In Saddam's Shadow

Ten years after the US invasion of Iraq, VICE returns to Baghdad to see how the city is doing.

Their guide is Waleed Nesyif, the former lead singer of the Iraqi heavy metal band Acrassicauda.

He's returning home for the first time in eight years, and it's sure to be a tearful reunion with his family.

VICE founder Suroosh Alvi hangs with a Baghdadi biker gang who fondly remember the days of Saddam's rule, and we get a tour of a city that used to be covered nonstop in the American media, but now seems to be somewhat forgotten.

We witness an awe-inspiring outdoor group prayer and get a glimpse of metal band Acrassicauda's former practice space that was destroyed during the war.

VICE hang out with Iraqi metal band Dog Faced Corpse and investigate the struggles of emo kids and gays living in Baghdad. There have been reports of emo teenagers being beaten up and even murdered because of their hair and clothes, but how much is true and how much is media sensationalism?

We learn about the ADE 651, a small device the Iraqi military uses at checkpoints to detect bombs in cars. Problem is, these little wands were proven to be ineffective three years ago. So why are these cheap pieces of plastic still being used?