A snake is depicted in the faint outline on the cover of Metallica’s The Black Album.
The self-titled album’s artwork is deliberately restrained: the band’s logo appears near the upper left, while a grayish coiled snake is difficult to see against the predominantly black background. The minimal design helped create the nickname The Black Album, even though Metallica is the official title.
The snake has an important connection to the record’s imagery and to the song “Don’t Tread on Me.” That song’s title echoes the phrase associated with the Gadsden flag, whose design includes a rattlesnake. The album cover does not show a brightly colored flag; instead, it uses a subtle outline that fits the record’s stark visual presentation.
The artwork is sometimes confused with a completely blank black cover or with the band’s logo alone. In fact, both the logo and snake are present, though the snake is intentionally understated. The cover became one of the most recognizable designs in heavy metal and helped give the album its enduring informal name.