There are two unfortunate deaths to report on today, both excellent artists that left a huge mark on heavy metal.
Lawrence “Larry” Carroll (65) and Roslaw Szaybo (85) have passed away yesterday, May 21st.
The Australian-born Larry Carroll worked on the legendary covers for Slayer albums Reign In Blood, South of Heaven, Seasons in the Abyss, and Christ Illusion. He was a mixed-materials artist, creating sculptures from any sort of material he can find.
Szaybo was a Polish graphic designer and photographer who worked on over 2,000 album covers – most famously in the metal world for creating the iconic Judas Priest logo and their classic album artwork. He also created album art for everybody from Elton John to Janis Joplin. You can learn more of his work here. Judas Priest released the following statement on his passing:
“Our memories of Roslaw Szaybo are strong and he will always be remembered for his now legendary covers he created for Judas Priest as well as the Priest logo – our thoughts and condolences are with his family – love to Ros
With many thanks
Judas Priest”