Metal Can Look Good Too || Psycroptic- Symbols of Failure

Abbygunn suggested the artwork to me for this week’s segment, and while neither her nor I like Psycroptic any more than two people who’ve only listened to them once, there’s no denying that their album art is well done.  Not just the above picture either.  As I flipped through their catalogue, cover after cover caught my eye and I quickly realized that this Australian band was worthy a spot on our site – or at least their album covers do.  The above cover is taken from their 2006 album ‘Symbols of Failure’, art duties performed by Par Olofsson.

Olofsson is a Swedish artist that has worked all over in the heavy metal community, designing cover art and merchandise for bands such as Exodus, Immortal, The Faceless, Skyfire and too many others to mention here.  Chances are you’ve stumbled upon an album featuring his work at one time or another, and now the next time you do, you can impress your friends with your superior knowledge of such things.

Another notable album cover from Psycroptic comes from their most recent effort ‘(Ob)Servant’, released in 2008 with art duties preformed by yet another legendary illustrator, Raymond Swanland.  Swanland has been featured on numerous metal albums as well as illustrating comic books, Magic: The Gathering cards and working on the video game Oddworld. You can see his contribution to the band after the jump.

Say what you will about the band, personally not my cup of tea, but talented nonetheless, and I think we can all agree their album covers deserve a special place in the annals of great metal art.