VISIONS OF EXTINCTION: INTERVIEW WITH DAVID BRENNER ABOUT GRIDFAILURE's ALBUM COVERS

More than a conventional band, Gridfailure is the conduit to a quite unique aural/visual universe. This highly experimental, New York-based project was born from the mind of vocalist/multi-instrumentalist, David Brenner, who fearlessly blends elements from various genres, including Black Metal, Industrial, Post-Rock, contemporary Classical music, Jazz, Folk and more. The recently-released Sixth Mass-Extinction Skulduggery III is the third chapter of a multi-album saga that might be destined to become Gridfailure's magnun opus. In the following interview, Brenner (who creates most of the project's visual imagery) offers detailed information about the records' concept and accompanying graphics—including the intriguing cover artworks.

Tell us about the concept and themes that form the Sixth Mass-Extinction Skulduggery saga?

David Brenner: Sixth Mass-Extinction Skulduggery is a concept I’m exploring through a five-album series. The first three albums – Sixth Mass-Extinction Skulduggery I, II, and III – are set in modern times and the immediate future, as we’ve already entered the Anthropocene and we’re watching the planet react to humanity with urgent wrath as society consumes itself. These three albums will be followed by the final two albums in the arc: Teeth Collection and Drought Stick. These two massive albums will be set in the post-apocalyptic landscape once we’ve completely depleted the planet of its resources and it’s basically a barren and harsh worldwide Nuclear Winter ravaged by natural disasters.

As resources are depleted, so are morals, and as monolithic storms ravage the planet, neighbors turn on one another, and once war and uprising decimate the population, survivors are left to slaughter for survival in a diseased and polluted wasteland aftermath. Sources of uncontaminated energy, food, and water are scarce across the grim sphere, and the species’ reliance on technology has left most humans helpless. Themes of cannibalism, revenge, marauding factions, societal collapse, organ harvesting, nuclear warfare, pandemic contagion, dystopian rule, the mass-enslavement of populations, prevalent addiction to homicide, and general underhandedness towards one’s neighbors amidst ever-worsening extreme weather disasters, with humanity losing the war we’ve waged on our own planet poetically permeate this album series.

You have designed all of the albums' graphics. That makes sense, because you are Gridfailure's creator and main driving force. 

David Brenner: Gridfailure is my own solo project, although I collaborate with many friends, allies, cohorts, and family members within the project. I have been responsible for at least 95% of the artwork, design, videos, and other visuals for the band over the past decade of its existence. Only a couple of collaborations, the compilations on which I’ve had material included, and a few other random pieces have had art/design work by other folks. However, usually I create my cover art pieces through photo manipulation, layering photos and design elements. 

The cover artworks for Sixth Mass-Extinction Skulduggery I, II and III are (visually and conceptually) fairly similar.  

David Brenner: To create the artwork for the first three albums in this ongoing series, I drew towers of human skulls erected in a sort of effigy or art installations and manipulated with tools, spears, and other objects. The idea was to represent killing as art; humanity proudly consuming itself.

Can you offer more details about the creative process and the mediums/techniques you used to craft the artworks?

David Brenner: This series is the first time I’ve created the covers with hand-drawn art...I sketched everything in pencil on white drawing board, then finalized everything through stippling/pointillism millions of dots with technical pens and black ink. I then scanned these several pieces into Photoshop and manipulated them into the three different album covers for Sixth Mass-Extinction Skulduggery I, II, and III, with both digital and cassette versions of the artwork. 

You also created imagery for the promotional videos, band merch, etc. This is a very complete visual/aural universe. 

David Brenner: All three albums were issued on cassette through Nefarious Industries, and I manipulated the artwork together once again to create a box set slipcase shell for the three cassettes, as well as a separate design for the t-shirt, and another for the overall album series page. The separate pieces are all combined several ways throughout the series. I also loaded the cover artwork pieces into projectors for some of the promo photos and animated some of the art within the five videos for the newest installment, Sixth Mass-Extinction Skulduggery III, which was released in October. I wanted to see the artwork infused into all the visual aspects of the album series to help make the concept feel all encompassing, beyond just in the lyrics. I wanted everything to actually look like a series.

