Metal Band Logos

Logos for metal bands can be a tricky thing. It's easy to get caught up in looking spiky and gory and evil and spider-web-y to such a degree that your logo is not only impossible to read, it also becomes virtually indistinguishable from all the other similar logos of other metal bands. On the other hand, if you don't really do much with your name, it's pretty boring to look at. A good balance can be struck, and here I have listed some of my personal favorite metal band logos with links so you can check them out if you so desire. There are many many more great metal logos out there. Some I know, some I don't, but I don't want to spend hours putting this post together, so I'm going to stop at 20. Also, I should note that I'm avoiding those bands which are so well known that even outside the metal community their logos are familiar.

Obituary have had a few slightly different variations of their logo over the years, but it has retained the same basic design. This particular variant is my personal favorite, and it might be the best death metal logo that exists.

Necrophagia changed their original logo, and I think it was a good move because I love this newer one. It's one of my top few favorites.

Vomitory have actually achieved something pretty noteworthy, in my opinion. They have managed to create a cool band logo despite having it spell out one of the stupidest sounding names in the business.

Månegarm have one of my favorite band logos. It's unique, legible, and awesome looking without being overly complex.

Woods of Ypres's logo is appealing to me, but I have to admit I'm not exactly sure why. For whatever reason, I just like it.

Wolfchant laid out their logo in a slightly odd way, but it still looks cool, and even though my brain initially rejected the idea for some reason, it's perfectly legible.

Windir are basically cool on every level, and their logo is no exception. It's kind of primitive when you really look at it, but that just adds to the Viking appeal.

Katatonia unfortunately stopped using their original logo. Typically I shy away from such overly goth-looking designs, but I really liked that one.

Opeth not only has a cool and distinct logo, they have one which suits their music extremely well. The logo is essentially the visual image of a band, and in Opeth's case, the image you get is the right one. Also, my younger siblings claim that the "O" in Opeth's logo is the single coolest looking letter in existence.

Moonsorrow are another band with a logo that fits their music perfectly. It may strike some as a bit plain, but I think it works really well for them.

Amon Amarth didn't get too fancy, but you can picture that logo branded on the One Ring. I'm just enough of a nerd to think that's awesome.

Bolt Thrower are possibly the ultimate example of how a logo really needs to be personalized to represent the band to which it belongs. They're like the Manowar of death metal, after all, and that logo could only work for such a band.

Mayhem are a band which I have never liked. I have to admit, though, that their logo is excellent. It's instantly recognizable, evil looking, crude in the most appropriate-for-black-metal way possible, and still easy to read.

Unleashed have a good logo, despite how overused the upside-down cross look has become in metal. Their logo just looks cold, sharp, and dangerous. For Swedish death metal, that's perfect.

Korpiklaani's logo is just very folksy and welcoming. That's an odd effect in the metal world, but considering how many of their songs are about drinking, it should come as no surprise that their logo makes me want to sit down and have a pint with them.

Ensiferum just have a very epic warrior type thing going on, with a logo to match.

Blut aus Nord don't really use their logo on their albums, but they should. It looks awesome.

Horna might just exist to prove that I can think a band are totally stupid, yet still appreciate their wickedly occult looking logo.

Songe d'Enfer may be an unusual sounding name for a band, but their logo is flat-out amazing. It's too bad they haven't released anything but a DVD since adopting it.

Falkenbach seems like a perfect band to round out this list. There's a lot going on in that logo, most of it pretty cool, yet it somehow manages to avoid looking too grossly cluttered and busy.

EDIT: Make that 21. There are still plenty of other good ones I haven't included, but I just had to add Death. Their omission from this list was driving me nuts.