ROMINA's "THE SILVER SEA" ALBUM COVER STORY

"The Silver Sea" is the title of the upcoming new album by Atmospheric Gothic/Doom Metal act, REMINA. The cover artwork was designed by the band's singer, Heike Langhans. "She is a graphic artist and painter by trade," comments guitarist, Mike Lamb. "Being able to create all the art for Remina gives her great joy and creative satisfaction."

According to Lamb, the artwork was "digitally painted in Photoshop. It started as a simple sketch outline with painted layers added using digital 'pencil' type brushes. The cover is inspired by the overall theme of Remina: the human role in exploring the unknown vastness of space, alien structures, liquid metal oceans, immeasurable constructs and unquantifiable possibilities. This particular cover depicts a hooded figure stranded on the edge of a black monolith rising from a deep well constructed in a silver ocean. A crimson crystal shines at the center of the monolith against the dark starry backdrop and no one may ever know what power this site holds or how it even came to exist there."

"The Silver Sea" is available through Avantgarde Music at https://avantgardemusic.bandcamp.com/album/the-silver-sea

See more of Heike Langhans' work at https://www.instagram.com/solarsiren/

CHAINED TO THE DEAD's "SOMETHING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO HELL" EP COVER STORY

The cover for Chained To The Dead's new EP "Something Happened On The Way To Hell" (which has been released on Halloween of 2025) was crafted by Colombian artist, Julian Mortuus. Below, the American Death Metal band's vocalist, Rocco Martone, talks about the origins of the cover and the creative process.

WHAT INSPIRED THE COVER ARTWORK?

Rocco Martone: "Something Happened On The Way To Hell" is the second of a 3-record cycle, and the covers are telling their own little story. The concept of the trilogy's cover imagery is based of the Greek Furies myth of the Erinyes: three women who were goddesses of vengeance, particularly against males. I have found Death Metal covers depicting women getting murdered and tortured to be lame and boring, so starting with our 2019 album 'A Gruesome Encounter," I wanted to depict the female characters as the perpetrators of the violence. The Three Furies are emblematic of that concept, so it was a perfect fit. While the cover does not specifically portray the Three Furies, there are specific tributes to them depicted. Particularly the hair color, and their associations with a knife, a snake and fire. You can see these depicted in one of my favorite paintings of them, 'Orestes Pursued By The Furies' by Carl Rahl.

The first of the trilogy, Only Hunger Remains, with that title based on the Pungent Stench tune we cover on the album, depicted the three women in a desolate, underworld hellscape, similar in feeling to the end of Lucio Fulci's The Beyond. With humanity leveled, and hunger, in all forms, being all that remains. The palette and color scheme was filled with blacks, greys, and the glorious reds.

For part two, our cover trio have entered Hell. And with the album title taken from a Phil Collins lyric (we don't cover that song but do cover Genesis on SHOTWTH) something terrible is happening. Here our three women are tearing a demonic figure apart. In an evolution stylistically from Only Hunger Remains, here we see the color palette explode. With an absolutely glorious blue sky, punctuated by bursts of color from the women's hair, and once again, the beautiful red of the gore. Basically I wanted this to be a amalgam of classic death metal cover aesthetics, mixed with the color schemes you would find on an old prog album. The focal point of the image being the decapitation of Satan, right in the center of frame, looking right at the viewer. This centerpiece of violence was inspired by one of my favorite pieces of art, Caravaggio's Judith Beheading Holofernes. You will have to wait to see what part three of the trilogy brings.

Musically we match the evolution of the album's cover, as on this album we have opened up our sound and really pushed ourselves to explore new levels of experimentation and brutality. Much like Mortuus has done for us on the cover.

HOW DID MORTUUS GET INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT?

Rocco Martone: I found Mortuus after the original artist who created our 2019 album's artwork bailed on us. With the date to release the album when promised approaching, I proceeded an infinite scroll through artists online, and the stuff Mortuus was creating just leapt off of the screen and grabbed me by the eyeballs. When I contacted him, he was super cool, and willing to meet our rapidly approaching deadline.

