Suicidal Tendencies, ‘No Mercy Fool!/The Suicidal Family’ — Album Art of the Week

Suicidal Tendencies' latest release, 'No Mercy Fool!/The Suicidal Family,' is a compilation of remastered tracks culled from two previous releases of the legendary L.A. skate punks, 'No Mercy' and 'Join the Army.' The cover, done by designer Alan Pirie, prominently displays an image of armed forced-style badge customized the Suicidal way. "This was the most time consuming project I've done for Suicidal as the badge went through many stages to get it just right for this release," Pirie told Noisecreep. "To be something new and relevant today, but to have a distinct feel of the original albums' time.

"The badge itself is basically layers built up then given a brushed steel effect," Pirie explained about about the image itself. "I noticed the wreath was on many badges I saw online and the star was a quick nod to 'Possessed to Skates'' original pentagram. In this case the star worked better the regular way as opposed to inverted. The skulls were done initially for the 'Year of the Cycos' compilation and the band really liked them so they were added in as a link to the many skulls used in previous artwork over the years."

Perhaps the most notable element in Pirie's badge is the incorporation of the 'suicidal maniac' character, appearing just below the center skull. The mascot of sorts was created by artist Michael Seiff, who has since passed away. "Although I've done many projects for the band over the last few years, this release would have had new Michael Seiff artwork if he was still alive. His original art holds up against any band's artwork today and as a young artist he was a great influence for me."

Suicidal Tendencies will be touring the U.S. in October and November to support 'No Mercy Fool!/The Suicidal Family.'