A DETAILED ANALYSIS OF THE COVER ART FOR PIG DESTROYER’S BOOK BURNER
Yesterday, Pig Destroyer announced that their new album, Book Burner, will be released on October 23 via Relapse Records; they also released the album’s cover art, by Chris Taylor, above. I am very excited about this album, as Pig Destroyer are one of my most favoritest bands in the world, and it seems very likely that I am going to write about it entirely too much. Please understand that over-infatuation comes from a place of love, and it is not my intention to irritate you, our beloved readers. If you get sick of reading about Pig Destroyer, please feel free to skip to another post.
For the rest of you…
Full confession: I have never read Ray Bradbury’s novel, Farenheit 451, which, Decibel wisely surmises, may very well be the inspiration for the title of Pig Destroyer’s first album in five years, Book Burner. I did see Francois Truffaut’s film version of the book once, in either high school or college, but I honestly don’t remember it in any significant detail. My point being, if there’s a thematic connection between the art of Ray Bradbury and the art of Pig Destroyer (or Chris Taylor, for that matter), it is not one I am able to readily identify at present.
That being said, I still think this album art is fascinating, and worth a closer look.
Taylor’s piece only utilizes four colors: red, blue, black, and white. (Granted, the blue darkens near the bottom, but still.) The blue and red aren’t fully blended together, and the effect almost suggests looking at an old 3D comic book without the proper glasses; I don’t know if this was done deliberately or not, but the suggestion of 3D interests me because of the manner in which the androgynous child’s face has been illustrated. It has no 3D element. The chin hasn’t really been traced in, so the face blends with the neck, and the entire visage appears to be one dimensional.
Is the child supposed to be spray-painted onto the wall, along with the band’s name? Is the entire image meant to conjure Banksy or other such street artists? Or is the child actually supposed to be literally one with the street — a part of the environment? However we interpret the image, the kid (for the sake of convenience, I’m going to start referring to it as “he”… take no offense) is unmistakably holding a bottle of fancy alcohol, or something meant to look like fancy alcohol. If we give Taylor and PxDx the benefit of the doubt and just assume it’s fancy alcohol, well… what is a child of the street doing with such a thing? Is Book Burner, at least in part, about lessening the gap between the 99% and the 1%? I don’t mean that in a fiscal sense, either — I mean more in a literal/philosophical “We’re all humans in the end” kind of way.
Actually I’m a little embarrassed that my mind just went there, but speaking of class warfare, you know what the album cover suddenly reminds me of?
Hopefully the album’s lyrical themes will shed more light on the meaning of the album cover. And won’t make any allusions to “I Dreamed a Dream.”
And, yes, I am aware that it is entirely possible I’m just letting my liberal arts education see things that aren’t there. Isn’t that half of the fun of art, though?
-AR
