The Gallery: The Cover Art Discussion Thread
Having grown up in the vinyl age when cover art was so important, particularly for catching people's attention when browsing in record stores, one of the coolest things about Metal Academy, which doesn't seem to be empahasised enough, is the ability to rate cover art. As such, I thought I would start a thread where cover art could be discussed.
I have begun a series of lists featuring the cover artwork of several artists whose work I admire. If anyone has any suggestions for an artist to feature, then let me know and I'll get onto it.
The first of these lists features my favourite artist, who wasn't specifically a cover artist, but whose work came to prominence after one of his paintings (Essence of Freedom) was used as the cover for Bell Witch's Mirror Reaper - Polish artist Mariusz Lewandowski. His work is very evocative and the subject matter is especially suited to fitting in with a metal aesthetic. Sadly Mariusz passed away in the summer of 2022, so we won't see any new paintings, but his work is still being used as cover art even after his passing.
https://metal.academy/lists/single/246
Below is a link to the official site if you want to check out more of Mariusz's work:
The second of these lists is dedicated to Swedish artist Ola Larsson. Although he isn't a prolific cover illustrator, I think the list provides a great view of how a developing artist evolves over time, with his earlier covers being quite crude compared to his gorgeous later, sci-fi and Lovecraft inspired material.
https://metal.academy/lists/single/247
I would recommend checking out some more of Ola's work on blogspot:
Cool lists, Sonny! Do you have any favorite cover arts by the talented Travis Smith? Check out a lot of his work in his official website: https://www.seempieces.com/
I'm happy to see this thread. Anyone that knows me will understand how much importance I place on cover art. I'm a lover of art in general, but particularly dark art.
I actually managed a list of Dan Seagrave covers on RYM for quite some time. I really should replicate that over here at some point.
I've been thinking about creating a list of all Kris Verwimp covers. There are a LOT of them, and it's pretty easy to tell who was behind them, so I'll try to get onto that soon. If you want to know what his work is like, just check out Cermonial Casting's covers from 2004's Immortal Black Art album.
I'm happy to see this thread. Anyone that knows me will understand how much importance I place on cover art. I'm a lover of art in general, but particularly dark art.
I actually managed a list of Dan Seagrave covers on RYM for quite some time. I really should replicate that over here at some point.
I've been thinking about creating a list of all Kris Verwimp covers. There are a LOT of them, and it's pretty easy to tell who was behind them, so I'll try to get onto that soon. If you want to know what his work is like, just check out Cermonial Casting's covers from 2004's Immortal Black Art album.
I just watched a documentary I think you'd like: World of Darkness, about the culture and art behind the RPG Vampire: the Masquerade.
Cool lists, Sonny! Do you have any favorite cover arts by the talented Travis Smith? Check out a lot of his work in his official website: https://www.seempieces.com/
You are right, Andi, he is extremely talented. I am currently working on a list for Swedish artist Pär Olofsson, but I will start one for Travis straight after. I haven't really considered his body of work as a whole before, so can't give a favourite, but I really like that Living Sacriifice "Ghost Thief" cover.
I'm happy to see this thread. Anyone that knows me will understand how much importance I place on cover art. I'm a lover of art in general, but particularly dark art.
I actually managed a list of Dan Seagrave covers on RYM for quite some time. I really should replicate that over here at some point.
I've been thinking about creating a list of all Kris Verwimp covers. There are a LOT of them, and it's pretty easy to tell who was behind them, so I'll try to get onto that soon. If you want to know what his work is like, just check out Cermonial Casting's covers from 2004's Immortal Black Art album.
I thought a project like this might interest you, Ben. I seem to remember us having a conversation about cover art once or twice back in the RYM days. I too love art, in fact, as much as I would love to be able to play a guitar, if I had one wish that could gain me a talent, it would be to be able to paint like some of these guys.
Didn't Kris Verwimp do Uada's "Djinn" cover? I like that one very much, so I will have to check more of his work out.
