Kevill says that when the band put together their debut, War Without End, for Century Media, they designed it for people who would purchase it in a store. They also released a vinyl album which sold well on tour. “We tried to set it up to make it something we would want to hold in our hands as metal fans,” Kevill says.
Kevill says that digital music can make fans feel less appreciative of albums. “If you want to know my biggest worry...it makes people take music for granted,” he says. “It’s as if there are two kids in the candy store. One’s a really fat kid and his mom is going to buy him anything he wants. The other kid is a really skinny poor kid who has 50 cents so he can get one or two candy bars at most. Who’s going to appreciate their candy more?”
“It’s the same way with music. If you go seek out your music the albums you find you are going to appreciate and listen to front to back and not just a couple of songs. Whereas if you download a record you have no investment in it.”
The Image Makers
Tighter budgets at labels mean it’s getting tougher for bands to present a complete vision of their music. Complicating that, music download services like iTunes or eMusic only want small digital snapshots to accompany a downloaded album.Anthony Clarkson, head graphic designer for Century Media and Nuclear Blast Records, grew up as a fan of Derek Riggs’ constantly evolving “Eddie” artwork for Iron Maiden. Who can forget the image of Eddie hovering over the devil on The Number Of The Beast? Clarkson says what made Maiden’s album artwork special was that Riggs was able to create a link between each album yet do something different in each painting.
Clarkson has designed albums for some of metal’s biggest bands, including the cover of Exodus’ Shovel Headed Kill Machine. When he starts designing an album now he inevitably wonders if the artwork can translate to digital.
“We’ve got to step in to show fans something over the top and something that’s worth spending a couple extra bucks to get the actual CD because you want the artwork,” he says.
Clarkson says artists now try to make images starker so when they are scaled down to a download the art is still eye-catching. But he’s worried the move to digital will mean fewer fans will spend quality time in record stores discovering new music by looking for the most extreme or unusual covers.
“I remember growing up what I loved was getting a new album and sitting there and listening to it and staring at the artwork forever,” he says. “Those are the days I fear are going away. Now I need to start approaching it different and try to create something that’s more symbolic...maybe it’s big and on more neutral background so it’s something that will pop real quick when you look at a digital mini.”
Clarkson disagrees vehemently with those who say metal is only about music and not about the image. “A lot of kids like to claim that the music’s not image-based, but it is. There’s a reason out of all the bands in the 1980s that Iron Maiden popped...because without those covers, that consistent amazing look and the same artist doing it album after album there would have been a definite loss of the theme of Iron Maiden. There are a lot of bands that could have been bigger if they had more consistent artwork.”
Brian Ames, a vice president of creative services at Metal Blade Records, says artists accustomed to vinyl learned to live with CDs when booklets expanded and will need to learn to work with digital. But he adds that having different ways to tell a story will remain crucial. “We try to supply (bands) with artwork but it’s always difficult to figure out what’s the best option,” Ames says, adding that without artwork and notes “you almost lose a portion of the album.”
Underground Metal and Downloads
Underground metal could be one exception to the shift to digital music. Smaller labels owners say metal customers will continue to thrive on artwork and packaging, special editions and physical copies of favorite records.Marietta, Georgia-based Deathgasm Records continues a brisk business in underground metal and offers special editions and limited packaging for releases. The label issued a copy of grindcore band Amoebic Dysentery’s Hospice Orgy that included a jewel case and a coloring book.
“Metal will never go entirely digital, because there will always be an underground associated with it, and with it a dedicated core of die-hard followers,” label head Evan March says. “Of course, there will be some releases available in digital-only format, but the move to a digital format is a slower process with metal, as compared to music on the whole, because of the active underground.”
Barrett Amiss II, who heads New York death metal label Sevared Records, offers music for sale at iTunes, Amazon.com and other sites. But he releases music via compact disc before the music is available digitally.
“I think fans still really want that concrete slab of history in their hands,” said Amiss, who was introduced to death metal via the cover of Cannibal Corpse’s Tomb of the Mutilated album. But he says: “It's sad to say but the way things are now you pretty much have to get in on the new things available.”
