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Any analysis of metal as a subculture would be essentially pointless without at least some examination of the various visual media associated with them, and as such, the purpose of this entry is to both inform the reader and to provide hilarious insight into the way various metal bands dress, perform and display themselves!

We'll start with a classic. Immortal.


Though they may look like Satan's hockey team, Immortal are perhaps one of the most respected and popular black metal bands in the scene today. Though ridiculous as their appearance might seem, the fact that they are prepared to wear such clothing so boldly on their album cover not only immediately presents the viewer with a basic understanding of their musical genre, it also increases their authenticity as a black metal band. Clearly a readerly text, this album cover also perfectly advertises the band and its music.

Similarly, in the below videoclip, poor sound, low production qualities and amusing poses aside, Call of the Wintermoon has become a cult hit with the black metal community, and knowledge of the clip can easily provide a rallying point for BM fans who have never met, but share a similarly penchant for foresty shenanigans.




Next, Emperor!



Again, obviously a readerly text, with the prominent band name and album title, though lacking the hilarious band photo, Emperor's In the Nightside Eclipse provides an excellent example of the ways in which metal bands commonly rely on fantasy style drawings as album art. Here, Emperor's collection of happy little goblins and trolls easily convey the album's obvious focus on the occult, mysterious and downright evil.



Again, similarly, Emperor's The Loss and Curse of Reverence provides the perfect staging point for them to display their grimness and metal cred, posing as they are in armor, with swords at their sides, in some sort of medieval courtyard. Terribly theatrical, this sort of thing typifies black metal videoclips, as it not only attracts the eye and attention of the viewer, it lends the band a sort of heroic status, easily identified by fans.

Finally, for a nice change from all this black and evil, we'll go for a Rhapsody cover and clip, to prove that such silliness exists in worlds apart from black metal.


Rhapsody's Power of the Dragonflame, a fine power metal album, also seems to conform to the black metal album style. Much like the previous Emperor cover, PotD, also displays a rather over the top, fantasty style of art, while still prominently presenting the band's name, and that of the album.

This similarity continues into Rhapsody's videoclip, and though I couldn't expect you to watch all of it, (though it does have Christopher Lee in it, and a hilarious Luca Turilli guitar solo), even watching a portion of it reveals its closeness in spirit to the earlier black metal clips.



So what have we learned? Well, from this briefest of studies, it seems evident that metal album covers are essentially readerly texts, prominently displaying the band's name, style of music, and associated aesthetics. Similarly, we have learned that metal clips are essentially advertisements of the band's metal cred, and authenticity, and while obviously made with some fun in mind, they are inherently designed to impress the viewer with the band's "metalness".

Until next time, stay krieg, kids.