Vattnet Viskar’s Settler Has the Happiest-Looking Black Metal Album Art Ever

Remember a couple of years ago, when you first saw the album art for Deafheaven’s Sunbather, and you were all, “This is the cover of a black metal album? What the fuck is up with all the fucking pink?!?” It was an unusually luminous color scheme for a metal genre that literally has the word “black” in it. And while I know some people hate Deafheaven, I think it was a cool choice! The contrast between the cover and the music actually contained on the album was kinda neat.

Now Vattnet Viskar and former Neurosis visual artist Josh Graham have gone one step further than Deafheaven, and unveiled what is probably the most incongruous cover art for a black metal album ever, for their forthcoming Settler:

I’ve heard Settler, and lemme tell ya, there is nothing about it that suggests a woman happily floating in a spaceship. A very unhappy woman roasting over a spit, maybe, but not a happy woman reveling in the fun of zero gravity.

But, again: I think this is an awesome choice! As much as I love skulls and monsters and shit like that, metal probably went as far as it could with that theme some time ago. And it doesn’t announce itself as a joke; it really could be the cover for the new Coldplay album or something and no one would bat an eye. In fact, it’s entirely possible that the disparity between the music and the album art isn’t meant to be funny. Maybe Settler is intended to be an uplifting experience. I’m gonna have to listen to it again keeping the album cover in mind and see how it effects the experience.

Settler comes out June 16 on Century Media. Here are Vattnet Viskar’s upcoming tour dates:

May 16th, 20015 – Milly’s Tavern – Manchester, NH
May 17th, 2015 – Parlour – Providence, RI
May 18th, 2015 – Great Scott – Allston, MA
May 20th, 2015 – Ortliebs – Philadelphia, PA
May 21st, 2015 – Saint Vitus – Brooklyn, NY
May 22nd, 2015 – Rams Head Live – Baltimore, MD (Maryland Deathfest)