Corpse paint is a style of body painting, used mainly by black metal bands for concerts and band photos. The body painting is used to make the musicians appear inhuman, corpse-like, or demonic, and is perhaps "the most identifiable aspect of the black metal aesthetic."
Enzifer of Urgehal wearing corpse paint with the spiked armbands and inverted crosses commonly worn by black metal musicians
King Diamond of Mercyful Fate and King Diamond
Orion of Behemoth
Gaahl with God Seed
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, a shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, raw (lo-fi) recording, unconventional song structures, and an emphasis on atmosphere. Artists often appear in corpse paint and adopt pseudonyms.
Members of Gorgoroth wearing typical black metal gear such as corpse paint, spikes and bullet belts. The band was formed by guitarist Infernus to express his Satanist beliefs.
A common black metal convention is the use of corpse paint, black-and-white make-up intended to make the wearer look inhuman, corpse-like, or demonic. Shown here: Taalroth of French pagan band Hindvir.
Venom's second album, Black Metal, inspired the name of the genre.
Norwegian band Immortal influenced countless bands in the genre.
