The summer festival season is winding down, but there's still one plane flight or road trip any serious fan of forward-thinking hard rock and heavy metal should strongly consider making, and that's to Psycho Las Vegas, taking place in Sin City between August 25-28.

The collection of bands and activities the festival organizers have put together for this weekend provides a staggering survey of the past, present and future of heavy music. We selected 10 of the most noteworthy, intriguing or boundary-pushing acts above, but there's dozens more bands worth noting, including co-headliners Electric Wizard, Drive Like Jehu, Death, Down, Pentagram, and the Crazy World of Arthur Brown.

There will also be DJ sets from Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian, Psycho Las Vegas curator Evan Hagen, Sean "Pellet" Pelletier (Last Days Here), J. Bennet (Ides Of Gemini) and a special appearance by comedian and noted metalhead Brian Posehn. The festival's "Black Light Lounge" will feature displays and appearances by noted rock album cover and poster artists such as Arik Roper, Skinner, David D'Andrea and Dirty Donnie Gillies.

The fun actually starts a night early, with a Thursday night pool party featuring Mudhoney, Mothership and Black Sabbath / McDonalds mash-up band Mac Sabbath, among others.

Don't worry, all the shows over the entire four-day weekend take place either indoors or at night, so you won't get burnt to a crisp under the hot desert sun. For complete lineup, ticket and hotel accommodation information, be sure to check out the Psycho Las Vegas website.

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