The characters you are about to see range from homicidal to demonic. They've defined a generation of metalheads while inciting controversy and protests in their wake. In many instances, these images were even more powerful than the music when it came to scaring the shit out of religious groups who believed these bands were Satan's messengers.
The early days of Metal are long gone, but many of these shirts have been re-printed and can still be found online or at your local head shop. When I was growing up, there was a standard metalhead uniform that consisted of one of these tees paired with a leather jacket, acid washed jeans, and black hi-top basketball sneakers. If you really wanted to kick it up, long feathered hair and a pre-pubescent mustache were the finishing touches that would ensure a guidance counselor asking for a urine sample. Mr. Shneebly taught us that "You're not hardcore unless you live hardcore." Finding yourself one of these shirts is a great way to start melting faces.
With Halloween upon us, we present The 10 Best Heavy Metal T-Shirts of All Time.
RELATED: The 50 Greatest Pop Culture References in Streetwear
RELATED: Green Label - The Most Iconic Band Shirts of All Time
State of Euphoria – 1988 – Mort Drucker
Slayer World Sacrifice Tour 1988
Metallica – Damage Inc Tour 1986 – Pushead
8. Metallica
Tour: Damage Inc Tour (1986)
Artist: Pushead
Metallica’s Damage Inc. World Tour of 1986 is unfortunately most well-known for the tragic death of bassist Cliff Burton on September 27th in Sweden. This is a weird fucking story that will pop up again in this list too. According to the band, the members drew straws on the bus that night to choose the bunks they wanted to sleep in. They went to bed that night and were awoken to their driver skidding off the road and flipping their bus several times. Ulrich, Hammet and Hetfied miraculously were hardly injured, but the bus had rolled on top of Burton, killing him. This shirt is an all-time metal classic thanks to the artwork by Pushead. Some of you will recognize this skull from his other work with Nike SB, Kool Keith, Thrasher Magazine, Dr. Dre, The Misfits and Zorlac Skateboards.