A snake is subtly depicted on the cover of Metallica's The Black Album.
The album artwork is predominantly black, with the band's logo in the upper-left area and a coiled snake faintly visible toward the lower-right. The low-contrast design makes the animal easy to miss, especially when the cover is viewed quickly or in a small digital thumbnail.
The snake connects with the band's “Don't Tread on Me” imagery and the Gadsden flag tradition, although the cover does not reproduce the flag as a full-color political design. Its restrained presentation fits the album's minimalist visual identity.
Listeners sometimes identify the faint shape as another reptile or a decorative line, but the intended animal is a snake. The cover's nearly monochromatic appearance is also why the official self-titled record acquired its enduring nickname, The Black Album.