Here's a cool picture of the logos used for some metal bands. Most of them are almost impossible to decipher to someone who is an outsider to the genre, but they're all really fun to look at, because it's interesting to try to understand the character the logo's design imparts onto the viewer. In many ways, the logos themselves serve as an explanation of the genre, even when the word itself is unreadable. The words are obscure and specialized, like the genre itself. They are densely and intricately formed, even as they celebrate chaos. If you look carefully, certain motifs and symbols are echoed in many of the logos. Pentagrams are extremely prominent in this selection of logos, as are the satanic skulls meant to be inscribed within them. Many of the logos are able to work in symbolic violence, such as swords or drips symbolizing blood. The spiked appearances that appear to be a standard for this genre invoke violence, as do the letters that simulate the appearance of wounds themselves (the fifth row has some of these). As someone who doesn't know any of the bands here, I'm interested in knowing if anybody has more familiarity and can identify some of the bands? It's a lot easier to read the letters once you know what you're looking for. All I can read is Gothica Exotica near the bottom right; the rest are indecipherable to me. Perhaps, because these bands cater to individuals who seek to separate themselves from mainstream society, the deliberate obscurity of the lettering serves as a way of forming distinctions between those who can read or understand the band names, and those who can't. They certainly serve to represent the chaos and violence that should be expected in this genre.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Violence in Logos
Here's a cool picture of the logos used for some metal bands. Most of them are almost impossible to decipher to someone who is an outsider to the genre, but they're all really fun to look at, because it's interesting to try to understand the character the logo's design imparts onto the viewer. In many ways, the logos themselves serve as an explanation of the genre, even when the word itself is unreadable. The words are obscure and specialized, like the genre itself. They are densely and intricately formed, even as they celebrate chaos. If you look carefully, certain motifs and symbols are echoed in many of the logos. Pentagrams are extremely prominent in this selection of logos, as are the satanic skulls meant to be inscribed within them. Many of the logos are able to work in symbolic violence, such as swords or drips symbolizing blood. The spiked appearances that appear to be a standard for this genre invoke violence, as do the letters that simulate the appearance of wounds themselves (the fifth row has some of these). As someone who doesn't know any of the bands here, I'm interested in knowing if anybody has more familiarity and can identify some of the bands? It's a lot easier to read the letters once you know what you're looking for. All I can read is Gothica Exotica near the bottom right; the rest are indecipherable to me. Perhaps, because these bands cater to individuals who seek to separate themselves from mainstream society, the deliberate obscurity of the lettering serves as a way of forming distinctions between those who can read or understand the band names, and those who can't. They certainly serve to represent the chaos and violence that should be expected in this genre.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The symbols above remind me of the "runes" that Led Zeppelin IV is famous for. While those symbols were individually chosen to represent the four artists, they also emphasize the perception that music is made for its own sake, absent of any labels that may be bestowed upon it. I feel this is also true for these metal bands. In an effort to create something that represents not only what they stand for but also the dark nature of their lyrics, this visual manifestations are unsurprisingly violent, and at least for me it's no surprise they evoke images of blood.
ReplyDeleteThe symbols and logos that the bands use are catered towards those who love the music enough to actually want to purchase merchandise. While they are also meant to represent the band in a certain way, in this case, violently, merchandising also is taken into account. People don't want to buy a hardcore metal shirt that doesn't look badass
ReplyDelete