SIGH AND ELIRAN KANTOR's MACABRE MARRIAGE

Japanese Avantgarde/Black Metal act, SIGH (official page), recently announced the

release of "I Saw The World’s End - Hangman’s Hymn MMXXV," a revamped version of the 2007 studio album, "Hangman’s Hymn."

The sleeve artwork was designed by the band’s frequent collaborator, Israeli visual maestro Eliran Kantor, who has created several album covers for Sigh. He reimagined the original Hangman’s Hymn’s cover which also features three characters with their faces covered. “It is based on the image of the original Hangman's artwork,” confirms Sigh's vocalist, Mirai Kawashima. “I guess it has a feel of marriage [Vocalist/Saxophonist] Dr. Mikannibal sometimes wears the wedding costume on stage, so it may have inspired Eliran. The artwork looks very beautiful but if you look into the details, it’s very spooky—like a hooded man holding a hanging rope, etc."

Kawashima chose Kantor to reimagine the original "Hangman's Hymn" cover artwork because the artist "had done this kind of thing with [band's like] Cavalera, Kreator, Sodom etc. I mean, he made something new out of their legacies, and it worked really well. So, it was no brainer for me to ask him to re-do the artwork. Once I talked to him, surprisingly he came back to me with a sketch in a day. The first sketch was very close to the finished product although it was black and white. So, I kind of knew what the artwork would be like from the very beginning, and I knew it'd turn out something really great. Definitely it is what I wanted."

Kantor and Sigh apparently met “in Czech Republic when Sigh played at the Brutal Assault Festival," Kawashima says. "I got to know Eliran through [Israeli sound engineer] Maor Appelbaum, who mastered Sigh’s record, A Tribute to Venom.”

Sigh will release "I Saw The World’s End - Hangman’s Hymn MMXXV" through Peaceville Records on June 13, 2025. Pre-order at https://usa-peaceville.myshopify.com/collections/sigh

See more of Eliran Kantor's work at https://elirankantor.com/

A BEAUTIFULLY HORRIFIC ALBUM COVER

Israeli maestro, Eliran Kantor, crafted the cover artwork for Scalpture 's new album, "Landkrieg." This is the second collaboration (after the cover for the album, "Feldwärts") between Kantor and the German band.

"We knew we wanted to collaborate with Eliran Kantor again," Scalpture's members collectively comment. "In fact, the idea for the concept behind 'Landkrieg' was born while we were celebrating the release of Feldwärts—drinking, talking and already thinking about what would come next. From the beginning, we envisioned a beautiful, almost picturesque landscape painting that, upon closer inspection, reveals something truly horrific happening in the background."

The musicians say that "the central event in the artwork—a man killing another with an axe—went through several iterations before reaching its final form. Eliran was incredibly patient with us as we took our time refining the concept. The scene itself is inspired by an etching from Hans Ulrich Franck, an artist who lived during the Thirty Years' War. Eliran took this historical reference and transformed it into something truly stunning. For a Death Metal album cover, 'Landkrieg' is surprisingly colorful and, at first glance, even idyllic. Our initial stylistic direction was “Goya meets Monet,” and we believe Eliran captured that perfectly. His ability to blend beauty with brutality is unmatched, and we couldn’t be happier with the result."

"Landkrieg" is available through Testimony Records and through Scalpture's Bandcamp at https://scalpture.bandcamp.com/album/landkrieg

See more of Eliran Kantor's portfolio and purchase fine prints from his work at https://elirankantor.com/

THE PROPHET'S PORTRAIT

Polish Black Metal act, PATRIARKH (which basically is a new incarnation of Batushka) recently released the album "ПРОРОК ИЛИЯ" (“Prophet Ilja”) via Napalm Records. The cover artwork is a portrait of the titular character painted by multi-disciplinary Polish artist, Maciek Szupica aka Monsieur Zupika.

"Prophet Ilja is a historical figure who appeared in the Podlasie region during a time filled with unrest and mystery," Szupica reveals to And Justice For Art. "It was an era of self-proclaimed prophets who, in a rather sectarian manner, influenced uneducated groups of people, leading them into various religious rituals and practices."

