Top 20 Best Album Covers / Layouts of 2011
December 21 2011 at 07:46:39 AM  20. Daniel Desecrator, Condenados - A Painful Journey into Nihil Since 2005, Daniel Desecrator has been creating a name for himself sending people to hell as an accomplished tattoo-artist in Chile. His talent for fine detail extends equally to his numerous illustrations and covers for bands like Hooded Menace, Deiphago, Force of Darkness, and Bestial Mockery as well as the underground Compilation of Death zine. Although it's mostly his black and white drawings that have yielded him a cult following, this piece for the debut of fellow Chileans Condenados ("Doomed") immediately stands out as one of this year's best.  19. Richard Friend, Loss - Despond Curiosities are hidden in the stillness and shadows of Richard Friend's melancholy "Black Drawings."  18. Robert Pettersson - Bastard Priest, Ghouls of the Endless Night Turns out the record's a total boner-killer, but can't blame Pettersson for getting ya worked up something fierce for this one.  17. Josh McAlear - Cruel Force - Under the Sign of the Moon A Boston-based tattoo artist and illustrator, McAlear's growing portfolio includes work for Hour of 13 and Morbid Tales zine. Perhaps his finest work so far, the Cruel Force album cover hits notes far more satisfying than another "blackened thrash" record.  16. Bill Hauser - Ghoul, Transmission Zero These last 3 records definitely have something in common but only one has a cover by the awesome Bill Hauser.  15. Zbigniew Bielak, Absu – Abzu
I have no fucking idea, but I like it a lot.  14. Bolek Budzyn, Loudblast - Frozen Moments Between Life and Death Shit, man. When did Loudblast get back together?  13. Alice Duke, Cormorant - Dwellings Definitely one of the most uniquely designed album covers of the year, Alice Duke's fertile storybook panorama unfolds vertically into a fantastic scene of conflict and flight.
 12. Raul Gonzalez, Deceased - Surreal Overdose Expect to see a lot more of Spanish artist Raul Gonzalez's work in the future. This little nightmare's definitely best served in 12 x 12 format, with lots to keep you guessing late at night. The freaky, scissor-wielding arms with legs (fuuuuck) are based on an old poster for the film, The Devil Within Her.  11. Brad Moore, Argus – Boldy Stride The Doomed You do not know him as the guy responsible for the cover of Morpheus Descends’ classic Ritual of Infinity album, but Brad Moore is one and the same. A self-described seer and seeker whose work challenges distinctions between fine art and illustration. At various points in his career Moore has been a teacher and lecturer, but if you’re at all familiar with him it’s probably due to his work for a number of underground comics, including the new line of Skull Comics in the mid-Nineties, as well as designing covers and T-shirts for bands like The Meatshits, Internal Bleeding and Human Remains. This is Moore’s second time working with East Coast doomsters Argus, with similarly mind-bending results.  10. Timo Ketola, Negative Plane – Stained Glass Revelations
Inimitable and legendary. Tim Kittenpant’s work has the unique, age-spanning quality of appearing centuries older than his contemporaries and innovative at the same time. Forced to conclude that while the man is very much flesh and blood, whatever wills his hand is not of this world.
 9. Paolo Girardi, Blasphemophagher - The III Command of the Absolute Chaos
In Italy they call this: Salmagundi di fago  8. Joe Petagno, Satan’s Host - By The Hands of the Devil Thing about a Petagno is that even after purchasing one you still have to earn it. As a band you're advertising an awful lot through an image that, in many cases, you can't possibly live up to. Thank Motorhead for setting the standard. How it should be. And thank Satan's Host for matching hell's minions blow for mighty blow. Another pure Petagno demon storm, badass as ever, and the split paneling helps this one to stand out alongside similarly-colored covers over the last few years.  7. Raul Gonzalez, Morbus Chron – Sleepers in the Rift
This particular painting was sold to the band, rather than commissioned, and it's amazing to think no one had previously beaten them to it. It's exactly the kind of thing you'd expect to turn up on an old paperback of Lovecraft stories. Which makes it equally fitting for Morbus Chron's debut of mad, cosmic-splatter.
 6. Benjamin Vierling, Avichi – The Devil’s Fractal Intense cosmic forces contained by a halo of fire in this elaborate mandala-style painting by the visionary artist, Benjamin Vierling.
 5. Martin Hanford, Twisted Tower Dire – Make it Dark British fantasy artist Martin Hanford's career includes work for gaming companies as well as album covers for Bal Sagoth, Solstice and Isen Torr. He is also responsible for the cover of Slough Feg's classic Traveler and several other Twisted Tower Dire albums, though you'd never know it to compare them with Make it Dark. Such is his flexibility and range, using a more comic style in illustrating moments and characters from each of the album's songs.
  Click on image to view enlarged 4.Timo Ketola, Grave – Necropsy What makes this drawing so awesome is that, for all the work put into shading each blade of grass and lichen, these details never detract from the emotion - even in death - displayed on the face of the severed head. A conflicted expression divided in rot and restfulness (a little red goes a long way). It's eerily natural feeling, as if Ketola had just stumbled upon it during a walk through the woods. Not so fast: Opening the LP reveals a cross section of the earth below, where the corpse lies still and twisted in the coffin shards of its freshly plundered grave.
 3. Dennis Dread, Saturnalia Temple – Aion of Drakon This cover has a superficial resemblance to Dread’s exceptional artwork for the Lucifer Rising Suite (See our interview here), and in some ways I find it even more impressive. The great sense of mystery and horror, of very badly wanting and not wanting to know what’s inside its wells and darkened tunnels. The feel of 70s concert poster art is there again, the way the names for band, album and songs are each a part of the actual actual drawing, rather than added afterward. And the same is true for the inside, where each letter of every lyric is hand drawn in the same style as the cover. It’s also one of the few album's I can think of where the back cover is more insane than the front. The shading is extremely smooth and tight throughout, and the color and textures of the fibers surrounding the front eye are so vivid and strongly-rendered you can’t help wanting to reach out and touch them. Eww, right?
 2. Wes Benscoter, Autopsy – Macabre Eternal They totally stold it.  1. Ola Larsson, Disma – Towards the Megalith A sweeping panorama with the feel of Michael Whelan and Andreas Marshall’s darkest and most fondly remembered, genre-shaping pieces. A winding, gloomy trail which leads one through a world utterly disfigured by evil--from the icy hooks of mountain peaks, to forests filled with jagged teeth to finally walk with a grim procession toward the yawning gate of the megalith itself.
Look for our in-depth interview with Ola Larsson in issue #2 of Chips & Beer The Magazine, coming January 2012.  The Artists: Joe Petagno Brad Moore Zbigniew Bielak Josh McAlear Bill Hauser Robert Pettersson Paolo Girardi Alice Duke Bolek Budzyn Raul Gonzalez Richard Friend Timo Ketola Benjamin Vierling Martin Hanford Wes Benscoter Dennis Dread Ola Larsson
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