MAYHEM - 2011 Gig Poster

I wanted to do something COMPLETELY different as a gig poster than I had ever done before, and since Mayhem has always had an aura of terror and mysticism about them (anyone who knows Norwegian black metal will tell you that!), and I wanted to capture the feeling I got from them when I listen to "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas", specifically the title track.

MAYHEM will be playing The Trocadero November 4th at 7PM!

--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The idea of the monster was that it was this... thing. I didn't want it to be anything, actually, just this weird otherworldly creature. Its a mix of Chtulu and the monster from Watchmen, with a bit of my own weirdness mixed in.

One thing I loved about doing this piece was the fact that it reminded me of how I worked back in High School; sitting at my desk at night drawing the most Satanic and terrifying things I could imagine!

I did do the type separately in this case, and I drew it by hand and scanned it back in. Getting the tentacles to wrap was something I wanted, but I also wanted everything behind it, too.

Other than the way the entire typography was handled on this poster, the other big change is the way I showed the main band name; I decided to let it bleed off the page. I knew it was easy enough to read that passing by you would go, "Oh fuck, MAYHEM is in town? I need to go! NOW!"