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A band logo is a vital part of a band's identity. Some band logos are iconic enough to warrant creation of their own font family (for example Iron Maiden and Metallica). Some other band logos are distinctive enough to be able to identify the band with just a glance. In fact, a well trained eye along with a well made logo can help the viewer identify the genre of the band as well. Power metal bands have clean, high-impact logos while thrash metal bands have classic and sometimes retro themes. Death metal and black metal bands in keeping with their anti-establishment views also have distorted and sometimes impossible to read logos.
Example #1:
Dracula, a grindcore band from Long Island, NY. For seasoned metalheads, this won't be that much of a challenge but from a purely pragmatic point of view, its not even funny how bad this logo is.
Example #2:
 
The Texan black metal (or so I think based on their myspace) band has had 3 logos. These are their first two with the 3rd one being too legible to place in this list. The first one has the appearance of a mangrove while the second one looks like something in an ice cave. Based on these facts (mangrove forests are under the threat of extinction while ice caps are melting) I am led to believe that this band is fighting climate change. However, their album titles reveal otherwise. They are apparently occult mythological metal. The cheesiness never seems to end with these guys.
Example #3:
A Spanish deathgrind band, Infernal Possession are going for a cobweb look. The characters themselves look like pointy appendages on creepy crawlies. At least there is a dash of color to spruce things up a bit. Now if they improved their actual songwriting skills, we might have a winning combination. Not.
Example #4:
Whoop dee doo ! Bestial Summoning, the classic Dutch black metal bands are one of the few old bands in this list. This just proves that stupidity and cheesiness are not just hallmarks of modern death/black metal (a majority, not all).
Example #5:
Here I present to you, crap from Sweden. Not including a Swedish band in any list to do with heavy metal is just wrong. I for one am just doing my part in recognizing their contribution to heavy metal. Darkified, which split up in 1993, would go on to form Edge of Sanity and Marduk (better bands with better logos).
I have shown you 5 examples of bad logos so now its time for some insightful analysis. Being a student of business, I have spent a lot of time on courses which study marketing, communication and consumer behavior. I had a particularly useful course in marketing and I shall use tools of analysis from that. A logo should be
a) Understandable / Easy to read
b) Representative of the organizations values and objectives
c) Vivid and Unique
d) Memorable
You get the point here. One could argue that these logos are unique. However, I could argue it from another view and say that making a logo that is illegible is nothing new since many bands are doing it rendering that argument more or less pointless. If, as a band, you have aspirations to become successful and well known (for good music), good business sense is vital. You need to appeal to your target market and make an impact to differentiate yourself from your competitors. Black metal bands (a marketer's nightmare) will surely make claims that commercial success is not their ambition nor is pleasing the audience. However, if you are going to create and release CD's, singles and EP's along with live performances, people are an integral part of the entire process. This is a formal argument which, I admit, does have its own flaws along with its strengths.
Here is my more informal argument:
WHAT THE FUCK !??!!!?
You have to be out of your mind to make crap that is so terrible and pass it off as 'metal'. Maybe this is why people think we are freaks. If you think you are being all 'cool' and 'different', trust me, you are not. No one wants to waste f#@$&!g 20 minutes figuring out what your bloody name is. Produce good music instead of relying on idiotic gimmicks. To you 'kvlt' and 'tr00' black metal bands, making good music is not necessarily incompatible with smart marketing. Look at Darkthrone, Immortal, Emperor and Mayhem. We could actually read their
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