Xanthippa's Chamberpot

Meet JANAZA and their ‘Burn the Pages of Quran!’

Touted as the first Iraqi woman-fronted black metal band – politics aside, it’s actually good music.

Anahita, who fronts the band, was recently asked via a Facebook interview:

What would happen to her and her compatriots if religious authorities discovered their actions?

“A simple answer. They would kill me, and kill all of my friends, by cutting off our heads.”

From the same article:

She’s not alone in her fight. Seeds of Iblis (“Iblis” is an Arabic word for the Devil) features five men and one other woman besides Anahita herself (Epona, who has also spent time in the now-defunct black metal band False Allah) who handles the vocals and lyrics, and released their first EP, Jihad Against Islam, in 2011 via French label Legion of Death. This band is even more unrelenting, crafting songs like “Sex With Muhammad’s Corpse” and “Inverted Hilal.” One of the band’s guitarists, Yousef, pulls double duty in Tadnees, another virulently anti-Muslim outfit who, together with the aforementioned projects, style themselves as part of an “Anti-Islamic League.”

Music is an effective way of spreading ideas, and ideas are the best weapon against all forms of dogma.

Plus, it’s good to see that at least some places, culture is still playing the important role of holding a mirror up to society!

H/T – BCF