Rights Reserved.
Photos used under Creative Commons from kirstyhall, Keith Allison, haxney, kirstyhall, xoque, Keith Allison, Wouter Verhelst, Joe Bielawa, Keith Allison, Sister72, marc.cappelletti, bionicteaching, bluesbby, Jon's pics, Wouter Verhelst, ViaggioRoutard, xoque, Beverly & Pack, cwwycoff1, K.M. Klemencic, DOCHKAS, Justin Block, Anuj Biyani, aprilandrandy, Ron Cogswell, 4nnakin, Tom Pumphret, tenpixels, billsoPHOTO, Navin75, kozumel, Berto Garcia, dgoomany, Gerry Dincher, AJ Guel Photography, Eric Kilby, Picturepest, Keith Allison, rattler97, Cabe6403, bionicteaching, KatVitulano Photos, garryknight, Keith Allison, MHS Touchdown Club, Zengame, supermattzor, trekkyandy, phill.lister, marcen27, twosheffs, daniel spils, kla4067, sydneyduhh, Marcus Q, slgckgc, J McSporran, jasonmurphyphotography, nflravens, Keith Allison, Keith Allison, bob stephan, CraigInDenver, dbecher, Moe_, amseaman, Js473, weeklydig, Keith Allison, Môsieur J. [version 9.1], dluders, DoD News Features, uyht, zzkt, billsoPHOTO, Keith Allison, Edvill, Edvill, SteelCityHobbies, Mobilus In Mobili, fantasyfootballswami, Bob Jagendorf, tedeytan, waferboard, Rev Stan, andymag, dluders, George Vnoucek, Keith Allison, aprilandrandy, Mike Morbeck, Piano Piano!, Jim Larrison, Erik Daniel Drost, CraigInDenver, VaMedia, Kool Cats Photography over 2 Million Views, Jo Naylor, vixyao, deege@fermentarium.com, kirstyhall, sara biljana (vacation), AllenCisneros, greenchartreuse, swanksalot, Daquella manera, takomabibelot, kla4067, kk+, tnarik, New Deal Lions Sports and then some, herrkloeppel, emdot, Nirazilla, MIKI Yoshihito (´・ω・), Patrick Feller, brian.gratwicke, ToGa Wanderings, fpharpua2002, dustpuppy, kirstyhall, kirstyhall, HelloImNik, sergis blog, sergis blog, kirstyhall, kirstyhall, MvanM, Erik Daniel Drost, kirstyhall, ArranET, David Guo's Master, M.Pastor, Michael Fleshman, Matthias Murphy, michaela.raquel, Quasic, Sh4rp_i, Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing - Northern VA, D Simmonds, Fadzly's eyes, Dano, jvc, Bright Adventures, kirstyhall, PhilipRobertson, jasonmurphyphotography, Alan Cleaver, 96dpi, left-hand, bixentro, kirstyhall, mrkumm, StockMonkeys.com, lucianvenutian, jacilluch, roland, Moe_, kirstyhall, JohnSeb, Bari D, laogooli, Joybot, projectnada, Phil Roeder, rick, Cappellmeister, akeg, h.koppdelaney, mikecogh, Alison's Eyes, weegeebored, suvodeb, jakuza, SnowViolent, KJGarbutt, striatic, kozumel, DeFries, katerha, Chandler Abraham, Brandon Grasley, the_gman, kevin dooley, dno1967b, JohnSeb, kirstyhall, Moe_, Javier Kohen, OakleyOriginals, craigemorsels, TschiAe, Jeff Kubina, jDevaun, modomatic, Linking Paths, Tulane Public Relations, PDA.PHOTO, Moe_, Tiger Girl, Will Folsom, alvarolg, kirstyhall, hectorir, Editor B, rust.bucket, bert23.com, DeeAshley, kirstyhall, Patrick Hoesly, bibendum84, kirstyhall, kirstyhall, madaise, breahn, Rusty Clark, Gamma-Ray Productions, Dougtone, Visual Artist Frank Bonilla, HowardLake, Francis Storr, goingslo, ewan traveler, KJGarbutt, CarbonNYC, flakeparadigm, C.Y.R.I.L., James Willamor, legalizefreedom, tnarik, h.koppdelaney, basheertome, Nicholas_T, BrownGuacamole, gnomonic, afroboof, Global X, Martin Cathrae, Lorenzo Sernicola, kirstyhall, hoyasmeg, Hollingsworth, jameskadamson, Jennie Faber, this lyre lark, The Nothing Corporation, kirstyhall, LTHWRK, MHS Touchdown Club, JSam76, Matthew Straubmuller, kirstyhall, John-Morgan, Canned Muffins, Dennis Vu Photography for Unleashed Media, rbrwr, kirstyhall
  • North to Lakeville
  • About
    • Appearances
    • Publications