I spend an inordinate amount of time rating covers on here. My mother is an artist and (as with everything else in my life) if time permitted I would spend more time exploring art. I have a print of John Martin's "Sadak In Search of the Waters of Oblivion" on my wall above my music stack and plan to add more to my office/lair walls.
Have an internet acquaintance who I planned to meet whilst in the States a few years back but couldn't co-ordinate diaries, who does art for album covers. Super-talented guy (also involved in a number of music projects) - his artwork is here:
I spend an inordinate amount of time rating covers on here. My mother is an artist and (as with everything else in my life) if time permitted I would spend more time exploring art. I have a print of John Martin's "Sadak In Search of the Waters of Oblivion" on my wall above my music stack and plan to add more to my office/lair walls.
Have an internet acquaintance who I planned to meet whilst in the States a few years back but couldn't co-ordinate diaries, who does art for album covers. Super-talented guy (also involved in a number of music projects) - his artwork is here:
I have never seen "Sadak In Search of the Waters of Oblivion" before Vinny, but it is fantastic and has a similar feel to some of Lewandowski's paintings.
Do you know any covers that Kishor has produced off hand? He does look very talented. I think hands are one of the hardest parts of human anatomy to capture well and he does them brilliantly (and quite a lot by the looks of it!)
I spend an inordinate amount of time rating covers on here. My mother is an artist and (as with everything else in my life) if time permitted I would spend more time exploring art. I have a print of John Martin's "Sadak In Search of the Waters of Oblivion" on my wall above my music stack and plan to add more to my office/lair walls.
Have an internet acquaintance who I planned to meet whilst in the States a few years back but couldn't co-ordinate diaries, who does art for album covers. Super-talented guy (also involved in a number of music projects) - his artwork is here:
I have never seen "Sadak In Search of the Waters of Oblivion" before Vinny, but it is fantastic and has a similar feel to some of Lewandowski's paintings.
Do you know any covers that Kishor has produced off hand? He does look very talented. I think hands are one of the hardest parts of human anatomy to capture well and he does them brilliantly (and quite a lot by the looks of it!)
Hi Sonny, he lists the albums under any of the Illustrations (no paintings used) that have been used under the image on the website mate. Black Harvest is his own band/project btw.
Most of the really good artists don't seem to do much in the way of album art. Boris Vallejo, Frank Frazetta, Ken Kelly and Giger don't really have many cover art credits and most of them seem to be in eastern Europe for some strange, unfathomable reason.
That said, Necrolord? He's one of the first people to come to mind who do metal covers, outside of maybe Repka, and his work isn't just "old man screaming as weird shit happens".
I spend an inordinate amount of time rating covers on here. My mother is an artist and (as with everything else in my life) if time permitted I would spend more time exploring art. I have a print of John Martin's "Sadak In Search of the Waters of Oblivion" on my wall above my music stack and plan to add more to my office/lair walls.
Have an internet acquaintance who I planned to meet whilst in the States a few years back but couldn't co-ordinate diaries, who does art for album covers. Super-talented guy (also involved in a number of music projects) - his artwork is here:
I have never seen "Sadak In Search of the Waters of Oblivion" before Vinny, but it is fantastic and has a similar feel to some of Lewandowski's paintings.
Do you know any covers that Kishor has produced off hand? He does look very talented. I think hands are one of the hardest parts of human anatomy to capture well and he does them brilliantly (and quite a lot by the looks of it!)
Hi Sonny, he lists the albums under any of the Illustrations (no paintings used) that have been used under the image on the website mate. Black Harvest is his own band/project btw.
Ah yes, I can see them now. Thanks Vinny.
Most of the really good artists don't seem to do much in the way of album art. Boris Vallejo, Frank Frazetta, Ken Kelly and Giger don't really have many cover art credits and most of them seem to be in eastern Europe for some strange, unfathomable reason.
That said, Necrolord? He's one of the first people to come to mind who do metal covers, outside of maybe Repka, and his work isn't just "old man screaming as weird shit happens".
