Michael Whelan's Sepultura Album Covers
Plus Metal Gods of the Apocalypse for 5E & DCC
In a recent issue of The Art of Michael Whelan newsletter, Michael provided insights into his creative process for the album cover art for Sepultura’s Chaos A.D. album.
The name of the painting is Cacophony, and this was the third album cover he did for the band. Here is his description of the piece:
“I saw the picture in my head one evening when I was stuck in a crowded room filled with noisy people. I felt trapped and driven to distraction by the commotion, hands grasping at me for attention, when all I wanted to do is get away and find quiet somewhere.”
Sepultura’s YouTube channel has a fascinating video with guitarist Andreas Kisser in which he goes deep into the band working with Michael Whelan on their album covers. He explains that Sepultura’s Max Cavalera discovered Michael’s art in a bookstore and that the band initially wanted the painting Lovecraft’s Nightmare for their Beneath the Remains album. Their record label, however, denied Sepultura from using that cover and later sent it for Obituary to use for their Cause of Death album.
Andreas goes on to tell how the band chose Michael Whelan’s Nightmare in Red painting as a substitute. For the next three albums, they were able to collaborate with Michael to create original artwork made specifically for those records.
You can tell from the video that the band has a lot of respect for Whelan, and Andreas shares interesting stories about how the band used the mummy from Chaos A.D. for their stage show and how a Brazilian currency note inspired the artwork for Roots. You can watch the full video here:
Working with Sepultura was also a positive experience from Michael Whelan’s side, as evidenced from this quote from his newsletter:
Everyone—from the band to the art director and staff at Roadrunner—was terrific to work with. It was such a no-hassle thing compared to other efforts for other artists. They were encouraging and the atmosphere was excellent; we were, I felt, all on the same vibe.
The music was the uniting force. But to be honest, I could have done several paintings just on the theme of “Biotech is Godzilla”! So my main problem was choosing which of a welter of potential ideas to run with!
This contrasts with the “art direction by committee” experience Michael had creating the artwork for The Very Best of Meat Loaf, as explained in this newsletter article:
Lastly, for more commentary on Michael Whelan’s album cover artwork, check out this older Nine Circles article.
Metal Gods of the Apocalypse
Gaming Honors has just launched a crowdfunding campaign for Metal Gods of the Apocalypse. It is an adventure they are making available in both a 5E and a Dungeon Crawl Classics version. Here is a description:
A savage, third-level adventure for 4-8 hardcore players, cranked to 11 and steeped in the chaos of heavy metal. Heroes shred their way through a demon-infested cathedral to claim the mantle of a Horseman of the Apocalypse. Only those who are truly metal will earn the right to pass judgment on a dying world!
…
So grab your axe, fire up the van, and burn rubber! The venue? A cathedral besieged by demons! The band? The Metal Gods! And the encore song? Armegeddon - but this time, you are the judges!
I caught some Motörhead song title references in the preliminary artwork and product description they shared:
I have several modules from Gaming Honors and had a great time playing their Exodus of Wolfbane adventure with a couple of their creators at an online convention, so I’m looking forward to this one. You can pledge your support here.