Heavy metal umlaut

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A heavy metal umlaut is an umlaut over a letter in the name of a heavy metal band. The use of umlauts and other diacritics with a blackletter style typeface is a form of foreign branding intended to give a band's logo a Germanic or Nordic quality. It is a form of marketing that invokes stereotypes of boldness and strength commonly attributed to peoples such as the Vikings; author Reebee Garofalo has attributed its use to a desire for a "gothic horror" feel {{Ref|Garofalo}}. The heavy metal umlaut is never referred to by the term diaeresis in this usage, nor is it intended to affect the pronunciation of the band's name.

Related Topics:
Umlaut - Heavy metal - Diacritic - Blackletter - Typeface - Foreign branding - Germanic - Nordic - Vikings - Diaeresis

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Heavy metal umlauts have been parodied in film and fiction. In the film This Is Spinal Tap (which is spelled with an umlaut over the "n" and a dotless i), David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean) opined, "It's like a pair of eyes. You're looking at the umlaut, and it's looking at you." In 2002

Related Topics:
This Is Spinal Tap - Dotless i - Michael McKean - 2002 - Spin magazine

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