I thought about what kind of a blog post I want to do next, and I started thinking about how amusing I find all album covers with a skull on them. One thing led to the next, and I decided to write about five great skull-featuring albums I have in my vinyl collection. Enjoy!
1. Morbid Saint - Spectrum Of Death (1988)
I probably heard Morbid Saint for the first time around 2007. The opening track Lock Up Your Children made a permanent impact on me with its extremely aggressive vocals. I'm usually not a big fan of thrash metal but after hearing the first track, I immediately bought the vinyl. Morbid Saint's death/thrash combo sounds super fresh even today. The skeleton on the cover is super badass, and I accept nothing but that he is the one doing the vocals on the album.
Favorite track: Lock Up Your Children
2. Mega Drive - 198XAD (2014)
Mega Drive has always been an intriguing synthwave act to me. Quite many synthwave / retrowave artists pretend to be badass but their music ends up sounding like some powerlift background music. Mega Drive isn't one of those artists. Their music sounds cryptic and violent - like you're stuck inside of a super computer and the AI starts to slowly defragment you into oblivion. The use of distortion in Mega Drive's work is just phenomenal. Every track hits you with an enormous force of 1,000 megatons.
Favorite track: Slum Lord
3. Fra Lippo Lippi - In Silence (1981)
If you're into post-punk and coldwave, I highly recommend checking out the debut album of Fra Lippo Lippi. In Silence is what the album title predicts: cold and depressive. It's not a secret that they have listened to Joy Division but even good ol' JD had a few positive sounding tracks. Fra Lippo Lippi's first album is just pure despair in the nothingness where no one can hear you. Thank god I grabbed the vinyl when it was reissued in 2017!
Favorite track: Out Of The Ruins
4. Cobra - Back From The Grave (1986)
I have no recollection of how in the world I stumbled upon Cobra but I'm so glad I did. Just look at the front cover. LOOK AT IT! There's a giant cobra, an erupting volcano and a skeleton rising from the dead. New Wave Of British Heavy Metal is my guilty pleasure especially if the album cover is as hilarious as this one. Thank god I snagged the original vinyl copy of Back From The Grave in the past. The track Curse Of Eden is such a savage heavy metal masterpiece. It also captures the overall vibe of the album perfectly: we're wild at heart and we just love to play heavy metal.
Favorite track: Curse Of Eden
5. Blood - Impulse To Destroy (1989)
I'm a huge fan of hand-drawn metal album covers and the Impulse To Destroy cover is one of my all-time favorites. When an abomination of hell bursts out of the ground, you can't be dealing with a bad album. Impulse To Destroy is deathgrind at its best - hard-hitting and unique. The track Bloody Season is one of the most chaotic metal pieces I have ever heard in my life and it runs only for 48 seconds. Especially the vocals are pure mayhem!
Favorite track: Bloody Season