Rippin' on....tribute to Frazetta

With their usual biting wit and obvious affection, Zack and Steve pay tribute to the art of Frank Frazetta.

Frank Frazetta

-Rognar-

Greatest Album Covers, Pt.5

The Swedish power metal band, HammerFall, has a sound reminiscent of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) movement of the late 70s, early 80s, although their lyrics tend toward more militant themes than the rock-n-roll and motocycles that dominated the NWOBHM. Like Iron Maiden, HammerFall appears to have a cover art mascot. A hammer-wielding, heavily-armoured warrior appears on all of their studio album covers. I present two of my favourites, the 1997 debut album, Glory to the Brave and the 2005 release, Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken. The odd title of the latter album refers to it being their fifth studio album, although none of their other albums were named in such a way.

-Rognar-

As an aside, there sure are a lot of European heavy metal bands that sing almost exclusively in English. Considering the sorry state of metal in the United States of Hip-Hop-ica, I wonder why they bother.

Greatest Album Covers, Pt.4

Some guys try way too hard to click with the cool kids. I get a similar vibe from the band Rhapsody of Fire (formerly known as Rhapsody). I have only heard a few riffs from this group, which is described as a high fantasy-inspired, Italian symphonic metal band. They release albums like fantasy novels, maintaining a narrartive across several albums with names like The Emerald Sword Saga or The Dark Secret Saga. But, despite what their wikipedia entry might say about them, Ozzy Osbourne craps out more metal in his stool every morning than Rhapsody of Fire has in its entire playlist. Their sound is more appropriate for soundtracks of teen fantasy flicks like Eragon, but I will concede their album cover art is first-rate. They even went so far as to hire famed D&D artist, Jeff Easley, to provide the art for their latest album, Triumph or Agony (2006).

-Rognar-

Greatest Album Covers, Pt.3

Ronnie James Dio has had a history of awesome album covers, although I have noticed that the degree of awesomeness in inversely proportional to the success of the album in question. The coolest cover art has appeared on his two most recent studio albums, Killing the Dragon (2002), which depicts a mob of angry people bringing down a dragon, and Master of the Moon (2004) showing a demonic creature grasping a glowing orb, presumably a manifestation of moon magic.

-Rognar-

Greatest Album Covers, Pt.2

Iron Maiden has had some of the coolest album covers around, but they really outdid themselves with their 2006 release A Matter of Life and Death, featuring an undead army unit making its way across a battered landscape. Famed Iron Maiden mascot Eddy is featured less prominently than in most previous album covers, but that is him standing atop the tank. Simply awesome.

-Rognar-

Greatest Album Covers, Pt.1

In a new series documenting the greatest fantasy album covers of all time, I start with one of the most incongruous band/album cover combinations ever. Molly Hatchet was a forgettable Southern rock band from the 70s and 80s which, for reasons completely out of step with their musical influences, had a major attraction for the art of Frank Frazetta, the best known Conan the Barbarian artist not named Boris. Although several of their album covers featured Frazetta's work, the self-titled debut from 1978 is my personal favourite.

-Rognar-