Peter Beste’s Upcoming New Photo Book About Battle Jackets Looks Pretty Rad

Whether you love ’em or hate ’em, you can’t deny that battle jackets (which our more cynical readers will be quick to note are just patch-covered vests) are an intrinsic part of metal culture. Save the spiked leather jacket, no item of clothing is more synonymous with metal than these denim Frankensteins of band logos and merch graphics.

Photographer Peter Beste, known for his incredible photo book True Norwegian Black Metal, has decided to chronicle the battle jacket in an upcoming new book, tentatively titled (according to his website) Full Metal Jackets. The book will examine the history of the battle jacket, from its punk and biker origins to its use in modern metal today, all alongside Beste’s beautiful photographs. If you need to write an essay on a similar topic you can try Essay Pro and get an interesting article about Peter’s book. Which, honestly, sounds pretty awesome.

Cvlt Nation recently posted some preview shots from Beste’s book, and they officially won me over. As fun as it may be to page through the amateur photos of battle jackets at Tshirtslayer, these beautiful full-color photos of individual jackets both posed and in the wild really shows the craft and passion that went into each one, and the good times their wearers have in them.

Check out the previews below. Beste plans to shoot for his book through 2016, so if you want him to check out your own raggedy vest, you might be able to reach him through his site.