Ten Most Incomprehensible Black Metal Band Logos

the>Preston Mantooth<

     We've all seen them. While walking through the record store or show on the front of a black t-shirt,  or on an album itself, or maybe you (like myself) even like some of this noise. We've all seen the crazy Typography (scribbled or actual fonts) that's covered in what seems to be tentacles, branches of gnarled dead oak tree, lightning, or some indescribable devil root growing out of them. Usually a big gory mess,  yet some how graceful & elegantly symmetrical, and always difficult to read.
    Getting back to the point, There are a metric fuck-ton of black metal bands out there. I realize this now, and I tried to use bands that are signed to at least a small indie label. I'm sorry, but your cousin's black metal garage band doesn't count for this one. I also assume you don't already know the bands that belong to these logos. So check out the logo and try to figure it out before you go look at the name. Trust me, it's more fun that way. Anyway, here they are. The ten most incomprehensible black metal band logos.

11)))

Band Name: Borknagar
Land of origin: Norway
Overly Specific Classification: Progressive / Viking / Folk (Black Metal)
This one is cut and dry compared to the others except for the well hidden "N" and the backwards "R" This is one of those that if you have previous knowledge of the name it's a good bit easier, but i think a great example.

10)))

 

Band Name: Bazzah
Land of origin: Malaysia
Overly Specific Classification: Malaysian (Black Metal)
This one is visually minimal compared to most. Not that much crazy stuff around the type itself. Short name, simple logo, but everything is hidden very well. This one could make the list just because this bands debut album was seized and destroyed by the Government (of Malaysia), but not before they sold 300 copies. bad ass.

9)))

 

Band Name: Watain
Land of origin: Sweden
Overly Specific Classification: (Black Metal)
I love this logo, because it's perfectly symmetrical even though the word isn't a palindrome (a symmetrical word like noon or racecar) except for the slightest bit of faux erosion.

8)))

 

Band Name: Lurker Of Chalice
Land of origin: San Francisco, California
Overly Specific Classification: Ambient (Black Metal)
Up until this point the names are somewhat guessable, but if you can read this with out already knowing what it is supposed to say, well you're better at this than me. This one kinda stands out, it being not all that symmetrical. Also dig the ax in the middle for the "F".

7)))

Band Name: Enslaved
Land of origin: Norway
Overly Specific Classification: Progressive / Viking (Black Metal)
These guys are from Norway and love their viking heritage, if you can't tell from the almost runic type face or the Norse decoration, and, oh yeah, the hammer of Thor hanging from the center.

6)))

Band Name: Nokturnal Mortum 
Land of origin: Ukraine
Overly Specific Classification: Folk / Symphonic (Black Metal)
This list is not here to say whether or not a band is good or total crap, Satanic or Druish, or if they are national socialist fuckheads like Nokturnal Mortum. Logo is difficult to read, moving on.

5)))

Band Name: Leviathan
Land of origin: San Francisco, California
Overly Specific Classification: Ambient (Black Metal)
This is in my mind the definitive black metal logo. It's got great symmetry and plenty of "devil roots" growing from its completely unreadable type. This one took a good 5 min. to find all the letters in the name. Also, it's the second in the list for the black metal icon known as Wrest. He is the sole member of this band and Lurker of Chalice, and has great logos for both.

4)))

 

Band Name: Averse Sefira
Land of origin: Austin, Texas
Overly Specific Classification: Death (Black Metal)
Devil wings and upside down five pointed stars. Can't go wrong with that. I found all the letters in this one but it took me a long time. Tough nut to crack.

3)))

Band Name: Wolves in the Throne Room
Land of origin: Olympia, Washington
Overly Specific Classification: Ambient / Folk (Black Metal)
The longest name in the list and yet one of only 4 in the list that spell check had no problems with whatsoever, interesting. I like this logo a lot. It looks like it could almost be drawn with a big fat graffiti marker.  Extremely difficult to read. I honestly couldn't figure this one out, I'm still missing 2 letters. Don't worry, I found the sideways "W".

