Metal umlaut

The graphic designer added the umlaut to the cover of Motörhead's first album for aesthetic reasons.

A metal umlaut is an umlaut that is sometimes used gratuitously or decoratively over letters in the names of heavy metal bands, such as in Mötley Crüe or Motörhead. Among English speakers, 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 Teutonic quality. It is a form of marketing that evokes 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. The metal umlaut is never referred to by the term diaeresis in this usage, nor is it generally intended to affect the pronunciation of the band's name.

These decorative umlauts have been parodied in film and fiction. In the mockumentary film This Is Spın̈al Tap (spelled with an umlaut over the n), fictional rocker David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean) says, "It's like a pair of eyes. You're looking at the umlaut, and it's looking at you." In 2002, Spin magazine referred to the metal umlaut as "the diacritical mark of the beast."

Umlauts and diaereses

The German word Umlaut roughly means change of pronunciation or sound shift, as it is composed of um-, "re-", and Laut, "sound". Adding an umlaut indeed changes the pronunciation of a vowel in standard (i.e. not heavy-metal) usage; the letters u and ü represent distinct sounds, as do o vs. ö and a vs. ä.

Umlauts, or visually similar graphemes, are used in many languages, including Estonian, Finnish, German, Hungarian, Icelandic, Swedish and Turkish. The sounds represented by the umlauted letters in these languages are typically front vowels (front rounded vowels in the case of ü and ö). Ironically, these sounds tend to be perceived as "weaker" or "lighter" than the vowels represented by un-umlauted u, o, and a, and thus in the languages which use it normally, the umlaut does not evoke the impression of strength and darkness which its sensational use in English is intended to convey. Therefore, the foreign branding effect of the metal umlaut is dependent on the beholder's background. Speakers of such languages may understand the intended effect but see it through a different lens than speakers of languages which lack umlauts.

The English word diaeresis, coming from a Greek word meaning "to divide or distinguish", refers to a diacritic graphically similar to the umlaut. This diacritic is used in languages such as Greek, French, Spanish (where it indicates a non-diphtong and thus, a real diaereisis), Dutch, and Brazilian Portuguese with varying purposes; in English and some other languages the diaeresis may be employed to indicate that two vowels are to be pronounced separately, as in the names "Chloë," "Zoë," or the word "naïve". Although spellings such as reënact and coöperate have largely fallen into disuse, this use of the diaeresis mark, or trema, is still used in some English-language publications.

History

The German progressive rock band Amon Düül II released their first album in 1969. However, their name came from "Amon, an Egyptian sun god, and Düül, a character from Turkish fiction", so this use of umlauts was not gratuitous. The third part of Yes's progressive rock epic "Starship Trooper" is entitled "Würm" (on The Yes Album, released 1971). However, this again is probably not gratuitous, seemingly coming from the Würm glaciation. The same phonetic realisation, /wyrm/, however, is also an Old English word for 'dragon'.

The first gratuitous use appears to have been either by Blue Öyster Cult or by Black Sabbath, both in 1970. Blue Öyster Cult's website states it was added by guitarist and keyboardist Allen Lanier, but rock critic Richard Meltzer claims to have suggested it to their producer and manager Sandy Pearlman just after Pearlman came up with the name: "I said, 'How about an umlaut over the O?' Metal had a Wagnerian aspect anyway." In that same year, Black Sabbath's record label, on a rare picture-sleeve 7" single version of Paranoid (with the b-side Rat Salad), for no apparent reason, retitled the song "Paranoïd" with a diaeresis above the "i" (as is correct in French).

On their second album In Search of Space (1971), Hawkwind wrote on the backside of the cover: "TECHNICIÄNS ÖF SPÅCE SHIP EÅRTH THIS IS YÖÜR CÄPTÅIN SPEÄKING YÖÜR ØÅPTÅIN IS DEA̋D". To add to the variation, Danish and Norwegian letter Ø and Danish/Norwegian/Swedish letter Å are added. The diacritical mark on the last " A̋ " is the "Hungarian umlaut" or double acute accent ( ˝ )—two short lines slanting up and to the right—instead of dots (Hungarian uses neither the ( ˝ ) nor the traditional German umlaut ("Ä") over the letter "A", though, and ( ˝ ) is used only on the letters "Ő" and "Ű"). This was before Lemmy, later of Motörhead, had become a member of the group.

