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Black Sabbath (1970)
Released
Black Sabbath · Play Black Sabbath
In Keith Macmillan’s photograph, a lone figure stands in front of an old mill, leaving most of the frame to the trees and stone. The song’s bell and the pause before its next guitar phrase give the sound a similar space to hang in.
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Master of Puppets (1986)
Released
Metallica · Play Disposable Heroes
Don Brautigam’s painted rows of white crosses repeat into the distance, with strings visible above them. Play Disposable Heroes to hear a similarly rigid pattern in the rhythm and a story of people made expendable.
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Powerslave (1984)
Released
Iron Maiden · Play Powerslave
Derek Riggs gives Eddie the scale of a pharaoh’s stone monument, with tiny people along the stairs. The title song’s switches between lighter melody and the full band make a similar shift in scale.
More about Powerslave4
Leviathan (2004)
Released
Mastodon · Play Blood and Thunder
Paul Romano’s sleeve gives the whale a huge body and the ship very little space around it. The opening picks out a comparably narrow shape, then lets the drums and shouted refrain fill the rest of the frame.
More about Leviathan5
Paranoid (1970)
Released
Black Sabbath · Play War Pigs
The original sleeve’s costumed figure and blurred outdoor movement are a strange match for the famously direct album title. Start with the siren and long buildup in War Pigs to hear the record make that uncertainty ominous.
More about Paranoid6
Reign in Blood (1986)
Released
Slayer · Play Raining Blood
Larry Carroll’s painted figures and rust-red field pull your eye into a cramped scene. Start with Raining Blood for the short space between its ominous opening and the intensity of the full band.
More about Reign in Blood7
...And Justice for All
Metallica · Play ...And Justice for All
Stephen Gorman’s illustration shows a cracked Lady Justice held by ropes, with money spilling out of her scales. The title track’s long sequence of tight, repeated guitar patterns gives the pressure in the image time to build.
More about ...And Justice for All8
Peace Sells... But Who's Buying? (1986)
Released
Megadeth · Play Peace Sells
The skeletal mascot waits among ruined buildings with a sale sign. The clean bass opening and escalating sarcasm of the title track make the ruined real-estate joke feel like the right doorway.
More about Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?9
Rust in Peace (1990)
Released
Megadeth · Play Hangar 18
The alien and the observers around it turn the sleeve into a room where everybody is watching something closely. Play Hangar 18 to hear the guitars trade attention just as quickly.
More about Rust in Peace10
Ride the Lightning (1984)
Released
Metallica · Play Ride the Lightning
The electric chair floats in a field of branching light. Play the title song for how the sharp, picked attack keeps returning as the narrator faces the chair.
More about Ride the Lightning11
British Steel (1980)
Released
Judas Priest · Play Grinder
The razor blade occupies almost all of a spare black field. Grinder makes a similar choice in sound, holding tightly to the riff and pulse so every small change has an edge.
More about British Steel12
Painkiller (1990)
Released
Judas Priest · Play Painkiller
The illustrated rider and its machine cut through the frame on a diagonal. Start with the drum introduction to hear the same sense of forward motion before the guitars enter.
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Somewhere in Time (1986)
Released
Iron Maiden · Play Caught Somewhere in Time
Derek Riggs’s illustrated city keeps revealing another sign, character, or light each time you look. Play the opener for layered guitar and synthesizer sounds that make a similarly crowded setting easy to move through.
More about Somewhere in Time14
The Number of the Beast (1982)
Released
Iron Maiden · Play Hallowed Be Thy Name
Eddie and the devil appear with puppet strings running between levels. Play Hallowed Be Thy Name for another play with control, where the quiet opening moves into music that feels pulled ahead of the narrator.
More about The Number of the Beast15
Screaming for Vengeance (1982)
Released
Judas Priest · Play Screaming for Vengeance
A bright mechanical bird bears down across a warm background. The abrupt instrumental opening into Electric Eye gives the picture a sense of speed and pursuit.
More about Screaming for Vengeance16
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988)
Released
Iron Maiden · Play Infinite Dreams
The figure and iceberg fragments sit above a nearly empty blue sea. Start with Infinite Dreams for the way a calm opening makes enough room for the bursts of pace that follow.
More about Seventh Son of a Seventh Son17
Magma (2016)
Released
Gojira · Play Silvera
A black peak rises out of patterned water, with a pale sun-shaped face on the rock and a twisting plume above it. Start with Silvera for the same contrast between a sharply profiled guitar riff and a more elaborate melodic part behind it.
More about Magma18
Jane Doe (2001)
Released
Converge · Play Concubine
Jacob Bannon’s face is partly lost in stains and blocks of print texture. The opening track uses a dense and abrupt band sound where the person underneath the surface is also hard to keep in focus.
More about Jane Doe19
Crack the Skye (2009)
Released
Mastodon · Play Oblivion
The artwork crowds circular, mechanical and ornate shapes into a frame that still has a center. In Oblivion, several vocal textures and guitar patterns move around a clear rising melody in a similar way.
More about Crack the Skye20
From Mars to Sirius (2005)
Released
Gojira · Play Flying Whales
The whale and planetary images put an immense subject in a sparse field. Listen to the unhurried introduction to Flying Whales and how it sets the scale before the full riff arrives.
More about From Mars to Sirius21
Dopesmoker (2022)
Released
Sleep · Play Dopesmoker
The desert procession on the illustrated reissue gives you a long walk to imagine. The title piece spends its extended run changing the pressure around a riff, which is closer to following that procession than to going from chorus to chorus.
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