Jason Hamacher has played in hardcore and straightedge bands in D.C. for years.
When searching for a new sound for his band, he came across Syrian chants--recording hymns that hadn't previously been heard by Westerners, some that hadn't ever been recorded before.
Hamacher quickly realized that instead of using the music "for selfish reasons" to write heavy metal music to go over the chants, he should preserve the music that was quickly being lost.
Hamacher and his project have been written about
before but color us tickled that his story has made it as far as PRI's program
The World as well as
Cincinnati's NPR station.
Read his story and watch a short film on the project
here.