3 album covers in our archive
Metallica is featured in Behind the Covers' archive with 3 album covers spanning the 1990s and 1980s. Released across Elektra, Elektra Records and Megaforce Records labels, the artwork sits in the metal, rock tradition. Each cover is documented in our archive with design notes covering minimalism, black, snake, iconic, metal, cemetery. Below you'll find the full story behind each Metallica cover — designers, photographers, label history, and the visual choices that defined the release.
Cover evolution
The almost entirely black cover — with a barely visible coiled snake and logo in a slightly different shade of black — signaled the band was stripping everything back to essentials, mirroring their shift from complex thrash structures to simpler, massive arrangements.
The haunting cemetery scene that graces Metallica's thrash masterpiece was shot at dawn in a San Francisco Bay Area graveyard, with designer Don Brautigam creating one of metal's most iconic images of control and manipulation through meticulous attention to the puppet strings stretching across endless white crosses.
Metallica's electric chair artwork was created by band members themselves after their record label couldn't afford professional designers. The stark, hand-drawn imagery became one of metal's most recognizable covers despite being born from budget constraints.
