CHAINED TO THE DEAD's "SOMETHING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO HELL" EP COVER STORY

The cover for Chained To The Dead's new EP "Something Happened On The Way To Hell" (which has been released on Halloween of 2025) was crafted by Colombian artist, Julian Mortuus. Below, the American Death Metal band's vocalist, Rocco Martone, talks about the origins of the cover and the creative process.

WHAT INSPIRED THE COVER ARTWORK?

Rocco Martone: "Something Happened On The Way To Hell" is the second of a 3-record cycle, and the covers are telling their own little story. The concept of the trilogy's cover imagery is based of the Greek Furies myth of the Erinyes: three women who were goddesses of vengeance, particularly against males. I have found Death Metal covers depicting women getting murdered and tortured to be lame and boring, so starting with our 2019 album 'A Gruesome Encounter," I wanted to depict the female characters as the perpetrators of the violence. The Three Furies are emblematic of that concept, so it was a perfect fit. While the cover does not specifically portray the Three Furies, there are specific tributes to them depicted. Particularly the hair color, and their associations with a knife, a snake and fire. You can see these depicted in one of my favorite paintings of them, 'Orestes Pursued By The Furies' by Carl Rahl.

The first of the trilogy, Only Hunger Remains, with that title based on the Pungent Stench tune we cover on the album, depicted the three women in a desolate, underworld hellscape, similar in feeling to the end of Lucio Fulci's The Beyond. With humanity leveled, and hunger, in all forms, being all that remains. The palette and color scheme was filled with blacks, greys, and the glorious reds.

For part two, our cover trio have entered Hell. And with the album title taken from a Phil Collins lyric (we don't cover that song but do cover Genesis on SHOTWTH) something terrible is happening. Here our three women are tearing a demonic figure apart. In an evolution stylistically from Only Hunger Remains, here we see the color palette explode. With an absolutely glorious blue sky, punctuated by bursts of color from the women's hair, and once again, the beautiful red of the gore. Basically I wanted this to be a amalgam of classic death metal cover aesthetics, mixed with the color schemes you would find on an old prog album. The focal point of the image being the decapitation of Satan, right in the center of frame, looking right at the viewer. This centerpiece of violence was inspired by one of my favorite pieces of art, Caravaggio's Judith Beheading Holofernes. You will have to wait to see what part three of the trilogy brings.

Musically we match the evolution of the album's cover, as on this album we have opened up our sound and really pushed ourselves to explore new levels of experimentation and brutality. Much like Mortuus has done for us on the cover.

HOW DID MORTUUS GET INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT?

Rocco Martone: I found Mortuus after the original artist who created our 2019 album's artwork bailed on us. With the date to release the album when promised approaching, I proceeded an infinite scroll through artists online, and the stuff Mortuus was creating just leapt off of the screen and grabbed me by the eyeballs. When I contacted him, he was super cool, and willing to meet our rapidly approaching deadline.

He was incredible to work with, and understood all the references I was offering him to give him the vibes I was looking for. He was a fan of the previously mentioned Holfernes painting, and when I mentioned how I loved the colors and layout of Dan Seagraves cover art for Dismember's Like an Everflowing stream album, he knew exactly what i meant, and was also a massive fan. I really wanted the vibes of Emanuele Taglietti's fumetti art, mixed with liberal doses of Frank Frazetta, and the great images found on European horror posters in the 70's. I just threw that out to him, and he gave me back more than I could have hoped for in return.

CAN YOU PROVIDE ANY INFORMATION ABOUT THE CREATIVE PROCESS?

Rocco Martone: Having a real human create a tactile, physical painting for us has always been a priority. And if you look closely at our stuff, you will see we do not attempt to hide the texture of the actual canvas, and its relation to the art. The humanity and the craft of the artist is there for all to see. The process is, I unload my ideas and references upon him, which he is always patient and graceful with, as I know it can be a lot of information all at once. Then he will draw out an initial design with pencil, then after my return feedback, he goes to work with the paint. He uses type of paint called gouache, which I think gives the art a beautiful quality. It gives a vivid sense of color and also has a fluidity that just draws the eye into the work. His use of color is incredible, as is his eye for detail. Just look at the translucence of those wings on the cover!

I love having such a symbiotic relationship with him. And as someone who spent hours of my life, just losing myself in the work of the previously mentioned Dan Seagrave and others, I just love that he has created such incredible works that tell their own part of the Chained to the Dead story.