LEST WE PERISH FROM THE TRUTH: A LOOK AT METAL ALBUM ART IN 2013

 Eye-Catchers  24 Responses »
Dec 042013
 

(In this post, guest writer This Is The News hands out some personal awards for the best metal album cover art of 2013. Please leave your thoughts — including your own favorite cover art of the year — in the Comments.)

It’s time again for year end lists, which boils down to two things for most of us:

  1. No surprises. Decibel, Revolver, and Metal Sucks will publish lists that we probably could have predicted back in June.
  2. We will want to argue with their choices anyway.

As much fun as that is, let’s take it a step further with a look at some of the best album cover art of 2013. Good artwork can be the incentive to hear an unknown artist, or a small consolation to a disappointing album. Even if you’re bummed out that the new Avantasia album isn’t actually about gnome wizards, at least you still have a fun bit of fantasy art to admire. So look, argue, give your own list of favorites. You know the drill. Continue reading »

SUFFOCATION: CLIMBING TO THE “PINNACLE OF BEDLAM”!

 Eye-Catchers, Metal News  23 Responses »
Nov 302012
 

Feast your eyes: The artwork for Suffocation’s next album, Pinnacle of Bedlam.

Created by: Raymond Swanland (who did similarly awesome deeds for the likes of Deeds of Flesh and Psycroptic)

Projected release date: Sometime in February 2013

Label: Nuclear Blast

Me:  Having some wood right now.

Is that too much information?

Here’s a nice Suffocation band photo: Continue reading »

EYE-CATCHERS

 Eye-Catchers  13 Responses »
Jan 012012
 

It’s the first day of the New Year, and a Sunday on top of that, and except for the poor motherfuckers who have to work on Jan 1, I’m guessing most people are having a lazy, drag-ass kind of day — or they’re still in bed with eyes closed and drool coming out their moufs. But not us. No sir, we actually have a crapload of posts scheduled for today, starting with groverXIII’s wake-up call with some Cut Your Teeth loudness and the latest round of Trollfiend’s deathmatch with Amorphis.

I’m following that raucous video and the Amorphis bowel-perforation with the eye-catching album cover up there. It’s for the next full-length release (the 8th) by California’s Deeds of Flesh, Portals To Canaan. It reminds me a lot of Par Olofsson’s work, but the artist in this case is Raymond Swanland. It’s the first time I’ve come across his name — he seems to do a lot of his work for games such as Magic the Gathering and World of Warcraft. After the jump, I’ve got more of his striking artwork, plus a “pre-production teaser” for the new Deeds of Flesh album. Continue reading »