Beau Velasco and Ian Vanek of Deathset and Japanther made this effort at art in 2006. After Beau's death in 2009 the piece was finalized by Vanek with the help of Chad Von Nau and released to the public as a way of remembering a dear friend.

Heavy Metal in Baghdad: The Story of Acrassicauda

By Andy Capper and Gabi Sifre

Gabi just spent a lot of time with Acrassicauda, eating donuts with them, getting hit on by them, and hearing tales of their struggles in and out of Iraq. And then she wrote a book about it! The book is a followup to the documentary movie about the band and picks up where that left off.

And Ed Zipco got to light a guitar on fire for the cover photograph!

Sure, Sleeveface is pretty funny, but look at this work by Christian Marclay, the artist who has been sometimes credited as invented DJing as we know it in the 70s.

Now Again Records never fails to disappoint, with its rare finds and strange treasures. Their packaging always makes me remember why buying CDs is still worth it sometimes, and I'm ever pleasantly surprised by the songs they pick for their compilations.

I recently got a copy of Forge Your Own Chains: Heavy Psychedelic Ballads and Dirges and boy, oh boy. Every single song on this is impeccable. And the liner notes are perfectly nerdy and filled with superb pictures. There's songs from Persia and Nigeria, Sweden and Colombia. It's the type of record that makes you want to go out and hunt for every song you can find by artists featured on it. Fuzzy guitars everywhere. We're telling you on good authority you want it.