He was incredible to work with, and understood all the references I was offering him to give him the vibes I was looking for. He was a fan of the previously mentioned Holfernes painting, and when I mentioned how I loved the colors and layout of Dan Seagraves cover art for Dismember's Like an Everflowing stream album, he knew exactly what i meant, and was also a massive fan. I really wanted the vibes of Emanuele Taglietti's fumetti art, mixed with liberal doses of Frank Frazetta, and the great images found on European horror posters in the 70's. I just threw that out to him, and he gave me back more than I could have hoped for in return.

CAN YOU PROVIDE ANY INFORMATION ABOUT THE CREATIVE PROCESS?

Rocco Martone: Having a real human create a tactile, physical painting for us has always been a priority. And if you look closely at our stuff, you will see we do not attempt to hide the texture of the actual canvas, and its relation to the art. The humanity and the craft of the artist is there for all to see. The process is, I unload my ideas and references upon him, which he is always patient and graceful with, as I know it can be a lot of information all at once. Then he will draw out an initial design with pencil, then after my return feedback, he goes to work with the paint. He uses type of paint called gouache, which I think gives the art a beautiful quality. It gives a vivid sense of color and also has a fluidity that just draws the eye into the work. His use of color is incredible, as is his eye for detail. Just look at the translucence of those wings on the cover!

I love having such a symbiotic relationship with him. And as someone who spent hours of my life, just losing myself in the work of the previously mentioned Dan Seagrave and others, I just love that he has created such incredible works that tell their own part of the Chained to the Dead story.

AEPHANEMER's "UTOPIE" ALBUM COVER STORY

French Melodic Death Metal trio, Aephanemer, are releasing their new studio record "Utopie" through Napalm Records. The cover illustration was crafted by Swedish artist/musician, Niklas Sundin.

"The cover is directly inspired by the concept of utopia, which is the central theme of the album," the band's members comment. "For us, utopia is where despair meets hope, because one only feels the need to imagine a better world when something in the present one feels wrong. To express this balance between light and darkness, we asked Niklas Sundin to create an image inspired by a few visual references we shared with him. We wanted the atmosphere to remain ambiguous, neither entirely fantasy nor sci-fi, so it would capture the uncertain, dreamlike essence of what utopia means to us."

Sundin and Aephanemer have been collaborating since the early days of the band. "He designed all our album covers and even created our band logo. Over the years, our collaboration has become very natural and fluid, because he is a true artist who always manages to go beyond our expectations. His pieces always carry that unique atmosphere that seems to exist somewhere between dream and reality. He told us that this artwork is the one he has been the most satisfied with in a long time, and we believe this is the reward of our long-term collaboration."

See the complete artwork above.

Order "Utopie" at https://www.indiemerchstore.com/collections/aephanemer

See more of Niklas Sundin's work at https://www.nsundin.com/

TUESDAY THE SKY's "INDOOR ENTHUSIAST" ALBUM COVER STORY

"Indoor Enthusiast" is the third record from Tuesday the Sky, the instrumental-driven project created by Fates Warning's guitarist, Jim Matheos. The cover was designed by British graphic artist, Simon Ward.

"The original idea came from Jim who suggested something agoraphobic," Ward reveals. "It started with the simple 'House/ Frame' shape. I tried lots of different figures in various poses and eventually settled on this one that just seemed to work. The scale of the figure in relation to the 'house' really emphasizes that feeling of being trapped within. I love that the distortions around the body suggest a 'thickness' to the air and kind of glue him to the walls."

According to Ward, the cover graphic is "a digital work, a 3D model actually, with a filter over the camera plane that distorts the edges of the figure and kind of 'glues' him to the house...I had been looking for somewhere to place the technique used on the cover art for some time and this seemed to be a good fit."

Matheos and Ward have been working together since 2018. "Since then, I've done quite a bit with Jim on various projects," he says. "We seem to be quite a good fit for each other creatively and visually, we are on the same wavelength, I think. So, it's been a real pleasure to be involved with Jim and his music."

