Metal Can Look Good Too || Emperor- Emperor EP

I had a hard time choosing a cover for this week’s installment of Metal Can Look Good Too but as you can see above I ultimately decided to go with Emperor’s self titled 1993 EP. The EP featured some tracks from the band that would later appear on their debut record In The Nightside Eclipse most notably the track I am the Black Wizards which is acclaimed by critics and fans alike as being on of Emperor’s greatest recordings. The art on the cover is provided by no other than the legendary Gustave Doré and is a section of his wood engraving The Horseman of the Apocalypse that appeared in his illustrations of the Bible. 

Dore’s works are among some of the easiest to recognize at first glance thanks in part to his highly stylized technique and usually dark subject matter. Gustave Doré illustrated everything from the Bible to Little Red Riding Hood in his career and the high demand for his work made him among one of the highest paid artists in the 1800’s. Posthumously, Doré’s works have been used as cover and promotional art for countless artists metal or otherwise including Dimmu Borgir and Season of Evil. 

If you want to see more of Gustave Doré’s selected works, you can visit his Art Passions Page.