The Horsehead Nebula...

Astronomy themes are nothing new in metal and can probably be traced back to, at least, "Into The Void" (yeah, rockets) on "Master Of Reality". For reasons that somewhat escape me, a number of bands have zeroed in on the Horsehead Nebula, an often photographed region near Zeta Orionis, aka Alnitak. Alnitak is the easternmost star in Orion's Belt. The Horsehead Nebula is quite beautiful and adorns my living room in a framed print (it's actually difficult to see with a telescope, even though only low magnification is required, due to poor contrast).

Two nice shots....





At any rate, the Horsehead Nebula makes an appearance on four album covers (at least) within the death metal and black metal genres. First, the French black metal band Nehemah. Their last full-length, "Requiem Tenebrae" from 2004, features a close up of the Horsehead...



Next up is Origin, technical death metal band extraordinaire from Kansas. I've never quite been able to figure out the significance of the Horsehead Nebula in this band's context. A song follows from their self-titled debut...



Next is Fog, the remains of Morpheus Descends, with their 2001 debut entitled "Through The Eyes Of Night...Winged They Come". Look for the Horsehead, also known as Barnard 33 by the way, silhouetted. A track follows...



Lastly, we have Fenriz' somewhat ill-conceived ambient/ synth project Neptune Towers. I'll spare you a track, but I love the album's title, "Caravans To Empire Algol"...



Can you spot the Horsehead on any other covers? What other astronomy themes can you spot in metal (yeah, there are boatloads)...?



Sorry, all songs removed...