Torture's Controversial Imagery (band discussion)

If you are a fan of slam metal, I don't doubt that you've heard of the band Torture. Around last summer they exploded in popularity. I myself enjoy their music and found the album Enduring Freedom very beautiful. However it is not the music itself that's the problem, it is their imagery.

They recently gained a lot of criticism for making a shirt for their tour, containing the "hooded man" image taken in Abu Gharib. 

If you don't know about Abu Gharib, you're either not old enough to be online, or you're uneducated. I don't want this post to get taken down, so do your own research. Prepare to be disgusted, hurt, and enraged. I'm right there with you. 

Some fans simply compared this to other slam or goregrind bands using imagery of gore or deformed people. I don't think this is really the same. Goregrind uses gore for shock value. The images in themselves usually don't hold any deeper meaning than being disturbing.

The image of the hooded man definitely has a deeper meaning beyond just shock value.

This is a real person who suffered endlessly. What happened at Abu Gharib reflects a wider, poisonous ideology that is very much alive today.

I find it extremely strange for the members of Torture to be PROFITING off of the suffering of this man--and the suffering of an entire people who are still being terrorized by the USA. 

It wasn't just this one instance, however. Since Torture has created music, they've been using disturbing images related to those brutalized during the war on terror. You can see this in their bandcamp. (If you're squeamish to real-life gore, don't go looking.)