Album artwork of the month: Machetazo/Marrow split
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May’s album artwork of the month is actually a package involving three artists and literally sharp-looking vinyl.
The package is so beautiful that I suspect the music, enjoyable as it may be, is really just an excuse around which to wrap artwork.
Machetazo is a long-running, horror-themed Spanish death/grind outfit. Marrow is a Baltimore death metal band – samples at their MySpace sound ace. (Speaking of Baltimore, Machetazo are playing at Maryland Deathfest tomorrow.) They’ve collaborated for a seven-song split with more involved packaging than most full-lengths. You can hear two samples below.
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Marrow – “Testament to Dissection”
[audio: MARROW_TESTAMENT.mp3]
Machetazo – “El Torreon”
[audio: MACHETAZO_ELTORREON.mp3]
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Each band gets its own artwork. Sean McGrath of Impaled/Ghoul does Machetazo’s artwork (see above). I love how it’s not the usual metal clichés. It’s a scary sci-fi setting, and one can’t tell if one is looking up or down. Amazing!
Marrow’s artwork is by its vocalist Wren. It honestly doesn’t look that special next to Machetazo’s artwork (see below).
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This split 12″ has a pressing of 500. 400 are on black vinyl. The diehard edition (100 pressing) is on silver vinyl with red splatter, and is die cut in the shape of a saw blade! The photo below shows that the black vinyl is also shaped as a saw blade, though I don’t know if that’s actually the case. (Coincidentally, Exhumed’s new record is available as a saw blade-shaped double LP – see here.)
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Finally, the diehard edition comes with a screen-printed poster by the mighty Putrid. See it below and weep.
You can order this incredible package here.
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