I have a few new pieces under construction for the Teeth Collection and Drought Stick albums as well, although they will be in a different style, different from these first three albums. I’ll be working on completing both of these albums over the course of 2026, which is Gridfailure’s tenth year in existence.

All three of the current Sixth Mass-Extinction Skulduggery albums, the shirt, limited cassette box set, the videos for the three albums, digital streaming links and more can be found at Nefarious Industries at  https://www.nefariousindustries.com/collections/gridfailure-sixth-mass-extinction-skuldugger 

Discover Gridfailure's complete discography at https://gridfailure.bandcamp.com/

INTERVIEW ABOUT THE MAKING OF THE COVER ARTWORK FOR EXHUMED's NEW ALBUM "RED ASPHALT"

American extreme metallers, Exhumed, will be releasing their new album "Red Asphalt" on February 20th through Relapse Records. The cover's image was composed and captured on camera by the band's longtime bassist, Ross Sewage. In the following interview, he provides information about the creative process and shares behind-the-scenes images of the making of this gory graphic. 

This artwork perfectly conveys the album's suggestive title and announces an intense aural experience. What inspired the cover concept?

Ross Sewage: Exhumed was on tour discussing what kind of theme might be fun to work around for a new record. I was looking around and thought, hey, we tour a lot. We're on the road a lot. The road is a dangerous place and it's full of stories we could tell. Why not make a road album? [Vocalist/guitarist] Matt Harvey chimed in, talking about all the campy old road safety films meant to scare kids with gruesome footage of accidents that we'd watched as kids with morbid fascination. So, that became our album concept and it was a natural idea to depict a gore-filled auto wreck for the album cover. 

We'd been speaking for years about going back to doing some horrific photo-based artwork like our first and second records. I was delighted to dust off my old camera and throw some guts around. Matt drew me up an image of a long road reaching to the horizon, littered with car parts and bodies. My own pragmatism whittled down that idea a little. Once I'd found a place that made accurate historical license plates and I'd scouted locations, I knew exactly how the cover would look to depict a gruesome wreck with the driver tossed out and disemboweled. 

How did you become in charge of creating the cover artwork? 

Ross Sewage: We've worked with a lot of amazing cover artists through the years, but when it comes to depicting photo realistic gore, the band agreed that I'd be the best bet to deliver the goods to ourselves. I'd been doing special effects make-up and taking pictures of guts for Exhumed covers since the middle 1990s and up to the first album. After that, I did all the photography for the horror-ridden covers of the other band I play in, Impaled. Stretching beyond the realm of bloodied scenes of violence, I'd also done cover photos for a black metal band I used to play in called Ludicra. The photos for Ludicra were of a more surreal nature and heavily influenced by the work of the art design group known as Hipgnosis, but it still employed the same old use of lighting and visual design to draw in a viewer through a record cover. Most importantly, I'm the only member of the band with a real camera! 

This artwork is photography-based. Apart from the logo and the album's title, all the elements/props shown on this image were captured on camera. Can you comment about it? What inspired you to use photography? 

Ross Sewage: The cover for Exhumed's "Red Asphalt" is just a one-take photo. To create the scene, I scouted a section of road that was partially closed near the old naval base in Alameda, CA. I liked it because it would have a clear view of the sky. I waited till dusk to capture the image so that it could be lit how I wanted, using some portable battery powered lights, and to get the fiery sky as the sun set. 

The severed hand was a gift from Canadian special effects artist Kyle Huculak. The license plate was ordered online. All the car parts were pieces were from actual auto wrecks that had been left behind in on the side of the road in Oakland, CA. The body is nothing more than a wig and a flannel I stuffed to give shape to. The real technique is in the entrails. Those were procured from an Asian grocery store. I cut away the Omentum and fill the intestine with water, tying off the ends so they don't leak. This is an old trick that George Romero used a lot in his zombie films that give the organs more life and presence. Spill on some fake (and some real) blood, and there you have your gore-soaked photo to piss off the censors. 

Any comments about the post-production process and the look of the official cover?

Ross Sewage: After I had the RAW image, processing and a little touching up was done in Photoshop. From there I handed it over to Jacob Speis at Relapse Records, who was designing the album packaging. He did more touching up in Photoshop to add some vintage grit and adjusted the colors so it would complement the overall layout of the entire album. We didn't want to process it so far, however, that it looked fake. The realism is part of the horror. In this day and age, when you can barely trust your eyes thanks to A.I. garbage slop being forced down our throats, we wanted to deliver the real deal because that's what Exhumed fans deserve. 

