Veteran music writer Ramon ‘Oscuro’ Martos has joined forces with Dark Canvas and Handshake Inc. to release ...And Justice For Art: Stories About Heavy Metal Album Covers.

This limited edition volume of one-of-a-kind stories recounts all the bloody and artistic details behind the making of such iconic metal covers as Slayer’s Reign In Blood, Morbid Angel’s Blessed Are The Sick, Metallica’s …And Justice For All, Death’s Symbolic, Carcass’ Heartwork, Testament’s Dark Roots Of Earth, Opeth’s Heritage and many others unearthed from the canon of mainstream and underground metal.  

Thanks to a mind-blowingly successful indiegogo campaign (236% of the goal was raised) …And Justice For Art was produced to the author and designer’s ideal specifications, and the limited amount of gorgeous copies not being delivered to contributors will be distributed through Handshake Inc., and Dark Canvas.

 

 

“Because of the success of the campaign, I was able to print 300 more copies than originally planned. That’s great because it will allow me to spread the information contained in this volume even further to more people,“ Martos says, “My objective is to share all these stories with as many people as possible. So, having some extra copies available and the help of Handshake and Dark Canvas will surely allow me doing this.”

The role of Dark Canvas and Handshake will be pivotal. “I chose to partner with both companies because we all share the same mentality,” Martos says. “We all understand that this book is not a business enterprise but a service to the Metal community, and, the additional raised funds will be dedicated to produce “And Justice For Art – Volume 2, which is half-written at the moment. Metal’s visual legacy is as important as the music itself and there’s not enough information about it out there.  We’re trying—with this book and future books—to change that and to help to keep alive that legacy for generations to come.”  

 

 

Both Handshake Inc. and Dark Canvas will be distributing …And Justice For Art through online mail-order, and Handshake will be presenting the book in person at the upcoming 2015 edition of Maryland Death Fest.

…And Justice For Art features more than 400 color graphics and about 100 exclusive interviews with heavy music's icons like Jeff Walker (Carcass), Charlie Benante (Anthrax), Max Cavalera (Soulfly, Sepultura),  Fenriz (Darkthrone), Sebastian Bach (Skid Row), Paul Masvidal (Cynic), Chris Adler (Lamb Of God), Travis Ryan (Cattle Decapitation), David Vincent (Morbid Angel, who also wrote the book’s foreword) among many others. In addition, it features plenty of revealing commentaries by critically acclaimed illustrators such as Michael Whelan, Eliran Kantor, Dan Seagrave, Joe Petagno, Arik Roper and Travis Smith, just to name a few.

Check out a video preview of the book below. For more information about how to obtain a copy, visit the book’s Facebook page.