Doja Cat recently announced the arrival of her new album, Scarlet, due out next month on September 22.
Alongside the announcement, the pop-rap sensation unveiled the record's official artwork; a burgundy-coloured painting of a spider positioned under a simple blood droplet with a plain white background.
If you're thinking that the album cover looks maybe a little Metal™ for a mainstream artist like Doja Cat, then you're not wrong, but the most bizarre matter at hand here is that the image has also been used by the German metal band Chaver for their upcoming album In Gloom, which is also scheduled to be released on the same day.
On the Chaver cover, what appears to be the exact same arachnid is displayed - albeit with white highlights located in slightly different areas. They also have their band name written in a sharp-edged font above, coloured in burgundy to match the reddish insect. One final difference: the overhead droplet is more circular. Otherwise, these two albums look suspiciously alike.
Unsurprisingly, they were both created by the same artist, Dusty Ray, who specialises in the painting of grotesque, fleshy forms and bodies. Ray's spider has been around for a while - the artist first posted an image of it onto their Instagram in 2022 alongside the option to buy it as a print.
While we're not entirely sure what's happened here, or how Doja Cat ended up with the same artwork as a metal band, our one hope is that it's a strangely elaborate way of telling us all that she's heading towards a heavier sound.
After all, it wouldn't be the first time that the rapper has ventured into more alternative territories. For example, in 2020, she performed a nu-metal remix of her song Say So at the MTV Europe Music Awards.
And as of just this year, she told Variety: "I want to explore more of a raw, unfiltered, hardcore punk sort of thing. It's just something that I'm doing for my own personal fun — getting some drummers and guitarists together."
Doja Cat has now unveiled new cover artwork for her album, featuring not one but two spiders, entwined in a kiss. The new artwork is from the same artist, Dusty Ray, and is a watercolor titled Venatrix.
Check out the album covers below:
