Austrian heavy metal band ZEPTER will release their debut album next month. Zepter features cover art created by Sebastian Frigerio, from Chile, who’s also drawn a number of other album covers for various metal bands. Below Sebastian talks about his art and creating the Zepter cover. As well I’ve included images of other covers that Sebastian drew.

Check it out, and check out the new ZEPTER album, which has a new video release for the track “Dark Angels”.

Can you give me a bit of background as to your work in art, and in particular, how you got involved in music and album covers? 

First of all, thank you so much for your interest. This goes back a long way. I’ve always been fascinated by the visual arts, especially drawing. My first foray into it was collaborating with bands and friends’ projects, contributing illustrations to their demos and other releases. They would introduce me as their artist friend, giving me the opportunity to do my first work, and little by little, connections were made. During that time, I began creating my own pieces to gain recognition and, above all, to perfect my technique.

Do you have any favorite album cover artists, as well as a list (5+) of some of your favorite record covers (excluding your own)? 

Well, from artists like Goya and Gustave Doré, to Renaissance and modern art, there are many, but this would be my top list:

Frank Franzetta, Boris Vallejo, Michael Whelan, Rowena Morrill, Andreas Marshall, H.R. Giger, Necrolord, Emanuele Taglietti, to name a few.

How did you get involved with the Zepter album? 

Well, that was thanks to social media, and the band followed up with a couple of bands they had already worked with.

And they were looking for something similar to what I had already done

Was the cover completely your own creation and/or was there input from the bandmembers? What inspired it?

If the band had an idea that perfectly matched my artistic tastes and references, the drawing process was much easier thanks to our shared interest in dark fantasy and album covers from the 70s and 80s.

Had you been able to hear the music prior to and did that play a part in creating the cover? Any favorite tracks from this Zepter album? 

I was already familiar with the band, so it was a surprise when they contacted me, since their style is what I listen to most often, so it also served as inspiration. Overall, I’d highlight the entire album, from its composition to the final result, both musically and in terms of design.

Can you tell me about the actual drawing – how it was achieved (drawing technique…) ? 

Well, this work is done in oil on paper, and the goal was and is to make it similar to the classic album covers of bands from the 70s and 80s, which are practically an influence and inspiration.

What are some of the other album covers you’ve created for other bands? Any in particular that stand out?  And aside from covers, do you also create posters or merch items for the bands you work with? 

Well, as I mentioned before, I participated in several projects, but when I started to stand out it was thanks to bands like Insecurity, Phantom, and Void, which put me on the radar of many others, something I’m very grateful for since it also opened me up to the field of design for other types of merchandise. And obviously, working with more bands has been rewarding in many ways.

*Check out more of Sebastian’s art and album covers at – https://www.instagram.com/sebastian.frigerio_artwork/