As part of our ongoing halloween celebrations we’ve rounded up a collection of the goriest, most gruesome death metal artwork ever. Not for the faint hearted
Death metal bands are not shy when it comes to showing a bit of the old claret in their album artwork. From cartoonish depictions of satan’s layer to worryingly realistic photographs of chainsaw-murder scenes there’s a wealth of bad taste to be found.
As Halloween is pretty much the only day of the year when it’s OK to say you’re into this kind of thing we’ve gone and rounded up a wealth of NSFW, blood splattered and possibly problematic album artwork from the world’s most feared genre.
Repulsion - Horrified
1989Repulsion were an early death metal band who would end up being hugely influential on the genre as well as a precursor to grindcore.
This first example of death metal artwork is pretty tame in comparison to the path the genre’s aesthetic would eventually take. It’s got all the hallmarks none the less: an edgy font, cartoonish graphics and, of course, a rotting human face.
Autopsy - Severed Survival
1989The original artwork for Autopsy’s Severed Survival saw a body being stretched, cut and generally mutilated in every possible direction. Fortunately someone, somewhere saw sense and they revised the artwork with this slightly less terrifying image of a group of zombie surgeons who appear to be operating on the viewer. Charming.
Cannibal Corpse - Eaten Back To Life
1990Cannibal Corpse are often-cited as the kings of gory visuals and their debut album Eaten Back To Life is no exception. It depicts a kind of zombie who appears to be ripping out his own organs in the middle of a graveyard at night time.
You’d think things couldn’t get much more bleak for Cannibal Corpse after this but you’d be wrong. Their next record was called Butchered at Birth and featured skeleton doctors performing surgery in front of several crucified babies. Whatever floats your boat.
Exhumed - Gore Metal
19981998 saw the release Gore Metal the landmark debut album from San Jose death metallers Exhumed. The album cover features a seriously gut-wrenching photograph of a kitchen splattered with human remains and there’s even a head in the microwave. At first glance the image may look worryingly realistic but don’t fear all the gore is completely fake. According to the band at least…
Deicide - Once Upon The Cross
1995Something about this album has always given me the creeps. On first inspection It’s just a bloodstain seeping into a white sheet but if you look closer you can see the image of a crucified body under the sheet. Deicide have never been ones for religion though, their name itself means ‘the murder of god’.
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