Book
LONDON BIRTH OF A CULT (Steidl, $30) Dior Homme designer Hedi Slimane shot this ode to the underground music scene led by singer Pete Doherty, Kate Moss' narcotized beau. The B&W reportage-style prints — some beautifully observed — attempt to document the genesis of an icon: In one shot, a pic of Joy Division's Ian Curtis is even taped to a book of lyrics. A nice metaphor, but frankly, Curtis is the only cult figure here. (Out now)
Game
MARVEL NEMESIS: RISE OF THE IMPERFECTS (EA; GameCube/PS2/Xbox; T) Ditch that great-power-great-responsibility crap and wage your own war on evil here, as Marvel superheroes square off against a batch of new baddies. The action is pure button-mashing, but destructible environments let your favorite characters dispense justice with shock and awe. (Out now)
TOKYO TRIBES (TOKYOPOP, $9.99) Penned by Santa Inoue (yup, Santa), this Japanese manga — in which one murder triggers a ripple effect of gangland revenge — packs a feverish punch. Oozing with hip-hop flavor and videogame violence, the title is a smash back home, where Inoue has successfully turned his characters into toys. Granted, translations like the F-tha-police quip ''Pig, is you for real?'' make for giggles—and yet oddly enhance this riotous experience. (Issue 3 is out in October)
Art
HEADS (plasticgod.com, $75) Is it better to be immortalized in a painting, or immortalized in a painting...as a toy head? Well, duh. Music freak Doug Murphy delivers just that with his eye-popping series of 4'' x 4'' digital prints-on-canvas. Slyly titled to elude lawsuits, his made-to-order creations (there are over 290 to choose from) reference details as diverse as Tupac's badass bandanna and the Go-Go's' Beauty and the Beat album cover. Well, the dude is from the Valley.
Book
THE ROUGH GUIDE TO HEAVY METAL (Rough Guides, $24.99) For every odd inclusion (Foreigner), there's a head-scratching exclusion (Dokken). And not to nitpick, but can a Tesla album truly be called a ''gem''? That said, devil horns shall be raised to any encyclopedia that dares to bring it Slayer-hard and Motörhead-loud, while tutoring us in the differences between death, doom, and black metal. (Out now)
CDs
LOUD AND PROUD After a primer in metallurgy (see The Rough Guide to Heavy Metal), calibrate your ears with the newest contenders. Goblin C -- -, featuring Pinback's Rob Crow, sling a meaty offering of Black Sabbath sludge with their debut, Bagged and Boarded (out Oct. 25). Likewise observing the Sabbath: the Midwest-hailing Early Man, whose riff-ic first full-length, Closing In (out Oct. 11), also pledges unrepentant allegiance to Iron Maiden and Judas Priest — without a hint of irony.
Festival
VEGOOSE If you ignore the terrible name and the likely chance of spotting a white trustafarian, Vegoose might be a promising way to spend Halloween weekend. Jam and noodle fiends can get off on the Dave Matthews Band and the Meters, while indie types can dig on folks such as Sleater-Kinney and Arcade Fire. And how awful could Halloween in Vegas be? (10/28-31)
