Lawrence Carroll, the artist who designed and created four of Slayer’s most iconic covers, has died at the age of 65.
The news was confirmed by the Karsten Greve Gallery and his friend Jason Holley, who called him a “giant” and the man behind “some of the best metal covers of all time.”
Carroll, who was born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1954, created the covers of 1986’s Reign In Blood, 1988’s South Of Heaven, 1990s Seasons In The Abyss and 2006 ’s Christ Illusion.
Speaking about his work with Revolver in 2010, Carroll said: “Not many art directors were lining up to ask me to illustrate the next Aerosmith or Sting album.
“I think they were afraid of what they would get. I was always told my work was too dark for most folks. So Slayer was a good fit for me.”
Carroll’s work has been shown in museums across the world, including New York’s Guggenheim, the Contemporary And Modern Art Museum of Trento and Roverando and Stuttgart City Gallery.