Heavy metal has always had a strange relationship with the unknown. Its imagery thrives in shadow - masked figures, foggy landscapes, ancient symbols, monsters, forgotten gods, and worlds that hover just outside the real. Album covers often become more than decoration; they act like portals into the mood and mythology of the music itself. Few artists understand that visual language better than Claudio Bergamin.
Known for his striking work across the metal world, Bergamin creates paintings that feel massive in scale and cinematic in tone. His artwork for bands like Judas Priest doesn’t simply illustrate songs - it builds entire universes around them. There’s movement in his work, a sense that something is happening just beyond the frame.
Machines merge with mythology. Figures appear suspended between science fiction and ancient legend. The result feels both futuristic and timeless.
What makes Bergamin especially fascinating is how naturally his art overlaps with the kind of themes explored here on Blue Banana. His imagery often brushes against the unexplained. There are echoes of UFO lore, cryptid-like forms, spiritual symbolism, and dreamlike environments that seem to exist outside ordinary reality.
His paintings invite questions rather than answers, which may be why they linger in the mind long after you’ve seen them.
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| Claudio Bergamin |
Growing up in Chile, Bergamin was surrounded by a culture rich with folklore, mysticism, and stories passed through generations. Those influences may not always appear directly, but they seem to live beneath the surface of his work. There’s a feeling that his art comes from somewhere deeper than simple imagination - as if he’s translating fragments of something already waiting to be discovered.
In this interview, we talk about the connection between heavy metal and visual storytelling, the strange pull of the paranormal, and how imagination, culture, and mystery collide inside the creative process.
You grew up in Chile - how did that environment shape the way you see monsters, mythology, and the unknown?
Interesting question. While South America doesn’t have Sasquatch, it certainly has its own rich tradition of mythological creatures and monster lore. I clearly remember my parents and relatives telling stories about strange creatures in southern Chile ever since I was a child. Many of these legends have ancient roots in the indigenous tribes that inhabited what is now Chile and Argentina long before the arrival of Spanish explorers.
That said, we did experience a wave of Chupacabra sightings in northern Chile in the late 90s, particularly in the extremely arid desert region. Some witnesses described a bipedal creature that moved in an ape-like manner. I even personally met one witness who claimed to have seen a bizarre animal perched on top of a palm tree. According to him, it resembled a mandrill - a species that is definitely not native to that area.
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| "Heavy Metal '84" Artwork by Claudio Bergamin |
Do you think your visual style carries something from your roots, even when you’re painting futuristic or cosmic scenes?
I’m sorry to say no. I don’t want to come across as disloyal to my cultural heritage, but as a kid and later as a teenager, I simply wasn’t interested in the traditional artistic styles or subject matter of my homeland. All I cared about was fantasy and science fiction. At the time, the most celebrated Chilean art was heavily political, which really annoyed me. On top of that, the kind of work I was pursuing was often viewed as childish and superficial, arrogantly dismissed by professors and critics as a lesser form of art. “Oh that is just comic strips”. It is ironic that of all the people I met when I was in Art School back in the day, I am the only one currently working as a professional artist. I guess I am a stubborn guy.
Latin American folklore is full of strange creatures and legends - did any of those early stories stick with you and show up in your art later?
In my art? Not yet. But a few of those stories stand out in my mind and who knows, I might explore them one day. There’s an island in southern Chile called Chiloé, famous for its incredibly rich creature lore. That part of our culture truly fascinated me.
In Chilote mythology of southern Chile, El Caleuche is a legendary ghost ship that sails the foggy canals of Chiloé. Appearing at night as a brilliantly lit white vessel filled with music and revelry, it is crewed by drowned sailors, witches, and demons. The magical ship can shapeshift, vanish instantly, or submerge underwater, luring victims with its enchanting lights and sounds.
Also from Chilote mythology, El Trauco is a short, ugly dwarf-like creature who dwells deep in the forests. With no feet, a grotesque face, and a small stone axe, he uses his hypnotic gaze and breath to irresistibly seduce women, often impregnating them. Unexplained pregnancies in the region are traditionally blamed on encounters with this perverse forest spirit.
From that same area La Pincoya is a beautiful sea spirit with long golden hair. She personifies the fertility of the ocean and dances on the beaches or in the waves. If she dances facing the sea, fishermen enjoy abundant catches; if she faces inland, seafood becomes scarce.
Another strange creature from Chiloé is the Imbunche. A horribly deformed guardian monster created by warlocks (brujos). According to the legend, it starts as a kidnapped baby whose body is ritually twisted: its head is rotated backwards, limbs are broken and contorted, and one arm is often inserted through a hole in its back so it appears to grow out from behind. It usually walks on one foot (with the other leg twisted behind it), making it a grotesque, crippled-looking being that guards the entrance to caves of sorcery. Alan Moore featured this character in his Swamp Thing series, published by DC Comics.
What was your gateway into heavy metal culture, and how did it fuse with your art style?