Szupica had been "collaborating with the band Batushka for several years, which began when I was offered to create their first album cover." This naturally continued when he was offered to paint the artwork for "Prophet Ilja." He always works with vocalist, Bartłomiej "Bart" Krysiuk, "to best capture the mysticism of Orthodox rituals. I always strive to gather as much detailed information as possible to ensure I don’t miss any significant symbolic elements that are important in Orthodoxy."

The artwork was created "sing traditional methods, mainly as hand-drawn illustrations and graphics," the artist assures. "However, this cover is the first one painted in the style of oil painting. It may be less traditional compared to typical Orthodox iconography, but the entire artwork was painted by hand."

"Prophet Ilja" is available at https://napalmrecordsamerica.com/patriarkh

RWAKE's NATURAL OFFERING

American metallers, Rwake, are releasing "The Return Of Magik" (their first new album in over 13 years) on March 14, through Relapse Records.

The cover and layout artworks were created by Loni Gillum of Minerva's Menagerie. These graphics (including the cover shown below) were "all handcrafted using authentic natural elements, ethically sourced, of course," reveals vocalist, Brittany Fugate. "We wanted to build something real and then photograph it. Every stick, mushroom, flower and grain of sand were all hand placed. No computers were used except where Relapse Records added in the text. Even the pieces of metal were electro formed by Loni."

The band had been collaborating with Arkansas-based jewelry artist, Loni Gillum "on a couple of jewelry pieces," Fugate comments. "The way she crafted and displayed her pieces was always very inspiring, so we asked if she would work with us on creating the art for the record. After many conversations and a vision quest to both of our favorite spot in the Ozark Mountains, Loni conjured up these beautiful works of art. I photographed them and made some contributions, but all the credit belongs to Loni Gillum."

Loni Gillum also created the back sleeve artwork and the layout/booklet images. See them above. According to Fugate, "the symbols on the back cover were hand crafted with metal and bone." She assures that "the artwork perfectly mirrors the music. It’s dark and evocative with elements of death, yet hauntingly beautiful and delicately soft at the same time. Both the artwork and the music are born from the earth, shaped by its rhythms, textures, and spirit. I believe that conveys to both the listener and the viewer."

Rwake's "The Return Of Magik" can be pre-ordered at https://rwake.bandcamp.com/album/the-return-of-magik and https://www.relapse.com/pages/rwake-the-return-of-magik

See more of Loni Gillum's work at https://minervasmenagerie.co/

LIFESICK's EXISTENTIAL CASTAWAY

The cover artwork of "Loved By None, Hated By All" (the new album by Danish Death Metal/Hardcore outfit, LIFESICK) was created by American artist, Andrew Durgin-Barnes.

"The album artwork encapsulates the entire lyrical universe of the album [which] features lyrics written entirely by vocalist, Simon Shoshan," explains guitarist, Nicolai Lindegaard. "The artwork envisions a person lost at sea. The sea represents something vast, dark, and uncontrollable. This person is being torn apart, dragged either up or down by demons with no intention of helping. It mirrors the way society, as described in the lyrics, it pulls in different directions without offering any real support. We shared these lyrical themes and ideas with Andrew, the painter, and he captured them perfectly in the artwork."

Andrew Durgin-Barnes says that the artwork was painted "in a traditional oil painting manner. The band told me what they wanted for the painting and were pretty specific. I first drew a couple compositional sketches to make sure where I wanted things to be. After that, I moved onto the larger piece of linen. I did it on flat linen rather than having it stretched on stretcher bars. This way it would be easier to have scanned and potentially mailed. I started the painting by filling the large areas with the colors that would kind of give the painting its vibe and then from there sort of just went back and forth refining things."

Barness assures that "the whole painting was done directly from my imagination as I pictured in my head given the bands description of what they were looking for. I’m a huge fan of Gericault’s 'The Raft Of The Medusa' painting which is engrained into my mind from studying it in books when I was younger. So, I’m sure a lot of the inspiration in my head came from that. The sky, and the way the bodies hang limp, dangling in the water were definitely motifs that lined up with what the band was looking for. The final touches were the good and evil spirits trying to pull the man in different directions. These were the most fun to paint because it added so much more visually by giving it that swirling composition and enhancing the motion of the wave. I had a really great time working on this album cover."

"Loved By None, Hated By All" is available through Metal Blade Records at https://lifesick.dk/products/lbnhba-cd