"Red Asphalt" can be pre-ordered at https://www.relapse.com/pages/exhumed-red-asphalt 

See more of Ross Sewage's work at https://www.doktorsewage.com/

PILE OF KNIVES' "DRIVEN BY THE BLADE" EP COVER STORY

American Death Metal/Slam act, Pile Of Knives, recently released its second EP "Driven By The Blade" which features a cover artwork created by Giancarlo Bruno. The following interview with vocalist, Bryan Martinez, reveals how the artwork was put together.

What inspired the cover concept and what this artwork is depicting?

Bryan Martinez: It all came together quite easy, It just randomly popped up in my head. I wanted our album cover to be brutal, but yet still beautiful to look at. A lot of the lyrics have to do with human beings not seeming as what they may appear. The unknown and unpredictability is what we fear the most, and I feel like this cover represents that well. It is both intense with the cutting instruments, but yet easy on the eyes with the soft background. It's hard to tell if you can trust it or not. Which is on theme with our record, "Driven By The Blade," lyrically and sound-wise. The three knives represent each of the tracks on the record that have vocals, and we have one instrumental on the album that is represented by the soft red velvet background.

How did the band get involved with cover artist, Giancarlo Bruno?

Bryan Martinez: The first thing I knew is that I wanted it to be a photo instead of having someone draw something out. I've known Giancarlo for years going back to high school. He is not only a close friend, but someone that is extremely talented when it comes to photography and filming. So he is the first person that I've thought of for this project. I've always admired his work and knew he could pull off what I had envisioned. He never did something like this before, but like I said I knew he could pull it off, and he sure did.

Do you remember the process of creating the cover photo/artwork?

Bryan Martinez: I bought the knives online and Giancarlo and I went to an arts and crafts store for the backgrounds. He took the pictures in the basement of my house, and he captured it all so easily. He had a couple lights, and he took a picture of each knife with a different color background because we wanted to release these songs one by one as singles. He then finally took the last photo which is the actual E.P. cover with all the knives and it all took him about an hour to complete. It was an easy and smooth process, and it was so amazing to see it brought to life.

Find more information about the EP's release at https://pileofknives.bandcamp.com/album/driven-by-the-blade

ILDARUNI's "DIVINUM SANGUINEM" ALBUM COVER STORY

Armenian Black Metal band, Ildaruni, recently released its second full-length, "Divinum Sanguinem." The album's cryptic cover artwork was created by Khaos Diktator Design. Guitarist and main composer, Robert Meliksetyan, reveals crucial details about this image.

What is this artwork is depicting and how it reflects the album's music and lyrics?

Robert Meliksetyan: For this album, we chose to continue the path of a conceptual release. Conceptually and musically, this album explores darker, more esoteric territories, delving into the occult aspects of Mithraic mysteries, ancient initiations, and rituals that spanned from Europe to Asia. The cover artwork captures one of the central scenes of these mysteries: the tauroctony, in which Mithras slays the bull. This act represents the cosmological sacrifice, with the bull’s blood flowing over the hierophants, who conduct the initiation rites. Through this imagery, we convey themes of transformation, spiritual ascension, apothantismos, and the profound symbolism inherent in these rituals.

Inspiration for the album’s lyrical and conceptual depth also draws from the Papyri Graecae Magicae, revealing the transformative power of the ancient occult. Every detail of the artwork is aligned with the album’s lyrical essence. The cover is not just an illustration—it is a gateway into the album’s arcane world, drawing listeners into the shadowed halls of mysteries and transformative forces.

How did the band get involved with Khaos Diktator Design for the creation of this artwork?

Robert Meliksetyan: I have long admired Khaos Diktator’s work and have followed his creations closely. I was particularly captivated by his pieces for Endezzma, Nordjevel, and Coscradh, which I consider among the most striking and powerful artworks of recent years. When I reached out to share the conceptual vision of our album and how we imagined its visual portrayal, I found that he fully connected with the theme, and he had a clear understanding and enthusiasm for the project. The subsequent communication and collaboration went seamlessly, as we both shared a clear vision of what we wanted to achieve visually.

