Metal Underground.com

When thinking of metal band merch, shoes probably aren’t the first thing that comes to mind. But hey, why not? If sporting an Emperor t-shirt or Dethklok hoodie doesn’t destroy your metal cred, then shoes aren’t much more of a stretch. Metalocalypse fanatics in need of new footwear are in for a treat, as Adult Swim has now teamed up with etnies to release a pair of shoes with a disgustingly awesome art design by death metal favorite Mark Riddick.

One side of the shoe features a massive decaying skull, while the other sports a series of torn apart bodies dangling from chains. Both are on par with what would be expected from a high quality death metal cover. Personally I’ve never had a pair of shoes with artwork before, so maybe this is an industry standard or something, but for some odd reason there’s also art inside the shoe. The reasoning behind that is kind of baffling – who is going to ever see it in the first place? I don’t ever really intend on taking off my shoes to show people what’s inside. The pair also comes with both black and red shoelaces, and the red really makes the art pop out more.

Being released by etnies, a “skater brand,” will probably turn off a lot of elitist metal heads, but honestly it shouldn’t be a deterrent. If image played no part in metal, black metal bands wouldn’t wear corpse paint and spiked gauntlets and long hair wouldn’t be the de-facto standard for nearly all sub-genres. Regardless of who makes them or whether their trendiness ticks off metal fans who want their beloved style to remain underground, they still look pretty sick (and in a good brutal metal way).

But all that’s pretty extraneous to the real question – do they fit well and are they comfortable? It’s an easy “yes” on both counts, as the pair is surprisingly comfy for something so brutal. Throw in the fact that they’ll inevitably offend someone while you’re out and about and you’ve got a real winner.