Creatures of Corpse Paint is a graphic overview of the history of corpse paint. It was sold as a limited edition art print.
A short history of corpse paint
Corpse paint is the black and white face makeup worn by black metal bands. The goal is to look dead, or inhuman.
Shock rockers like Alice Cooper and KISS used face paint in the 70s. In the 80s, bands like Hellhammer, Celtic Frost, and Sarcófago took it darker. By the early 90s, the Norwegian scene made it a uniform. Mayhem, Immortal, Darkthrone, and Emperor each had their own style.
Every musician’s design is a bit different. Some are simple. Some look like skulls. Fans can often tell who is who just from the paint.
Black metal books
Want to go deeper? These are worth reading:
- True Norwegian Black Metal by Peter Beste
- Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground
- Hideous Gnosis: Black Metal Theory Symposium I
- The A-Z of Black Metal
Black metal t-shirts
Browse our black metal t-shirts.