Motörhead followed in 1975. The idea for the umlaut came from Lemmy, the group's lead singer, who said, "I only put it in there to look mean." (Interestingly, the German pronunciation of Motör, a word that does not exist in German, would be similar to French equivalent, moteur. "Motor", the correct German spelling, is pronounced similarly to "motor" in English.) The band Hüsker Dü debuted in January 1979, though they were based in punk and not heavy metal. Hüsker Dü's name is derived from the Danish board game "Hūsker Dū?" which translates to "Do you remember?" Mötley Crüe formed in 1980; according to Vince Neil in the band's Behind the Music edition, the inspiration came from a Löwenbräu bottle. They subsequently decided to name their record label "Leathür Records". At one Mötley Crüe performance in Germany, the entire audience started chanting "Meutley Crew-eh" (IPA: [møːt.liː kʁyː.ə]) — a pronunciation often used in Hungary as well.

Queensrÿche, who took on that name in 1981, went further by putting the umlaut over the Y in their name. (In French, the ÿ is used very rarely, e.g. in the placename L'Haÿ-les-Roses (IPA: [la.ˈi.lɛ.ʀoz]). It is more commonly used in Dutch, where the common combination "ij," when written in cursive, resembles a y with an umlaut.) Queensrÿche frontman Geoff Tate stated, "The umlaut over the 'y' has haunted us for years. We spent eleven years trying to explain how to pronounce it." In contrast to other examples, the spelling of Queensrÿche was chosen to soften the band's image, as it was feared that the original spelling, Queensreich, might be misconstrued as having neo-nazi connotations.

File:Spinal Tap logo.jpg

The mockumentary This Is Spın̈al Tap parodies the Metal Umlaut by putting an umlaut on the "n" in Spın̈al Tap

The spoof band Spın̈al Tap raised the stakes in 1984 by using an umlaut over the letter n; i.e., over a consonant. This construction is in fact found in the Jakaltek language of Guatemala and in some orthographies of Malagasy, a language of Madagascar.

Popular culture usage

The 1974 film Blazing Saddles included Madeline Kahn's German-accented Marlene Dietrich-style chanteuse character "Lili Von Shtupp" (according to the credits). She is announced on a poster outside the music hall as "Lili von Shtüpp"; the film's characters pronounce the name without any change to the vowel. The name itself is clearly intended as an allusion to Yiddish, which is used elsewhere throughout the movie, rather than German. In Yiddish, shtup, probably derived from the German for "push," is a vulgarism meaning "to have sex with."

In the mid-1980s, cartoonist Berkeley Breathed parodied the metal umlaut in the comic strip Bloom County with the fictional group Deathtöngue. Breathed eventually had Deathtöngue change their name to the umlaut-free Billy and the Boingers following pressure, in the strip, from congressional hearings on "porn rock."

The novel Zodiac (1988) by Neal Stephenson features a fictional metal band called Pöyzen Böyzen, which one character describes as "not bad for a two-umlaut band".

In 1997, parody newspaper The Onion published an article called "Ünited Stätes Toughens Image With Umlauts", about a congressional attempt to add umlauts to the name of the United States of America to make it seem "bad-assed and scary in a quasi-heavy metal manner". Journalist and author Steve Almond coined the term "spandex and umlaut circuit" in 2002 to describe the heavy metal touring scene. Rock critic Chuck Klosterman subtitled his 2001 book Fargo Rock City, A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural Nörth Daköta.

Webcomic artist Scott Kurtz drew a series of cartoons about a fake band called Djörk in his PvP Online webcomic. Apart from satirizing the metal umlaut (the original band name was to be Umlaüt), this name also refers to the Icelandic singer/songwriter Björk, whose diacritical marks are genuine. The term nu metal is sometimes spelled as "nü metal". The video games Guitar Hero 2 and Guitar Hero 3 contain the character "Lars Ümlaüt". In the 2006 book "To Air Is Human", New York Times writer Dan Crane describes competing in the 2003 Air Guitar World Championships under the name Björn Türoque (a play on "Born to rock"). In October 2007, LucasArts alumnus Tim Schafer announced his newest project, the heavy metal adventure game Brütal Legend.