Do you know what techniques/mediums the artist used to create the artwork?

Robert Meliksetyan: Honestly, I am not familiar with the specific techniques Khaos Diktator used in creating our artwork, but he could fully grasp and capture the conceptual vision we had for the album. From the initial sketches, it was clear that he had delved deeply into the central topic; he could depict the mystical and esoteric aspects of the theme. It is a glorious manifestation of the album’s visual essence.

"Divinum Sanguinem" is available through Black Lion Records. Order at https://ildaruniblacklion.bandcamp.com/.../divinum-sanguinem

See more of Khaos Diktator Design's work at https://www.facebook.com/KhaosDiktatorDesign

AMONGRUINS' "ADVENT OF CHAOS" ALBUM COVER STORY

Greek Death Metal act, AmongRuins, are releasing a new album titled “Advent of Chaos." The cover was designed by Nikos Stavridakis of VisionBlack. Below, the artist talks about the process of creating the artwork.

What inspired the cover concept and what is this artwork depicting?

Nikos Stavridakis: The cover concept is directly connected to the title, and it is my interpretation of the depiction of Chaos. Chaos is surely perceived differently by many out there. It is interpreted in multiple ways and expressed in even more. I have always perceived chaos as a pandemonic collage of various things telling a nightmarish story and even personified in one single entity. The band gave me the chance to realise my vision of those two interpretations combined. The Advent of Chaos here is personified as a "faceless" dark entity, directly connected and surrounded by the more obscure aspects of nature, the fierceness of the animal kingdom, and the fall of man. A redeemer Among the living, leaving the world of man behind, in Ruins.

How did you get involved in this project?

Nikos Stavridakis: I have been friends with the band for quite some time now. It is always a pleasure for me to work with Sverd and the guys on artworks because they give me total artistic freedom to deliver my own interpretation of their concepts. I am a fan of their music and we stand on the same page when it comes to artistic aesthetics, so our cooperation has always been smooth and enjoyable. Freedom in creating artworks is crucial and of huge importance to me. Of course ,I need to have an initial direction from the band, a title, a rough concept and where we are heading, artwork-wise. But from then on, I prefer to work with total freedom and produce drafts along the way. This "recipe" has worked perfectly with AmongRuins so far and I am very happy to have contributed to another album artwork for them.

What techniques/mediums were used to design the cover?

Nikos Stavridakis: The original centerpiece "butterfly" theme and various bits and pieces in the background are parts of photographs by amazing Russian photographer Sergey Vinogradov, of course used after his permission and transformed accordingly to match the concept. His work is amazing and worked as a canvas and a huge inspiration for the overall composition. Everything is done in Photoshop using dozens of layers, NO AI is used whatsoever; I never use AI in my work. Everything was meant to look like a chaotic collage of images, but overall, telling a story and matched the concept of the album to the maximum extent.

“Advent of Chaos” will be released on February 20, 2026 through Theogonia Records. Pre-order at https://theogonia-records.com/product/amongruins-advent-of-chaos-cd/

See more of Nikos Stavridakis' work at https://www.facebook.com/VisionBlackArt

DREAMLORD's "ARTIFICIAL IMPRISONMENT" ALBUM COVER STORY

Greek Thrash/Heavy metallers, Dreamlord - Official - recently released their new album "Artificial Imprisonment" which features a cover artwork designed by fellow countryman artist, Vaggelis Petikas of Revolver dart. He combined traditional drawing and digital illustration (including Procreate and Photoshop) to create this graphic.

"The cover portrays the birth of Artificial General Intelligence," reveals the band's vocalist/guitarist, Babis Papleogiorgos. "The figure inside the metallic womb represents the creation of a new kind of consciousness. The two faces opening up symbolize the human mind itself, showing that AGI is ultimately a product of our own imagination and creativity. But there’s also a warning there: what’s born from human brilliance can also turn against its creator if it’s misused. That’s why you see the skulls at the bottom, representing the possible downfall of humanity. The mother and child watching this moment stand for mankind witnessing the birth of its own creation — both in awe and in fear of what comes next."

