No one can deny that Baroness’ singer and guitarist John Dyer Baizley is an accomplished artist. His artwork for bands like Kylesa, Torche, Skeletonwitch and his own, Baroness, proves it. In the last couple of years his style has become iconic in the metal world and has served to up the ante as far as cover artwork is concerned. This is especially refreshing in the face of the Photoshop crapola that adorns every other metal release these days.
That said, the first time I saw the cover artwork for Kvelertak’s self-titled debut I thought I was looking at a rip off. Really, I thought I was looking at a cheap imitation hastily drawned by a less talented hack. Maybe I am alone in this one but I think this cover fucking sucks. The style is recognizably Baizley; all the motifs are there, women, animals, nature in all states, etc. But the proportions seem odd, awkward and…well, disproportionate. The owl’s head is so big it looks as if it was placed to cover up a mistake. I am not an art critic, in fact I ain’t no critic at all, but I just couldn’t help but be surprised when I found out that this artwork was in fact made by Baizley himself.
On the other hand, when I saw the cover artwork for US Christmas new album Run Thick in the Night I thought I was actually looking at the best piece Baizley had ever done. The main difference was in the color palette, which made heavy use of yellow, a color Baizley has mostly stayed away from. I was surprised then to find out that this piece is the oeuvre of Philadelphia artist Hush, whose work includes, unsurprisingly, pieces for Baroness and Skeletonwitch.
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