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CHIPS AND BEER  Issue 1  MAGAZINE   (20 Buck Spin)   5.00
Issue 1 IS CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE FOR ORDER

There is always room on my shelves for another high quality metal rag as long as it's got a ton of personality, and the first issue of Chips & Beer offers up plenty. Created by the guys behind the TheLeftHandPath.com website and Dave at 20 Buck Spin, this fanzine-style mag (full color cover, black and white newsprint on the inside) is a blast to read, with 96-some pages of stuff of interest. In order: there's a page of alcoholic drink recipes from Annick Giroux (Cauchemar); a lengthy conversation with underground gore/metal illusterator Putrid; an Eerie Von comic; an interview with black metallers Negative Plane; a look at the new book Glorious Times that offers a pictorial history of American death metal; more lengthy interviews with Bobby Liebling (Pentagram) and Mark Shelton (Manilla Road), followed by an in-depth Manilla Road discography; a conversation with artist Benjamin Vierling that includes several examples of his amazing, surreal imagery; talks with metallers Christian Mistress, nightmarish Swedish death metallers Vanhelgd; a piece from Stewart Voegtlin on AC/DC's Let There Be Rock; a well-written reviews section; a four-page Pink & White comic that includes cameos by King Diamond and Ghost, from newcomers R. Storey & M. Moseley Smith. It's a great read from start to end, enhanced by a simple but effective layout, lots of artwork, and just a general high level of quality across the whole issue. A look at the bands and artists covered will tell you if this is up your alley or no. It's earned a spot on shelf, for sure. Recommended.