Bands with Evolving Logos
You probably know of Metalsucks’ regular promotion, “Unreadable Band Logo,” sponsored (?) by Roadrunner Records.
One of the best examples of an unreadable logo is Immortal’s original design:
This is a very in-your-face logo, with barbed wire and an inverted cross as its centerpiece. Also notice the inverted pentagram above the inverted cross.The lettering is difficult to read, in a weirdly occult way.
Now compare with the new logo:
Here’s my point. Band logos are not only funny to look at, as Metalsucks does with the most extreme of them, but they are a bellweather for a band. When a logo changes, there’s a good chance that music is changing along with it. If you listen to the early Immortal, it’s much less accessible than the newer material–including “All Shall Fall,” which came out on October 6.
Immortal is not unique in his regard. Other bands also polished their edges and modified their logo accordingly as time went by.
The legendary band Death began as a leader of a new genre, Death Metal. The original logo:
However, as the band became more technical the logo went through a serious cleanup. Out were the dripping blood, the cobwebs, the ghost face… and the inverted cross:
Others have remained consistent despite some serious changes. Darkthrone began as a run of the mill Death metal band; but they quickly revealed their awesome talent for dark melodies. Even when they migrated into Crust, they stuck to their original logo:
I would love to find other bands whose logo evolved with time. Especially bands who modified their logo to better fit a new orientation. Do you guys have any suggestion? Write them in the comments!
