THE POPE ON THE COVER OF THE NEW PESTILENCE ALBUM IS ONLY SLIGHTLY MORE SCARY THAN THE REAL POPE

Note to Catholic readers: I am not very well educated regarding all the headwear your church officials don. I apologize if the man on the cover below is actually supposed to be a Cardinal or something.

Note to non-Catholic Christian readers: I am not very well educated regarding all the headwear church officials of all the various denominations besides Catholicism don. I apologize if the man on the cover below is actually supposed to be Greek Orthodox or something.

Note to readers of all other religions and belief systems: What the fuck?

When I saw Marko Saarelainen’s cover art for the new Pestilence album, Doctrine, I immediately thought of this popular meme. Because, really, I don’t think the dude on the cover looks all that much freakier than Pope Benedict XVI. I mean the operatic hand gesture is obviously an exaggeration, and I think the real Pope has much better teeth and marginally better skin, but otherwise…

Doctrine comes out July 19, 2011 on Mascot Records.

-AR