Who illustrated the cover of Metallica’s The Black Album?

Don Brautigam illustrated the cover of Metallica’s The Black Album.

Brautigam was an American artist known for painted illustrations used on heavy-metal and hard-rock album covers. His work for Metallica created the record’s almost-black visual identity, with the band’s logo and a coiled snake emerging subtly from the dark background.

The cover also credits other contributors, which can lead to mix-ups. Peter Mensch is associated with the album’s art direction credits, while Ross Halfin contributed photography. Those roles were important to the final package, but neither artist illustrated the cover image itself.

The cover’s restrained design helped inspire the nickname The Black Album, although the official title is simply Metallica. The barely visible snake connects the artwork to the record’s imagery, while the minimal color scheme distinguishes it from the brighter, more elaborate covers of several earlier Metallica albums.