You may not recognise the name, but I guarantee that you have seen (or own) his work. For over 30 years, Steve ‘Krusher’ Joule has designed album covers for the likes of Hawkwind (Live “˜79), Ozzy Osbourne (Diary Of A Madman, Bark At The Moon), Black Sabbath (Born Again), and more.

For 10 years he was the art director for Kerrang! Magazine that Metallica’s Lars Ulrich once called “the most important magazine for us.”

I called up the “van Gogh of metal” for an extensive chat about his work, comics, and his dear friend, guitar hero Würzel. He’s funny, he’s sweary, and he tells it like it is.

Geeks of Doom: First of all, do I call you “˜Krusher’ or Steve?

Steve “˜Krusher’ Joule: Most people call me Krusher.

Geeks of Doom: Where did that come from?

Steve “˜Krusher’ Joule: It was when I was working on Kerrang [magazine]. I just wanted a nickname for a week and thought it would be clever to have Krusher spelled K-E-R-R – as in Kerrang – and U-S-H-E-R. Somebody changed it at the printers to Krusher thinking it was a spelling error…and it just stuck! [laughs]

Geeks of Doom: You’re most well known, to me at least, for designing Ozzy Osbourne album covers particularly Diary Of A Madman and Bark At The Moon. How did that come about?