2)))

Band Name: Korgonthurus
Land of origin: Finland
Overly Specific Classification: (Black Metal)
Look, I know it totally just looks like an old branch. I almost wrote this one off as nothing, but look closer it's there. I think, that maybe just maybe I've found all of it but i "found" a lot of stuff in it. Like 4 different places that "N" can be, so.

1)))

 

Band Name: Xasthur 
Land of origin: Alhambra, California
Overly Specific Classification: Ambient (Black Metal)
This is it. I Could not figure out this thing out at all. Except for the "X" and "R," which are so obvious it's like they're mocking me! The (for lack of a better word) fuzziness is covering up any way to tell what is type and what isn't. Either I'm looking at it wrong or it's impossible to decipher. I had to give up on this one. It made me angry. It wins.

Comments

[Preston Mantooth]

I maean come on "DILLA", why you gots to be hatin'.
To make this easy to read I'll use your format:

1. I happen to like my single input tape recorder, circa 1978.

2. "the moon, Nordic mythical creatures, the woods, or the Baltic Sea" yeah it's because all of those things: FUCKING METAL!
Especially the Baltic Sea.

3. Look, i know guys who make hip-hop (not "rap") beats. Compared to playing ANY instrument, it's NOTHING.
"I should know, I play guitar too." Yes. Yes, you should.

4. You talk like a guy that got beat up and had his fucking milk money stolen by black metal kids in elementary school.

5. AND WHO THE FUCK SAID ANYTHING "HATERESQUE" ABOUT "RAP". By the way, you used the term "rap" then call your self a Hip-Hop producer, BIG FUCKING DIFFERENCE!!! you'd think someone "in the biz" would differentiate between the 2.
"I should know". Yes, you should.

DILLA. YOU ARE A FUCKING JOKE!

but, thanks for taking the time to leave us a comment. we couldn't do it with out the readers. :)

[HiZaM]

hey calm down first this is about the logois and they are awesome and the piont is they are hard to read i got till the branch and then i couldn't get any more letters second end with the discussion one says black metal sucks the other one says that all metals are the same (i am still trying to find a similarity in symphonic metal and doom metal) third you can be whatever you want i really don't care we all have the chance and i could think of some brains to be here and writing so for me you're quallifying to post a comment so thanks for everything.

for the poster i liked the band logos i have always thought about that they always make them hard to read.

[ArdRi79]

"the world always needs more vegan straightedge black metal bands from california"

Classic line! vegan straight edge black metal. Euronymous must be puking his last meal out the holes in his head.

Black metal logo's are cool but death metal logo's FFS I havent been able to read one in years

[shish]

nice idea, you gotta collect 'em all! and should maybe make it like when you point mouse on a pic letters become red.

[Preston Mantooth]

@ shish: Thought about it but this post was already complicated enough, as is.

[harry]

hahahahahahahaha, none of you even begin to udnerstand black metal. The music has so much feeling to it - good black metal that is, it creates beautiful atmospheres but at the same time is also the most extreme musicla form on the planet and is truly an art. Personally i think "4. Your songs all feature references to the moon, Nordic mythical creatures, the woods, or the Baltic Sea." is pretty cool but i guess all the faggots out there who want songs about love and being "gangsta" and shit dont have enough of an interest in life to write about anything toher than their direct experiences and dont have creativity. Rap takes no skill at all. Half the shit is just any rnaomd beat for the duration of ten seconds repeated over and over, whereas id love to see some of you pick up a guitar and play some of abgott or immortal's stuff, hmmm... Theres nothign retarded about having a logo you cant read as its a logo they wnat to add somethign unique and dont crave mainstream recognition anyway, they want to play music they actually like its not about becoming a corperate sellout who makes terrible music for the mainstream to lap up. You say black metal bands "try to be evil", one of the points of black metal was against the death metal scenes where they thought everything was imagery and not sincere, hence the infamous church burnings, and various murders and tortures in the 90s. I dont condone any of it but calling them insincere is just egotistic. Black metal doesnt care what anyone else has to say and isnt some pushover lefty who takes everyones comment into account, its an elitist genre

[Jay]

i found a few names in their logos, it's kind of tough but your pick for #1 (i'm not scrolling back to the top to get the band name) was easiest, but then again ima a lefty. anyway cool site, thanks, and love most metal...and hip hop too. shiza

[Preston Mantooth]

One of you guys that says that Xasthur (thats #1 for those who are either to lazy or too pretentious and feel the need to tell me how they are Not scrolling back to the top to get the band name) so fucking easy, please do a readable red out line of it in Photoshop. because I find it hard to believe that it in fact says anything at all.

