This post made me look them up to see whats going on and found this on the Wikipedia page:
During the filming it was revealed that the Syrian government did not intend to extend the visas of the band to stay in Syria, as a result, the filmmakers campaigned to raise funds to relocate the band in a safer country, rather than return to Iraq. In 2009, the band were resettled in the United States as refugees.
Sweet!
News article on it here
And on Sunday night, two days after the last of the band’s four members was resettled in the United States, they enjoyed what any metal fan would have to call heaven: bearhugs and “Wow, dude” heart-to-hearts backstage with Metallica at the Prudential Center in Newark. It probably wasn’t necessary for James Hetfield, Metallica’s lead singer, to surprise them after the show by handing over one of his guitars, a black ESP, and signing it “Welcome to America”; their minds were already blown.
Amazing!
The members of Acrassicauda arrived back at their apartment in Elizabeth well past midnight with armfuls of Burger King food for their dinner, but Mr. Talal went straight for the new guitar he had just received from Mr. Hetfield and plugged it into a tiny Peavey amplifier on the floor. With the volume low, he started playing Metallica riffs, and looked up.
“Wow,” he beamed, and then went back to the guitar.
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