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Corpse paint Wikipedia

Corpse paint (sometimes a single word, corpsepaint) is a style of black-and-white makeup used extensively by black metal bands during live concerts and photo shoots as part of their imagery of evil and decay. Black paint is usually placed around the eyes and lips, and white paint everywhere else, although a great variety of designs have been seen. Despite the possible 'glam rock|glam' roots of corpse paint, the designs used by many black metal musicians are supposed to make them look more evil, inhuman, or corpse-like (ergo, the term corpse paint). An origin to be traced back to Germanic folklore seems more likely. Particularly striking are the similarities between black metal corpsepaint and the ghoulish apparence of the members of the Oskorei (Norse name for a legion of dead souls).

The Norwegian band D??dheimsgard has experimented with using other colors, but in general deviations from the original formula are rare. Bands such as Gorgoroth (band)|Gorgoroth and Ragnarok (band)|Ragnarok also make use of blood-colored paint, as an alternative to the "clean" two-tone monochrome look preferred by Immortal (band)|Immortal amongst many others.

Hellhammer and early Slayer were perhaps the first death metal or black metal groups to use such makeup, approximately in 1983, but there are further quasi-contemporary applications: Celtic Frost, The Misfits and King Diamond (band)|King Diamond of Mercyful Fate used similar makeup in the early 1980's. There are earlier precedents in Rock music, such as KISS (band)|KISS and Alice Cooper in the 1970s and, in particular, Arthur Brown in the 1960s. Going back even earlier, one can note some similarities between modern corpse paint and the makeup worn in expressionism|expressionist films, such as worn by Conrad Veidt in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. It can also be argued that corpse paint plays upon evil clown imagery.

The first black metal bands to come out of Norway in the early 1990s such as Mayhem (band)|Mayhem, Immortal (band)|Immortal, Darkthrone, and Satyricon are arguably the reason why this fashion is still popular amongst black metal acts today, though many dismiss its use as demonstrating a lack of maturity, or kitsch theatrics (Varg Vikernes of the notorious one man ambient black metal act Burzum is known to have rarely practiced it, even in its glory days; however, photos, one of which can be seen in Michael Moynihan and Didrik Soderlind's book Lords of Chaos, do exist showing Varg Vikernes in corpse paint).

Recently, some "purists" have complained that corpse paint has become fashionable or trendy and therefore lost its original value. Some bands, such as Emperor (band)|Emperor and Borknagar, avoid it altogether nowadays.

Category:Black metal
Category:Fashion
Category:Heavy metal

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Last Modified:   2005-12-15