The perfect form – circles in Black Metal logos

Black Metal logos often follow the same established design guidelines. Among them are a volitional bad legibility, black letter references, satanic or antichristian elements like inverted crosses or pentagrams and dark ornamental elements like thorns or spikes. But one simple form can be found in a lot of these logos: the circle. Of course not always as a complete shape, but rather as a grid the logos are based on.

Because of its symmetry the circle is considered as the perfect shape. It is the symbol for the total symmetry of the divine. The Greek scholar Proclus (500 AC) wrote: “the circle is the first, the simplest and most perfect form”. As Christian symbol it represents eternity, and the sleeping eye of God (Genesis 1:2) (source).

Above you can see the circle grid Burden of Grief’s logo design is based on – Burden of Grief is a Melodic Death Metal band from Germany, formed in 1994. Their logo design is really well designed. It’s based on several circles, founded on four straight columns (in the B, N, G and F) while leaving space for raw letters in the middle.

The other examples in this post are Obolus (Black Metal from the USA, formed in 2011), Vargrimm (Black/Folk Metal from Germany), Emperor (Black Metal from Norway, formed in 1991), Setherial (Black Metal from Sweden, formed in 1993) and Nekros Manteia (Black Metal from Australia, formed in 1997).

      

       

  

• Written by symmetal
• Filled in Black Metal, General Art, Logo
• Tagged as Australia, Black Metal, burden of grief, Emperor, Germany, Logo, nekros manteia, Norway, obolus, setherial, Sweden, USA, vargrimm