Corpse paint
Corpse paint is a style of body painting, used mainly by black metal bands for concerts and band photos. The body painting is used to make the musicians appear inhuman, corpse-like, or demonic, and is perhaps "the most identifiable aspect of the black metal aesthetic."[1]
Corpse paint typically involves making the face and neck
Outside of black metal, black and white
History and usage
The earliest
In the late 1970s and '80s, such face paint began to be more associated with
Bands of the early Norwegian black metal scene used corpse paint extensively. Early vocalist of Mayhem Per "Dead" Ohlin started wearing it in the late 1980s. According to Necrobutcher, Mayhem's bass player: "It wasn't anything to do with the way Kiss and Alice Cooper used makeup. Dead actually wanted to look like a corpse. He didn't do it to look cool."[7] In the early 1990s, other Norwegian black metal bands followed suit and their style and sound was adopted by bands around the world. Eventually, some Norwegian bands—such as Emperor and Satyricon—stopped wearing corpse paint, often citing its loss of individualistic meaning, as well as its increased trendiness, due to use by so many bands.
Examples
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Erik Danielsson of Watain
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Hoest of Taake
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Attila Csihar performing with Mayhem
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Nag of Tsjuder
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Lars Stokstad, performing with Antestor
See also
References
- ^ Patterson, Dayal: Black Metal: Evolution of the Cult; 2013, Feral House, Port Townsend, Washington; p. 144.
- ISBN 9781351266628
- ^ "Alice Cooper Recruits Arthur Brown For Fire-themed Halloween Show". Ultimate Classic Rock. December 29, 2017.
- ^ Interview with Hellhammer conducted by Dmitry Basik June 1998
- ^ On the Role of Clothing Styles In The Development of Metal – Part I – Metal Storm
- ^ Patterson, Dayal: Black Metal: Evolution of the Cult; 2013, Feral House, Port Townsend, Washington; p. 144.
- ^ Chris Campion: In the Face of Death. In: The Observer, 20. February 2005.