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