This weekend marks your last chance to see Birmingham's Home Of Metal exhibition, which has been running all summer at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery. It will close its doors for the last time on Sunday 25th September.

The entire Home Of Metal project is something we wholeheartedly approve of - a means of highlighting the importance of Birmingham and the surrounding country to the history of metal. It's essentially where the genre's roots began to take hold, through bands from the area like Black Sabbath, Led Zep, Napalm Death and Godflesh, who have themselves been massively influential on generations of heavy musicians since.

It's been running all summer, and included a whole programme of playful and not-so-playful events (in keeping with metal's unique ability to be both deadly serious and humorous-as-hell at the same time). They've included exhibitions in many of Birmingham's main galleries to show off memorabilia and art inspired by metal, as well as some other, rather more unique things - a heavy metal conference, metal silent disco, and a club night exploring the regions where metal meets medieval folk. The exhibition that closes this weekend - Home Of Metal: 40 years of heavy metal and its unique birthplace is wide in its scope, promising a journey through the history of metal in the eyes of bands and fans alike.

Take a look at the pictures below for a selection of highlights - a taste of what to expect if you do make it down for one of the exhibition's last days (and you never know, if you look hard enough, you might even spot Quietus ed John Doran hiding among the exhibits).