Also harry is correct in that it's an elitist genre. The logos are made unreadable so if you know the band, you know what it says.

Example: If you wearing the shirt of one of these bands, lets say Leviathan, and some random comes up (no matter what they look like they listen to) and says, "Hey awesome shirt, Leviathan is fucking badass". That means a lot more than if your wearing say a Motorhead shirt and some random comes up (no matter what they look like they listen to) and says "Hey awesome shirt, Motorhead is fucking badass".

Because, there are some cockholes out there that if they can read what your shirt says they will automatically say they like the band. While their equally cockhole friends are right behind them, laughing hysterically at how funny (and don't forget clever) their douche friend is. On the flipside, if you wear corpse paint out in public you kinda have the whole getting made fun of coming to you.

[you guys are barely metal]

black metal is cool BECUASE most of you idiots dont like it!

[Broken Brain]

@barely metal:
You're so right! I don't think that your revolutionary idea of just doing the opposite of what the majority of people do has every crossed our minds. It's brilliant. As long as you're doing things that everyone hates, you're not letting their opinions control you at all, right?

[Wotan]

Broken Brain,

You obviously live in a world where everything you do is done for everyone around you to see and to either approve or disapprove of...which tells me either you're a child or a goddamn emo, therefore your opinions are as useless as your fucking 'Hot Topic' Tripp pants.

People who listen to Black Metal do so because it speaks to them in a way other forms and genres of music do not. Notwithstanding there are a few clueless dipshits out there who latch onto the ideology of black metal just to 'show the world' how evil they are or whatever. Preston has tried to explain this in earlier posts. There are morons everywhere...even some who claim to be 'black metal fans'. But the people who began this movement in Norway did so because they were tired of mainstream music; it didn't speak to them at all. The invented something raw and new and 99% of them time with very poor equipment leading to poor quality sound samples. Alot of the time the lyrics were in Norsk as well so it would be impossible for an english speaker to make any sense of it either way.

So before you swing that judgmental pendulum at those of us who understand and appreciate the beginning of black metal and it's modern-day counterparts (I doubt you've even listened to the musical genius in some of Dimmu Borgir's albums...heh) try actually learning something about black metal and it's people before making such an imbecilic broad generalization of shit you know nothing about.

[compsen]

Looks kinda like an embedded message for the right/left brain. The symbols are symmetrically similar, but slightly different sending a slightly different message to each side of the brain. Kind of similar to what Aleister Crowley did with reverse speech in the albums of popular classic rock bands.

Of course, then again I could be over complicating things whereas it's just a shitty attempt to do the same as every other Black Metal band :)

[hhhh]

More kiddies crying over shit no one cares about.. now THATS "unique" huh?

[Omega]

music is music. there's shitty music and there's always good music amongst the shitty music. In any genre. Playing music requires skills and inspiration, and that's already a plus. ( i bet the person who wrote how talentless these kids are wouldn't be able to play a metal drum solo). To judge it, one has to explore it and know what he's talking about. To explore it, one has to be open-minded. Open-mindedness is what most of the above comments are lacking. Listening only to black metal and saying everything else is shit is as lame as listening to rap or any other kind of music and being too limited to try to understand something new.
So that's pretty disappointing. But the logos are pretty funny, and that's the fun side of black metal :)

[goremancer]