"Indoor Enthusiast" is available through Metal Blade Records at https://www.metalblade.com/tuesdaythesky

See more of Simon Ward's work at www.identity-media.co.uk

COVER ARTWORK STORY: MORBIKON's "LOST WITHIN THE ASTRAL CRYPTS."

Morbikon is a Blackened Death/Thrash Metal project formed by members of bands like Municipal Waste, Cannabis Corpse, Iron Reagan, Finntroll, …And Oceans, etc. They will release their debut album "Lost Within The Astral Crypts" on November 21 through Tankcrimes.

The sleeve artwork reflects the album's title and was crafted by Swedish illustrator, Par Olofsson. "This cover fits the cosmic horror themes present on the album," comments guitarist/bassist Phil Hall. "Sometimes we create the artwork very early in the demo process, so we have a visual to help inspire the music. Such is the case here."

Hall decided to use Olofsson's talents because they had been working together "for years now, he has done covers for Cannabis Corpse as well. He always nails what I am trying to depict. I am pretty sure Par works on a digital medium. But he shows me sketches and progress throughout the creative process. I know he works very hard to achieve his art."

Order "Lost Within The Astral Crypts" at

https://tankcrimes.bandcamp.com/album/lost-within-the-astral-crypts and https://tankcrimes.merchtable.com/tankcrimes-music/cd/morbikon-lost-within-the-astral-crypts-cd

See more of Par Olofsson's work at https://parolofsson.se/

COVER ARTWORK STORY: DEAD HEAT's "PROCESS OF ELIMINATION."

American Crossover/Hardcore/Thrash Metal provocateurs, Dead Heat, just released their new album, "Process Of Elimination." The cover artwork was created by fellow countryman artist, Hayden Hall, who also goes by the name Sick Slice.

"We got involved with him [Hayden Hall] in 2020," reveals Dead Heat's vocalist, Chris Ramos. "Our old guitarist, Tony, followed his art page and we all really liked the horror type stuff he did. So, we hit him up to see if interested in doing our second album cover and we just continued to work with him."

This artwork features the band's sort of mascot seated on an ominous stone throne. surrounded by a group of men of different ages and races. According to Hall, "the only thing airbrushed this time. Everything else was hand painted with acrylic paint." Ramos assures that the main inspiration was the album's title, which basically states that "when it comes down to it, is it gonna be someone else who triumphs in your life or is it gonna be you? The art was done given that knowledge and a broad concept to our artist and he made the masterpiece you see today."

Order the album at https://www.metalblade.com/deadheat/

See more of Sick Slice's work at https://linktr.ee/SICKSLICE

UNLEASHED AND PAR OLOFSSON: AFTER THE BATTLE

Swedish Death Metal pioneers UNLEASHED released their 15th studio album, "Fire Upon Your Lands" on August 15, 2025 via Napalm Records. The cover artwork was illustrated by Swedish artist, Par Olofsson, who has collaborated with the band in other projects.

"The artwork is inspired by the events in the storyline from the (never published book) The World of Odalheim," comments vocalist/bassist, Johnny Hedlund. "It is from this book that we have translated chapters into songs on the last 6 albums, and the story of the actual artwork this time is an event that takes place in between two songs (oddly enough). It's an actual event that took place just before the Midgard warriors arrive at the Haifa Pier where the warships await to take them home to Svithiod again (present day Sweden). A battle not far from Haifa Pier where the Midgard Warriors win a smaller yet important battle against their main enemy White Christ."

Regarding the making of the album, Par Olofsson comments: "I sketched out a couple rough ideas for the composition digitally. After a little back and forth with the band, we landed in this composition. The hammer needed an update from the previous album so sketched it out on paper, scanned and completed it in Photoshop. So, the whole thing is basically painted in photoshop with a Wacom tablet."

