Digital Good Time: Paul Romano

Digital Good Time: Paul Romano
(Digital Good Time is a series in which xoxobra focuses on the visual side of music)
Like many people, I became familiar with Philidelphia-based artist Paul Romano's work through Mastodon. Seeing his cover for their 2002 album Remission was a large part of the reason why I bought it. Once I saw Romano's work for their sophomore effort, Leviathan, I was wishing I could afford to fork over the $300-plus bucks for a large print of both album covers.

While Romano got his start with Mastodon, he hasn't stopped there. In just a few years of designing album covers, he went from spunky upstart looking for any work he could get (he actually landed the first Mastodon project by walking right up to Relapse Records unannounced) to one of the most in-demand visual artists in the music industry. Said Romano in an interview with Decibel Magazine: "I want to tailor a distinct visual sense to the band and add dimensionality to their music. Album art is more than just packaging, it's a little window to another world." That's certainly the case with his artwork.

(2002; album cover for Remission; click to view large size)

(2004; inside LP gatefold [left] for Leviathan; click to view large size)

(2005; full spread cover for Tone Poems for Sad Times; click to view large size)

(2003; front and back album covers for II; click to view large size)

(2003; front and back album covers for File Under Black; click to view large size)

(2003; back cover for The Life & Times of Laddio Bolocko;click to view large size)

Romano's latest work can be seen on the cover of Mastodon's new album, Crack the Skye, which was released last month. Pick it up, it's awesome.

Links:
Paul Romano