The artwork of the Heavy Metal world fascinated me just as much as the music itself. I remember spending hours at stores going through shelves and shelves of vinyl records, mesmerized by the incredible album covers created by legendary artists like Ken Kelly, Derek Riggs, and Roger Dean. That’s my earliest memory of Heavy Metal music.
My first rock heroes, however, were Queen. Their career spanned so many different styles, including heavy rock and metal, so when I started exploring heavier and faster music as a teenager, it felt like a natural progression.
Funnily enough, the high school friend who introduced me to Heavy Metal quickly grew out of it, but I’ll never forget the day he handed me Iron Maiden’s Piece of Mind. I became an instant fan. From there, I dove headfirst down the metal rabbit hole and discovered Judas Priest, Metallica, Mötley Crüe, W.A.S.P., Helloween, and Mercyful Fate. Bands that remain my favorites to this day.
As for how it all fused with my artistic style? It was simple. I had been obsessed with comic books since childhood, and many of those artists shared a very similar aesthetic to the bold, dramatic graphics of Heavy Metal album covers. Going from drawing cartoon and comic book characters as a kid to creating album art graphics as an adult felt completely natural to me.
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| The cover to Firepower by Judas Priest |
Describe the process in becoming the primary artist for Judas Priest cover art.
I had already been doing design work for Richie Faulkner before he even joined Judas Priest. After he became part of the band, I continued collaborating with him on various projects, including branding, his official guitar picks, and even an emblem for his stage outfit.
What many people don’t know is that I started proposing concepts to Judas Priest as early as the Redeemer of Souls era (2013), back when the album was still under the working title Metalizer. For that project, I created a series of sketches featuring cybernetic faces, though the band ultimately decided to go in a different direction.
That experience only strengthened my desire to bring Judas Priest’s aesthetic back to the iconic robotic creatures that Doug Johnson created in the 80s. So when the time came to pitch ideas for Firepower, which happened to be on a Friday, I already had a very clear vision in mind. Remarkably, Richie shared the same vision for the artwork, and we spent the entire weekend exchanging concepts and inspiration over text. By Monday morning, I had a finished sketch ready to present to the rest of the band, and by Monday evening, it was officially approved and given the green light.
Everything just seemed to fall into place perfectly. It was a truly fascinating experience.
Heavy metal has always embraced the epic, the dark, and the otherworldly - what drew you to that world as an artist?
As I mentioned earlier, I’ve been into fantasy cartoons, comics, and anime ever since I was a little kid. Transitioning from that to the dramatic (and often horror-tinged) aesthetics of Heavy Metal felt completely natural to me. It was all part of my programming.
Your interest in UFOs and cryptids - what is it about those subjects that resonates with you personally?
I don’t know, it’s hard to say for sure. I was simply drawn to these subjects from a very early age. I clearly remember being fascinated by TV shows like “In Search of…” and “UFOs Are Real” when I was a kid. “Unsolved Mysteries” also had a few UFO episodes that caught my attention.
Since I was already so deeply into fantasy and science fiction as genres, discovering that there were real-life cases with that same fantastic quality felt completely irresistible to me. It’s also worth mentioning that my mom was into Erich von Däniken and J.J. Benítez back when these topics were still very fringe, especially in Chile, where almost no one was talking about them. I definitely have to give her credit for introducing me to so many of these “crazy” subjects early on.
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| Claudio created cover the art work for Lyle Blackburn's book Beyond Boggy Creek. |
Have you ever had a personal experience with anything unexplained? Did it influence your art?
Yes. I actually saw a ghost once, or to be more precise, a Shadow Entity. By that time, I was already deeply into high strangeness, cryptozoology, and ufology. All of it built up years later to the point where I felt compelled to start illustrating these topics in my own style, which is exactly what I did in 2016.
If you could create the ultimate album cover about a real-life paranormal event, which case would you choose?
Interesting question. Well, I have created a bunch of book covers for Paranormal authors and that is not that different from doing album covers. But I would say either the Roswell Crash or The Philadelphia Experiment.
Aliens land tomorrow and make contact with you - what’s the first Metal album you’re showing them?
Ha ha. You’re funny. It probably wouldn’t be a Heavy Metal album but maybe something prog rock, like “The Universal Migrator” by Ayreon.
You can explore more of Claudio Bergamin’s vivid and otherworldly creations through his online art store, where his signature blend of heavy metal imagery, fantasy, cryptids, and cosmic mystery comes to life in prints, originals, and collectible pieces. It’s a chance to step deeper into the visual universe that fuels both his imagination and his unmistakable artistic style.
Other Notable Links: The Creature of Boggy Creek artwork
UFO Collection - Bergamin Art
Bigfoot Collection - Bergamin Art
Judas Priest Firepower - Bergamin
Heavy Metal '84 - A tribute to KISS - Bergamin Art
Now Playing: My House On Mars - Ayreon
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