Metallica considered Married to Metal as a working title before choosing the self-titled name for The Black Album.
The phrase referred to a period when Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich, and Jason Newsted were going through divorces during the album's creation. According to the album's history, the title was treated as a running joke rather than a final branding decision.
Other possibilities were also discussed, including Five and the title of one of the songs. The band eventually chose the simple eponymous title Metallica. That decision gave the record the same name as the group, while the minimalist black packaging later supplied its more familiar nickname.
The cover reinforced the nickname through its restrained design. The initial release used embossed emblems that were difficult to see against the black background: the band's angled logo and a coiled snake derived from the Gadsden flag. The title Don't Tread on Me, also drawn from that imagery, became the name of one of the album's songs.