The Art of Metal: Five Decades of Heavy Metal Album Covers, Posters, T-Shirts, and More

Over 400 of the finest examples of metal poster and cover art, spanning the entire 50-year history of metal, and how that art has helped define the genre

Without the larger-than-life character and imagination of the art that complements it, metal wouldn’t have had the same impact in capturing the intense spirit and visual identity that define its rebellious essence. From the colorful, outlandish, and sophisticated use of visuals for album artwork and posters, to the immediately recognizable logos of such bands as Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Motörhead, Metallica, Slayer, and a host of others across many subgenres, there’s a close-knit relationship between the riffs that thunder from the guitar and the images that have come to represent the songs, anthems, and sheer nature of the beast.

Does any other form of music immediately conjure up such evocative and distinctive images as the mere mention of the term "heavy metal"? From its inception in the 1960s through today’s giants, the art has been closely connected to the music. Every quintessential album brings to mind a readily identifiable album cover. Each great band has an immediately identifiable logo. All of the landmark gigs have a poster that quintessentially depicts the time, place, and passion of the event. Today, the art that has been used to illustrate the music now stands on its own.

What might have begun as a way of packaging metal has taken on a life of its own. It’s now possible to trace the way the genre itself has evolved, and changed, by looking at its art. The Art of Metal explores the ways in which the art has helped define each of the crucial subgenres that make up the multifaceted and colorful centipede that is metal.