
This just goes to show that even heavy metal culture wasn’t entirely original, but the concise design speaks to its staying power to this day. Iron Maiden came to light during the new wave of British heavy metal, and although frontman Steve Harris was responsible for designing the band logo, it in fact draws many elements from the font that artist Vic Fair designed for a poster for David Bowie’s 1976 film The Man Who Fell to Earth. It wouldn’t exactly be fair to put the lion’s share of blame on Kanye West, as it was even earlier in 2012 that Balenciaga’s Nicolas Ghesquière used Iron Maiden’s logo as an inspiration.

Artist Wes Lang was recruited to design the merchandise and motifs for Yeezus merchandise, but it was his appropriation of the Metallica logo that received the most criticism as well as marking the beginning of the current trend of streetwear brands paying “tribute” to heavy metal music.īalenciaga vs. While thrash metal is marked by its aggressive sound, it still emphasizes a large degree of control when compared to later metal styles such as black metal and death metal. Alongside Metallica are bands such as Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax, whose logos often lack curves and make use of sharp points in their typography design. Metallica is best known for its thrash metal style - a genre of heavy metal that combines punk and hardcore influences and is defined by especially fast, repetitive drumming and guitar solos.

Metallica – The First Tribute to Thrash Metal
