Cryptic Spell. Phenomenology of Black Metal Aesthetics
Cryptic Spell. Phenomenology of Black Metal aesthetics is an editorial project made for ISIA Urbino that investigates the history and aesthetic phenomenon related to the Black Metal music genre. It was sparked by one particular object, a patch of the band Darkthrone. The publication presents an excursus, which starts from the history of patches, describes the history of the music genre, the origins of metal typography, and culminates with a chapter on contemporary black metal aesthetics.
The book typography pairs Freight Text with Neue Haas Grotesk. The chapter openings present original lettering designed by us, connected to the different eras and styles that have crossed the history of heavy metal.
Cover.
Table of contents.
Chapter opening for “a short history of the patch”.
Chapter opening for “a history of Black Metal typography”, featuring a narrow Fraktur with some hyperextended stems.
Left: A detail from the prayer book for Emperor Maximilian I, printed in early Fraktur type by Johann Schönsperger (Augsburg, 1513). Right: Detail from a type specimen by Johann Peter Nees & Co., showing Johann Christian Bauer’s Fette Fraktur (1855).
Left: The controversial band logo by KISS, compared to the insignia of the Nazi SS.
Lettering by Steve Crow.
Chapter opening for “comtemporary metal aesthetics”.
Left: Kendall Jenner wearing a Slayer T-shirt in 2014. Right: Slayer guitarist Gary Holt with a “Kill the Kardashians” T-shirt a year later.
