ART GALLERY - AMON AMARTH, HUMAN IMPROVEMENT PROCESS, EXIVIOUS

Ever have album art melt your face? Every once and awhile a band will create or commission artwork which is undeniably awesome, iconic, or inspiring. Sometimes it compliments the music in the perfect way, leaving a mark on the listener or maybe even music history itself.

Welcome to the Art Gallery. We're gonna take a look at some really impressive art while listening to some great music in the process.

Have you ever seen artwork that was so damn awesome that you still remember the first time you saw it? I was flattened when Amon Amarth's "Twilight of the Thunder God" came out in 2008. Not only by the music but by the insanely detailed scene depicted on the front cover. THIS IS VIKING METAL \m/

 
Links: Facebook // Official Website // Twitter // iTunes 

Human Improvement process is an impressive band emerging Italy on Memorial Records. This year they dropped a great record "Deafening Dissonant Millenium" bolstering some mind bending artwork. Better yet, it compliments the title of the album in an unsettling way. Highly recommended on all counts. We should have a review on this one coming soon!

Links: Facebook // Official Website // Merch // Bandcamp

Exivious needed to be included because of the way that they experiment with their artwork. For both of their albums, they've allowed the fans to create their own poster based on the official album art. The process for their latest album "Liminal" (read our review here) was intricate to say the least. All in all this band has spawned incredible results (take a look here).

Links: Facebook // Twitter // Official Website // iTunes

ART GALLERY - TOOL / BLIND GUARDIAN / REG3N

Ever have album art melt your face? Every once and awhile a band will create or commission artwork which is undeniably awesome, iconic, or inspiring. Sometimes it compliments the music in the perfect way, leaving a mark on the listener or maybe even music history itself.

Welcome to the Art Gallery. We're gonna take at some really cool art and listening to some good music in the process.

First up, we're heading to Argentina. Given the independent nature of this upcoming solo-project project, it sure has a lot of awesome artwork behind it. Now I could be wrong, but I believe Reg3n himself designs the art for this very reason. And if he does, he does a damn fine job of it. When I first saw the off-kiltered art for "Spiral Maze", my jaw dropped a bit. The Meshuggah is strong in this one.

Links: Facebook // Soundcloud // Bandcamp 

Next, we're heading to Germany with the legendary Blind Guardian. Their artist is anything but blind. Not only does the band boast possibly the best voice in current metal, they show off some incredible artwork in the process. All their covers are impressive but the art behind "A Twist In The Myth" always stood out to me in a big way. Probably because I'm a damn nerd \m/

Links: Facebook // Twitter // Merch

Last, but not least by a long shot is Tool. This band is incredible in a number of ways and their artwork has always supported their sound diligently, bending the minds of people worldwide. It's rough deciding between these memorable covers, but "Lateralus" is the inevitable choice. Composed by the one and only Alex Grey, this band's art is hard to overlook.

Links: Facebook // Official Website // Twitter // Merch

ART GALLERY - PINK FLOYD / NE OBLIVISCARIS / AFTER THE BURIAL

Ever have album art melt your face? Every once and awhile a band will create or commission artwork which is undeniably awesome, iconic, or inspiring. Sometimes it compliments the music in the perfect way, leaving a mark on the listener or maybe even music history itself.

Introducing the Art Gallery. We're gonna take at some really cool art and listening to some good music in the process.

First up we have Australia's Ne Obliviscaris, an incredible band hailing from Australia. Their vocalist Xenoyr actually created this masterpiece himself in order to compliment the band's aural masterwork. Well done.

Links: Facebook // Bandcamp // iTunes

Next, we have After The Burial's "In Dreams". There is no denying the work of art on the cover. Consider my mind blown.

Links: Facebook // Twitter // iTunes

I had to include this one. Such a classic. Pink Floyd's masterwork is aesthetically, musically, culturally, and historically significant.

Links: Facebook // Twitter // iTunes