Question
Dear ScorpioN,
Hi, I wanted to know if you know what the design on the front of the Cryptic Writings album means. Or is it just some random artwork? Thanks!
-Andrew
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Answer
Well Drew, the cover was done by renowned album cover designer Hugh Syme. Mr. Syme has done artwork for such notable artists as Aerosmith, Nevermore, Queensryche, and Rush. Dave Mustaine gave the following description of this ancient symbol.
"It's called a veve ... It's a voodoo symbol... It means that you can enter into a premises, that it's safe and there is no poison. It's a warning telling you where you can and can not go. It's also a direction. Most of the hobos were people who practiced voodoo. They would go from building to building whether it was a shanty or it was a shack. They would go in there and they'd find chalk writings on the wall that told them if it was a safe place. It was usually done with a burnt stick... When I first got the artwork back it was littered with voodoo symbols and all kinds of stuff. I told them that it was too heavy. I didn't want anything on there that would give homage to pagan gods and shit like that. I want it to be about the music. As it is, that symbol right there, we don't really know exactly what the combination of everything is. We know pretty much what the breakdown of each symbol is but it's like crossing different kinds of medications. You take two separate medications and they have a different and combined effect. There might be something where those symbols counter another symbol and turn it into something else."
