Music

Foo Fighters steal iconic black metal band's logo for ironic Christmas sweater

by Tyler Munro

The ironic music Christmas sweater trend reached peak stupidity over the weekend with the release of the Foo Fighters’ “Ginger Metal” jumper. As clever as the design is, hinging on the corpsepaint clad gingerbread man centred above four pentagrams, the shirt’s hook is likely the band’s “black metal-inspired logo,” which any and every fan of extreme metal should immediately recognize is a direct lift of Emperor’s iconic logo.

Sites like Loudwire and MetalSucks were quick to note the comparison, though they seemed to let the band off easy, calling the design an “Emperor-inspired” parody, but we’re not sure they’ve earned the benefit of a doubt here. To us, Emperor-inspired would at least imply transparency, and Foo Fighters haven’t yet acknowledged the similarities, and to be clear—it’s uncanny.

Emperor have also kept mum on the subject, but you’d have to think they’re aware of it.

It’s important for non-metalheads to note that Emperor aren’t a passing trend, nor are they just another black metal band. Formed in 1991, they quickly became one of Norwegian black metal’s most important and influential black metal bands, and with the release of 1994’s In the Nightside Eclipse helped diversify and influence the genre’s definitive second wave sound.

Long considered a friend to the genre, there’s no way Grohl is unaware of them, and while dude obviously didn’t design this shirt himself, you’d have to think he signed off on its release. For a band who so diligently rides on a high horse when it comes to the authenticity of music, this is pretty shitty. Here’s hoping Emperor end up getting a cut from this.