According to Tom Pfeiffer Reuters Life!, hundreds of Moroccan heavy metal fans met on Saturday for their biggest festival in the north African country since a group of hard rock enthusiasts was jailed five years ago for "Satanism".

Braving the opprobrium of Islamists and heavy rain, young men in black jeans and jackets, goatee beards and dreadlocks trudged to a cavernous concert hall in Sidi Kacem, a market town in a farming region of northern Morocco.

As the first group HAMMERHEAD began tuning up, a small Fiat drew up outside the hall and two police officers stepped out.

"It's OK," said organiser Yassine Ould Abbou, 22. "They're just here to check the security arrangements."

A clang of grinding guitar feedback signalled the start of the concert and prompted startled glances from veiled women and men on mopeds passing by.

"Most people in this town have never seen an electric guitar," said Yassine. "We had 500 people at our last concert in 2005 and this time we're expecting about 1,000."

The concert began with only a few dozen spectators leaping and whistling in the hall, but organisers said attendance peaked at between 600 and 700.

"Going to war, give 'em hell, there's no escape, that's for sure," shrieked student Hamza, Hammerhead's 21-year-old singer.

Next up were XENOPHILIYA, students from Meknes who say they take their inspiration from US band MEGADETH.

The atmosphere became more anguished, the words almost incomprehensible behind jarring guitar riffs.

Outside, local boys and girls clustered near the door, transfixed by the cacophony within.

Many of the musicians agreed it was an uphill struggle being a hard rocker in a Muslim country, where the king wields paramount power.

"The big problem is finding somewhere to practise," said Xenophiliya's Khalid Lamnour. "People stop us playing sometimes. They think we are Satanists but they don't know our music."

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