You've listed some of the best artists from the 70s and 80s, all of whom I have collected volumes of their work. Vallejo is the only one that's still alive (he's 82), so it's not surprising they never created metal cover intended artwork. That said, Giger's work appears on a lot of albums, including Celtic Frost, Danzig, Atrocity, Sacrosanct, and even Carcass' Heartwork.
That said, Giger's work appears on a lot of albums, including Celtic Frost, Danzig, Atrocity, Sacrosanct, and even Carcass' Heartwork.
Let's not forget the most highly regarded & widely celebrated releases ever to don Giger's artwork in the Neuropath demos Ben.
Is it just me, or is Giger's work on Heartwork severely underwhelming in comparison to the other album covers, even Brain Salad Surgery?
Most of the really good artists don't seem to do much in the way of album art. Boris Vallejo, Frank Frazetta, Ken Kelly and Giger don't really have many cover art credits and most of them seem to be in eastern Europe for some strange, unfathomable reason.
That said, Necrolord? He's one of the first people to come to mind who do metal covers, outside of maybe Repka, and his work isn't just "old man screaming as weird shit happens".
You've listed some of the best artists from the 70s and 80s, all of whom I have collected volumes of their work. Vallejo is the only one that's still alive (he's 82), so it's not surprising they never created metal cover intended artwork. That said, Giger's work appears on a lot of albums, including Celtic Frost, Danzig, Atrocity, Sacrosanct, and even Carcass' Heartwork.
I hope you didn't spend too much on Giger's books, last time I checked those were a tad overpriced. Or maybe not, since I don't really know how much "real" art books go for. It's mostly just Heavy Metal (the magazine) and the occasional weeb book I pay attention to. But I note that you actually did mention everything metal Giger worked on, outside of Triptykon. I think that's maybe 10-15 albums in total?
And yes, Rex, that Heartwork cover feels kind of lame. I think it's some kind of weird sculpture. It's funny because unlike a lot of artists he was actually a pretty good sculptor by all accounts. I think the lead singer of Korn has a Giger made microphone stand and it looks pretty great. The one he did on the Heartwork cover just looks like it half-finished.
I agree. I've always felt the "Heartwork" cover was pretty ordinary.
I'm sure there are loads more metal bands that used Giger's artwork, likely without permission. Here are a few more I uncovered pretty quickly...
https://metal.academy/releases/10759
https://metal.academy/releases/46704
https://metal.academy/releases/28481
I've just added a list for death metal cover artist Pär Olofsson:
https://metal.academy/lists/single/248
Next up I am going to cover Adam Burke (aka Nightjar Illustration). I'm a big fan and he has quite a few well-placed entries in the Academy Gallery.
That's an awesome list for Olofsson. I've recognised his style consistently while adding albums to the site, but didn't realise there were that many. Consider me a fan!
Thanks Ben. The main reason for starting this exercise was that I was picking up on certain stylistic consistencies on covers as I was rating them, whilst not really being that familiar with specific artists, other than Lewandowski and Repka. So, I thought that compiling lists of the artists whose work I admired most would allow a deeper exploration of each artist's style and development as well as providing a reference guide for other interested members.
Oloffson actually has many more covers to his credit, but many are for lesser-known acts who haven't been added to the site yet and I don't want to flood you with requests for bands whose actual music I may not even get round to rating!
You inspired me to finally create a Kris Verwimp list. It's far from complete, but I too will be adding some bands just so I can get his fine work on the site in as high quality as possible.
For those of you unaware of Verwimp, you can always see his signature in the corner of his art, making it really easy to discover them. I reckon I could pick a Verwimp piece easily anyway, as his style if very distinct.
Here are a few choice examples...
Verwimp does have a very distinctive style, Ben. He seems to use a technique that gives his paintings a "soft focus". I always liked the Absu covers and never realised that he was so prolific a cover artist.
By the way, Ben, does the site mechanics have a limit to the number of entries we can have on a list?
Got a Michael Whelan list right here. I'm a huge Meat Loaf fan, and I generally love the cover art, but Whelan's had a couple other amazing works, notably Arise and Dark Days. I wish he would do album covers more often.