Rivers of Nihil’s debut album, “The Conscious Seed of Light,” will be released on October 14th in the UK. The album was recorded in March of 2013 at Mana Recording Studios in Florida with famed metal producer/musician Erik Rutan. While The Conscious Seed of Light is not necessarily a concept album traditionally speaking, Rivers of…
Interview with Tristania Anders Høyvik Hidle The Norwegian Gothic Metal pioneers revolving around charismatic front lady Mariangela Demurtars have the gift to combine heavy tunes with emotional finesse. This combination was brought to perfection on “Darkest White”, which was produced by Christer André Cederberg (e.g. Anathema). He has certainly given the album a new level…
Interview with Lamb of God master artist Ken ‘K3n’ Adams It’s impossible to think about American Metal icons, Lamb Of God, without imagining the artworks that designer, Ken ‘K3n’ Adams, has created for the Virginian band. Since the early days of the band he’s been producing the majority of their graphic material as well as…
Interview with Germany Thrash outfits Dew-Scented Germany’s Dew-Scented have been part of the leading forces of a new breed of Thrash Metal ever since their foundations in 1992. After having released their first an only demo tape “Symbolization” the band signed to Steamhammer/SPV for their 1996 debut release “Immortelle”. Now on Metal Blade they have…
These days, Gothenburg Metal veterans Dark Tranquility are busy promoting their brand new opus “Construct”. But, in 2009 while playing on a German Festival, they decided to take a detour to have a promotional photo shoot at one of the most non-Metal places : a sunflower field. “We were kind of skeptical at first, hung-over…
Interview with Metal Classic painter Philip Lawvere Involved in the punk scene in Boston in 1980 – 82, Philip then moved to Berlin, where through the local music scene he was introduced to Karl Walterbach, the mastermind of early German Thrash. Philip and Karl’s love of Fantasy artwork, combined with their penchant for hard music,…
French visionary Pierre-Alain D – Art from the other side Pierre-Alain D., founder of 3mmi Design, is a french digital artist / illustrator & webdesigner who has developed a dark -but not only- and intense vision of graphic design through the years. Working mainly for the music industry, he also like to work on all…
It was the end of 1993. A young British band called Cradle Of Filth was giving the finishing touches to their official debut full length, “The Principle Of Evil Made Flesh”. Little they knew but the album was destined to become a landmark. Their crossover of Black/Death Metal and Gothic sensibilities, took the underground by…
Interview with graphic legend Travis Smith Travis Smith is an American graphic artist best known for designing heavy metal album art. He has been called “renowned” by Alternative Press and “unquestionably one of the most talented graphic artists in metal today” by Chronicles of Chaos. Smith has done work for many established rock and metal…
By Andy Starz Lots of people probably expect this list to include books like the KISS biography by David Leaf or Mötley Crüe’s infamously funny “The Dirt”. It is very likely that I’ll do a list about the most entertaining band biographies at some point but this is not it. No, this list does not…
Chad Gray & Vinnie Paul speak to Heavy Music Artwork Hellyeah are currently cruising the States on the Gigantour with Megadeth, Black Label Society, Newsted and Device. With the release of their incredible third album ‘Band of Brothers’ they are making a clear statement to the Metal world. They are a band that was once…
Interview with Master illustrator, Michael Whelan Michael Whelan can be easily considered as one of the greatest illustrators of the last 50 years. His images—usually depicting fantasy worlds, horror scenarios and epic sci-fi— have appeared on book covers written by some of the most important writers of the XX century. These include the mighty Stephen King, Isaac Asimov and Arthur C.…
By 1984, Metallica was already on its way to the top. Sure, they were still a penniless band, short on resources but with an immense sense of drive and determination. Their debut album “Kill ‘Em All” had taken the then-nascent underground Thrash Metal scene by storm and people had begun to take notice. That included…
By Lukas Lancko Originally published in CGArena Magazine #8, 2013, http://www.cgarena.com artwork used for cover of CAMP CHAOS “The World Is Bleeding” http://www.isisdesignstudio.com INTRODUCTION Hello guys, my name is Lukas and today I’m going to share with you insight of one of my latest artwork “The World Is Bleeding” and share with you some techniques…
By Lukas Lancko Originally published in DigitalDesign Magazine #1, 2012 – http://www.digitaldesignmag.com Artwork used for cover of BETWEEN THE PLANETS “Immersion Into The Unknown” Biography I was born in 1984 in Slovakia, Europe. It was 4 years ago I fell in passion with digital art and computer graphics. After finishing my university studies I started…
“One One One” will be available as a digipack containing a 20 page booklet filled with lyrics and artwork designed by famous designer duo Trine+Kim (Enslaved, Solefald, Mayhem, Drakthrone). Shining front man and saxophone superman, Jørgen Munkeby, comments on the process and thoughts behind the cover art: “We wanted to continue the visual aesthetics we…
Interview with Delain frontwoman Charlotte Wessels It’s a sunny spring afternoon as Delain’s spectacular, fiery haired frontwoman Charlotte Wessels sips contentedly from her glass of wine. Her day has been heavily filled with consecutive interviews (and wine) but she shows no sign of slowing down and she’s smiles ahoy as we explore all things recent…
Norwegian master painter and album cover designer Truls Espedal Imagination has no limits and Truls Espedal knows it. As one of the most promising painters emerging from the current Norwegian contemporary art scene he’s a living proof of the creative capabilities of the human mind. His paintings are usually focused on hyper realistic details of the human body that set…
by Pete Alander (Bandmill/HeavyMusicArtwork.com) As times goes by all bands in any music genre must face the facts of changing music industry and re-invent or at least update their concept of producing albums. There must be millions of things you need to discover again as an artist but one of the key points is how…
Interview with British artist Paul Raymond Gregory For more than three decades, British artist Paul Raymond Gregory has been considered as one of the most celebrated Tolkien-oriented painters worldwide. His cover artworks for bands like Saxon, Blind Guardian, Dio among others are equally legendary. Nowadays, he’s also extremely busy supervising the 2013 edition of UK already classic Metal…