Vic Rattlehead
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Vic Rattlehead is the mascot of the thrash metal and speed metal band Megadeth. Vic is a skeletal figure who embodies the phrase, "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil." His eyes are covered by a bolted-on visor, his mouth is clamped shut, and his ears are closed with metal caps.
His image appears on several Megadeth album covers, such as Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good!, Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?, So Far, So Good... So What!, Rust in Peace, The World Needs a Hero, Risk (the remastered version only), The System Has Failed, and "United Abominations" (albeit in a different form). Vic is also found on the inside cover of "Youthanasia" and "Countdown To Extinction"
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[edit] Creation
The mythic creation of Vic Rattlehead is addressed in the song "Skull Beneath the Skin" from the Killing is My Business... and Business is Good! album:
Prepare the patients scalp
To peel away
Metal caps his ears
He'll hear not what we say
Solid steel visor
Riveted cross his eyes
Iron staples close his jaws
So no one hears his cries
In reality, Dave Mustaine sketched the original drawing of Vic for the cover art, but creative differences with Combat Records led to a completely different result.[1] The original artwork was supposed to be recovered and placed on the re-issue of Killing Is My Business...and Business is Good!, but they never did.
[edit] Redesign contest
On January 29th, 2006, an official contest was announced on deviantART to redesign the Megadeth icon. The contest states:
After two decades of rocking, the heavy metal band Megadeth’s mascot Vic Rattlehead needs a facelift and the band has commissioned deviantART to redesign him!! Not only do you get the chance to redesign a mascot whose image has appeared on several Megadeth albums as well as a myriad of band merchandise, you can also win the BIGGEST prizes we've ever offered for a deviantART contest!
The prizes are three different electric guitars by ESP. First place is an LTD AXXION, second is an LTD DV8-R, and third is an LTD DV200. The contest ended on February 14th, 2006, and was judged by Dave Mustaine with the results posted on deviantART on March 15, 2006. ~xaay won the LTD AXXION, with ~kingplinker taking home the LTD DV8-R, and ~walterd earning the LTD DV200 for his efforts. The winning deviation can be viewed here the second place deviation here and the third place deviation here
[edit] Artists
The artists for the various incarnations of Vic include:
- Dave Mustaine (original band logos)
- Edward J. Repka (Peace Sells... But Who's Buying? and Rust in Peace)
- David Jude (So Far, So Good... So What!)
- Hugh Syme (Countdown to Extinction and The World Needs a Hero)
- Michael Mueller (Megadeth edition of VH1's Behind the Music, Blackmail The Universe concert tour shirts, and the 2002 remastered edition of Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good!)
- Mike Learn (The System Has Failed)
[edit] United Abominations
Recently the coverart for Megadeth's upcoming album United Abominations has revealed a redesigned Vic, using artwork from one of the Deviantart contest entries, albeit not a winning entry.
