Friday, March 28, 2008

Great moments in art history: Broken Hope


I remember nearly falling asleep while Broken Hope played at the Milwakee Metal Fest one year. We were all waiting for Suffocation, but Broken Hope had to play first. Damn it. Much has been made of how insanely generic they were/are, but one thing that can't be disputed is their unbelievable taste in cover artwork.

It was around the early 90's that many bands switched from using the preferred media of airbrushing, to oil paint for their artwork. Broken Hope's "Swamped In Gore" is typical of what some may call the second wave in death metal oil painting cover art.

Please note the following:

1. A green chess board? Huh? I'm happy that the guy learned how to use perspective and all..but what is the message? Is life one big game? I'm confused as hell.

2. Why are the two eyeballs (with tails) being propped up by toothpicks? They remind me of these little hours dourves my mom used to make for guests. Damn, now I'm hungry.

3. Why is the weird retarded dead guy just floating around? I think this is like the Matrix or something. A Matrix of generic death metal where retarded dead people float around looking for fancy snack eyeballs on toothpicks? Maybe. But what about the chess board?

4. Why does the retarded dead guy have a large cartoon-style magnet on his head/brain? Why is it pointing towards the band logo? Dan Seagrave could have done such a better job. Just look at the blood on the dude's ribs. It's all thick, like jelly.

5. Why are there sesame seeds chasing the retarded guy's ear? Damn, I'm getting hungry again.

6. Why is a skeleton guy creeping up behind the retarded guy, lurking in the shadows? That skeleton guy is up to no good retarded dead guy! You better watch out!

7. The laughing skull with fire around it (a Ghost Rider reference?) is clearly the one thing that the dude spent the most time on. By the time he had paint the eyeballs, he was all "man, the skull rules...I'm not getting paid enough to give every part of this painting my A-game." It's pretty much how the guy that did the Death Angel "Act III" cover spent all that time on the stage and curtains that by the time it came to painting the people he just said "ah...whatever...they can look like crappy statues." To read more about that cover, go here.


13 comments:

  1. amazing! i had forgotten all about how awful this cover is. and don't forget the insightful lyrics to the title track: "GORE GORE GORE GORE!"

    have you heard the last few Broken Hope albums, though? they're actually really good, technical death metal like Mortal Decay or Oppressor.

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  2. The toothpicks are lifted from the work of Salvador Dali.

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  3. don't forget the skeleton guy's wehrmacht helmet.

    there's just so much going on. it's like an insanely convoluted metaphor. and just when you think you got it, you notice those white triangles on the chessboard. and then it's back to square one.

    a work of true genius.

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  4. swamped in gore... gore... gore, gore, gore!

    the whole thing is very dali-like, that's for sure!

    .

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  5. And to think we haven't even mentioned the "Hobo Stew" 7-inch yet!

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  6. "Swamped in Gay" is more like it... uh... huh-huh.

    (I couldn't resist.)

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  7. Why are the two eyeballs (with tails) being propped up by toothpicks?

    ---- Well, the toothpicks might come handy when you are about to fall asleep listening to their generic D.M

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  8. This cover makes me feel like that guy from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, sitting in front of a gaint pile of mashed potato goop mumbeling "This means something. This is important".

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  9. Generic brutal death, sure...but they had the most insane lyrics in metal history. Necro fellatio!!!

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  10. No, BH did in fact suck their entire career. And so did Oppressor...

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  11. All you people are fuckin CUNTS! Broken Hope was goddamned awesome! And they got more incredible as time went on. Generic my ass! Have you heard "Loathing" and "Grotesque Blessings"? Stick to you faggot ass deathcore.

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  12. Very informative post . Thanks for sharing this post .

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  13. I am absolutely loving your gorgeous blog

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