Order "Fire Upon Your Lands" at: https://napalmrecordsamerica.com/unleashed

See more of Par Olofsson's work at https://parolofsson.se/

MALTHUSIAN AND MITCHELL NOLTE: TOWARDS THE UNKNOWN

Relapse Records will release "The Summoning Bell," the new album from Irish Death Metal group, Malthusian. The cover image was crafted by Australian artist, Mitchell Nolte Art and Illustration.

"The artwork is based on an old Irish picture of a man with a scythe walking an old coastal road in County Kerry from the National Folklore Collection," reveals Malthusian's guitarist/vocalist, MB. See the original image in the comments. "The scythe would've taken away from the intended focal point which is simply that of a man walking the old road, so we decided to change that. No need to question where he is coming from or where he is going. The beauty is in the unknowing. There are fires on the hills as I had read about fires being used as beacons on islands and hills of the west coast in older times to guide the boats and also, in a celebratory capacity to mark the summer solstice."

 The photo that inspired the artwork.

The band was "on the search for an artist," MB remembers. "I had initially thought to do a photo realistic picture of the mentioned picture but along the journey I came across Mitchell's work. We chatted and I felt he was the correct person for the job. Great artist and very easy to work with."

The guitarist assures that the artwork was created digitally and "represents the title track quite perfectly on a lyrical level and I could tie it to other lyrics as well but not as directly or succinctly."

Pre-order "The Summoning Bell" at https://orcd.co/malthusian

See more of Mitchell Nolte's work at https://www.mitchellnolte.com/

REVOCATION AND PAOLO GIRARDI SUMMON THE AI GOD

Technical Death Metal act, Revocation will release new album "New Gods, New Masters" on September 26 through Metal Blade Records. The sleeve artwork was illustrator by Italian maestro, Paolo Girardi.

"The cover art was inspired by the lyrics for our new album," comments vocalist/guitarist, Dave Davidson. "I wanted to depict a dystopian techno nightmare where an AI god is being summoned and birthed from an abyss of wires and teeth. I gave Paolo a very rudimentary sketch and he absolutely ran wild with it. Paolo started with a quick sketch with pencil and then moved onto oil on cardboard. The final product exceeded my expectations in every way."

Previous to this project, Revocation and Girardi had worked together in the creation of the cover of the record, "Netherheaven" (2022). "I knew I wanted to collaborate with him again because the last one came out so great," Davidson says. "He really lives for his art and I love working with people that are truly dedicated to the craft and are excited about the work they do."

Pre-order "New Gods, New Masters" at https://www.metalblade.com/revocation/

See more of Paolo Girardi's work at

https://www.instagram.com/paologirardipainter/ 

https://www.facebook.com/paologirardipainter 

BYZANTINE's PORTRAYAL OF IRENE OF ATHENS

American metallers, Byzantine, are releasing their new album "Harbingers" on June 13 through Metal Blade Records.

According to the band's vocalist, Chris Ojeda, the cover was created by "Ashley Hoey, a mixed media artist from my hometown of Charleston, WV. Ashley has developed a very unique style of drawing her subjects with pencil and then combining actual clothing and jewelry to achieve a 3D aspect to her pieces. She solely focuses on female subjects. When we came up with the concept of having Irene of Athens, the first female ruler of the Byzantine empire, on our album cover, Ashley immediately came to mind."

The group decided to feature a representation of Irene of Athens because "focusing on the maternal side of power was a very intriguing change we thought we needed to make. Irene of Athens was a beautifully striking woman, but also very powerful. She actually had her son, Emperor Constantine blinded so he could no longer rule, which then gave her the throne over the empire. This was just a perfect story to wrap into a song and album cover. Nothing says 'Metal' like Abacination!"

"Harbingers" can be pre-ordered at https://www.metalblade.com/byzantine/

See more of Ashley Hoey's work at https://ashleyhoeyart.com/

Byzantine will be featured in the upcoming book "And Justice For Art- Ultimate Edition." Donate to the crowdfunding campaign to print the book at https://andjusticeforart.bigcartel.com/products