A snake is outlined on the cover of Metallica's The Black Album.
The cover is almost entirely black, with the band's logo near the upper left and a faint gray snake curling across the lower-right area. The restrained design is a visual contrast to the elaborate artwork used on several earlier Metallica albums.
The snake is connected to the imagery of “Don't Tread on Me,” whose title and lyrics draw on the Gadsden flag and its well-known rattlesnake symbol. The cover also helped inspire the album's enduring nickname, The Black Album, even though the official title is simply Metallica.
Because the artwork is dark and minimalist, the snake can be difficult to see in small reproductions. It is sometimes mistaken for a dragon or another reptile, but the credited cover image specifically depicts a snake.