Band or Album Name Examples

Umlaut

• Hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult
• Heavy metal band Motörhead
• Glam Metal band Mötley Crüe
• Metal Band Deströyer 666
• British Indie Rock band Maxïmo Park
• New York City laser punk band the Toilet Böys
• Canadian punk metal band Kïll Cheerleadër
• English semi-fictional band Spın̈al Tap
• Spanish Folk Metal band Mägo de Oz
• Comedy/Metal band Green Jellÿ (pronounced Green Jell-O)
• California thrash-metal band Beowülf
• Frank Zappa used an umlaut in the title of the album Läther (pronounced Leather)
• French Black Metal Band Mütiilation
• Danish Black Metal band Svarte Köter
• Canadian Thrash Metal Band Infernäl Mäjesty
• American Progressive Metal Band Queensrÿche
• German punk band Die Ärzte (translation: the physicians) called one disc of their 1999 live album "Nö Sleep ’til Viehauktiönshalle Öldenbürg"
• American hip hop band Dälek
• Canadian political satire band Moxy Früvous
• Fictional metal band Dethklok from the cartoon Metalocalypse is sometimes spelled as "Dëthkløk" in the band's logo
• American thrash band Lääz Rockit (German pronunciation would be almost "Lets rock it")
• American alternative rock band Hüsker Dü (the game "Hūsker Dū?" was published with macrons instead of umlauts)
• American anarcho punk band Leftöver Crack
• A Character in the Guitar Hero series (specifically GHII and GHIII) Lars Ümlaüt.
• Electronic musician Überzone
• American grindcore band Assück
• Japanese rock musician Közi
• Japanese rock band girugämesh
• American thrashcore band The Accüsed
• American alternative band The Crüxshadows
• Ukrainian etherial wave band Flëur

Other Characters

• Danish musical project Leæther Strip.
• German punk band Die Ärzte used three dots over the "A" in Ärzte on their 2003 album Geräusch.
• A three-dot "umlaut" has also been seen in artwork for King Creosote, over the "i".
• American jam band Rusted Root uses a three-dot umlaut over the "e" in its logo, as seen on its album covers.
• Death metal band DÅÅTH.
• French electronica band Rinôçérôse.
• The dark folk / experimental band Death In June used umlauts and accented "e"s in the original releases of their albums The Wörld Thät Sümmer (1985) and Thé Wäll Öf Säcrificé (1989) - and, on these releases, also in the band name, leading to Deäth In Jüne and Déäth In Jüné, respectively.
• the Japanese rock group Boøwy.
• American progressive metal band Tool's album Ænima.
• Siouxsie & the Banshees's 1984 album Hyæna.
• Jay-Z utilized an umlaut over the "Y" on his cover of his debut album Reasonable Doubt.
• Questionable Content author Jeph Jacques' musical project Deathmøle.
• Russian band Aquarium on album covers is usually named as Åквариум.
• Russian punk band Наив has two dots over и in logo (like a dieresis is the word naïve).
• British electronic artist µ-Ziq
• American christian metalcore band Underøath.
• Dutch band Bløf

Non-gratuitous diacritics

ä with three dots (Die Ärzte)

• German band Die Ärzte. ("The Physicians")—but since 2003 Die Ärzte are using an a with three dots as an allusion to the metal umlaut.
• Rhode Island "futurock" band Grüvis Malt
• Icelandic artist Björk Guðmundsdóttir is using her birth name.
• Finnish Industrial Metal band Turmion Kätilöt
• Finnish heavy metal band Teräsbetoni ("Reinforced concrete", literally Steel Concrete).
• Dutch DJ and Producer Tiësto
• German band Einstürzende Neubauten
• Swedish multi-instrumentalist Dan Swanö uses his birth name.
• Faroese Viking metal group Týr
• Icelandic Post-rock group Sigur Rós
• British Indie Rock band Maxïmo Park
• Norwegian electronic music duo Röyksopp, stylised version of røyksopp (smoke mushroom)

See also

• Foreign branding (Häagen-Dazs, Fahrvergnügen)
• Devil horns heavy metal hand signal
• Faux Cyrillic (Faцx Cyяillic)
• Word play
• Sensational spelling
• Über

External links

• My Life in Heavy Metal by Steve Almond (excerpt)
• The Döts (Dave Krinsky)
• Would you like umlauts with that? (PDF) by Bruce Campbell
• The Metal Umlaut in the Liff Dictionary