Behind The Artworks: Silver Talon - Becoming A Demon (2019)

The cover of Becoming A Demon was painted by local Portland artist Alex Reisfar. I’m a huge fan of Alex’s work, and really wanted to work with him after seeing what he did on ARCH ENEMY’s Will To Power cover. I love his kind of demented fantasy approach to everything. I also try and work with artists whose style I already love - that way you’re just letting them do them and not trying to force them into something too much.

So we gave Alex very little direction. What we did say was “something with a dragon skull, and maybe a naked woman standing next to it.” Alex did his own thing completely, and I think his concept was honestly far superior to ours. It’s a human skull with a bone crown, almost like a natural born king, with wings. There’s a fire-breathing serpent coming from the mouth, completing an almost biblical like image.

The artwork looked more demonic than dragon/fantasy-like, so when the title Becoming A Demon was suggested, it seemed like a really natural choice. Initially, it was to be called Silver Talon, but I don’t know - self-titled albums seem lazy and far too obvious for me. Alex’s piece tells much more of a story than that, anyhow. A man (or woman) obsessed with the serpent who became a kind of earthly king - similar to the silver talon that leads us all to cast off the shackles of our own existence and become the demons of our own lives.