The group's members had been "fans of Vagelis Petikas for years. His work has that balance of storytelling and intensity that fits perfectly with what Dreamlord stands for. When we started working on the album, we reached out to him with the concept and lyrics, and he immediately connected with the idea. From there it was a smooth collaboration—he took the theme and turned it into something powerful and unsettling, exactly what the record needed visually."

"Artificial Imprisonment" is available at
https://dreamlord.bandcamp.com/album/artificial-imprisonment

See more of Vagelis Petikas' work at https://www.behance.net/RevolverDart 

MY DOMINION's "EXTINCTION" ALBUM COVER STORY

German Death Metal band, My Dominion, recently released its new album, "Extinction." The cover artwork was digitally created by Dominik Plaßmann, a friend of the group's members that have collaborated with them in previous projects.

According to the artist and vocalist/guitarist, Martin Rätzke, this image with Lovecraftian overtones was "created through a close collaboration between the artist and the band. After several initial sketches and concept ideas, we collectively agreed on a core direction and then refined it through an iterative process until the final motif emerged. The main goal of the artwork was to visually support the atmosphere of the music and reflect its emotional themes. The album title 'Extinction' is represented symbolically: a vast sea of blood suggests annihilation and irreversible loss, while the central entity embodies a force capable of immense destruction."

The album is available at https://mydominionofficial.bandcamp.com/album/extinction

SPECIES' "CHANGELINGS" ALBUM COVER STORY

 

"Changelings" is the title of the second album from Polish Technical Thrash Metal trio, Species. The cover illustration was crafted by Aleksandra Pawłowska, a surrealist painter and tattoo artist based in Warsaw that had collaborated with the group in previous projects. 

"The cover art is simply Aleksandra Pawłowska’s abstract vision of our music." the band's members commented. "It depicts two mysterious extraterrestrial figures in an otherworldly scenery. Since 'Changelings' tells stories of eugenics, body horror and alien terror but with almost fairytale like atmosphere, we thought that perfectly fits the concept."

Pawłowska used acrylics on canvas to paint the original artwork. Later some digital color correction was applied. "We didn't have a particular concept in mind, our only suggestions were to use a different color palette and, unlike the cover of our debut record, to make the painting asymmetrical. Aleksandra came up with a sketch creating her own visions but also incorporating objects and beings described in the lyrics. We loved the idea and suggested only very minor changes."

"Changelings" is available at https://www.20buckspin.com/collections/species/

SHIVERED's "CHAINS" COVER ARTWOK STORY

Iranian Gothic/Doom project Shivered has released a new album titled "Chains." This concept record that explores themes like mass suicide, psychological collapse, the quiet end of civilization, grief, disillusionment and loss of self.

The sleeve artwork was designed with Photoshop and Blender by Shivered's mainman, Mohammad Maki. "I had this vision of an apocalyptic landscape, where humans hang from chains, a mass suicide marking the end of humanity," Maki says. "'Chains' became the embodiment of that vision: a collision of fiction and reality, where grief mutates into madness and ultimately leads to destruction."

"Chains" is available at https://shivered.bandcamp.com/album/chains

Watch the video from the album's single, "Ruins Of Memories" at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_jPeqqcKk4

BLOODBOUND's "FIELD OF SWORDS" ALBUM COVER STORY

Swedish Power Metal band, Bloodbound, will release its new album, "Field Of Swords" next November 21, 2025 through Napalm Records. The cover artwork was designed by the group's frequent collaborator, Peter Sallai of Mortpaintgraphics.

"Bloodbound’s own mascot character, Nosferatu, is usually the main character on their album covers. This time, the band requested that they want a more militant, warlike scene," Sallai comments. "He has to wear knight’s armor and shall fight against orcs on a dark battlefield. I always go by the band’s request, which they came up with a specific idea."

The artwork was created digitally. "I usually work with Photoshop and a digital drawing tablet/screen," the Hungarian artist reveals. "My work has always been characterized by a kind of mixed media or digital painting and it is always important that hand painting shall dominate. This image also reflects my visions, more direct and it’s like a fantasy movie poster."

Order "Field Of Swords" at
https://bloodbound.bandcamp.com/album/field-of-swords

See more of Peter Sallai's work at
https://www.mortpaintgraphics.net