Whats the point of fighting? Can't we just settle in peace? Everyone doesn't have to be the same... I used to like Hip-hop and after a few years I discovered Punk, then punk was the shit then after that it was grindcore... then Black metal and now death metal... but no matter what I wont say that a particular genre suck or is shit.... I might not listen to Hip hop now but they are a genre for a reason, they have their uniqueness too... and same goes for all the other genres... yes i know many people hate emo... but what's it to us... some people like to listen to that stuff.. the most we can do is not listen to it to show that we dislike it but there is no point in arguing about which is better... because all genres are special in their own ways. Dilla... according to ur post earlier at the top... u mentioned that u play guitar and ur a hip hop producer.... are u sure u know how to play guitar or do you just pretend to know ? ok even if you do know how to play guitar... have you ever played songs from Black metal bands? if not... i dont think you have the right to judge anyone or anything but urself for criticizing something you don't even know about. I used to like hip hop too and im not dissing cos Hip hop had its strong hard pumping beats ...just because i dont listen to it now doesn't mean that it's shit!

[Nekroid]

First of all, I can read all of these logos just fine..
I can see them fairly well. For another thing, I'm in a Black Metal band, and I love writing black metal, It's fun and it has feeling. I agree with everything Harry said, being in a black metal band myself, I don't wanna go mainstream, I'd much rather prefer to stay underground, and make some good money off TRUE fans, not poser ass mainstream fags. The music is not shitty, Black Metal is an acquired taste, because it's far from the normal music most people are used to listening to. That's also why it's called extreme metal. Not very many people like, and that's why there's tons of you people bashing it, because you don't understand the POINT of black metal, most black metal bands don't care about how complicated the music is, they care solely about the message they portray to people. That's the way it's always been with best of the Black Metal bands.

[Zaerxehn]

In Xasthur:
Don't you see that it has a sigil in the middle circle?
It's only a sigil man.

[kyou'rereallycool]

The people here who are crying about how Black Metal sucks are just offended Christians.

[Preston Mantooth]

i can't believe the subject of Christianity VS Black Metal took that long to get mentioned. This almost seems planted to get an argument started, just because it hasn't happened yet. A lot of black metal bands sing about the devil and anti-christian stuff but most of them are atheists or pagans. whoever that kid is, hes obviously not a real black metal fan.
I'm not going to argue about religion on here. I'll leave that to bigger douches like politicians, the media, you & your Myspace blog, Etc.

Oh yeah, still waiting on that Xasthur outline... you lying bitch-asses.

[kanth]

only a couple of these are difficult. a quick perusal of metal-archives.com will bring to light a plethora of challenging image-names.

[someguy]

Pick up pretty much any Immortal song from Battles in the North onwards, then try to play the guitar parts. If you can - good for you, you probably play Death Metal, which has given you an affinity for fast tremolo picking.

Seriously, some of the best guitarists I know could not possibly play Black Metal, purely because of the speed of the strumming (yes, tremolo STRUMMING. It's "fvcking kvlt", whether you like it or not). Speed = skill, and Black Metal musicians have skill. Alot of Black Metal is surprisingly good from a musician's point of view as well.

The main point isn't in how it sounds, but in the atmosphere it creates.

"If music be the fruit of love..."

[wm]

Here's Xasthur:

http://wintermoon.co.uk/

[anthony]

black metal sucks. if these posers put more effort into their music than trying to make their logos indeciphrable...who knows?

[Fuck You Haters]

OK, let's all comment on the logos, not the music. All you fucking hip-hop fans that are up in here hating on black metal have obviously never listened to Dimmu Borgir, Emperor, or Beherit, all of which combine electronics or symphonics in their music to create a complex and multi-layered sound. Fuck you DILLA. I know that all you do is fuck around on fruity loops all day (its a beat-producing program with tons of pre-recorded shit these hip-hop assholes like to mash together for those of you who didn't know). Black metal rules. We don't need to argue about that.

[Kirsten]

The retards in these comments are the ones who say black metal sucks in general just because THEY don't like it.

Rap is severely untalented in their lack of the ability to make actual music. It's machines. And it's really fucking annoying.

But you know what? That's my opinion. I'm entitled to it. But if you like rap, go ahead, like it, good for you, I don't mind.

Oh yeah and BM vocalists KNOW people can't understand them. Thats the point. Jackass.