A metal umlaut (also known as röck döts) is a diacritic that is sometimes used gratuitously or decoratively over letters in the names of mainly hard rock or heavy metal bandsâÂÂfor example, those of Blue ÃÂyster Cult, Queensrÿche, Motörhead, the Accüsed, Mötley Crüe, Hüsker Dü, and the parody bands SpñnÃÂal Tap and Green Jellÿ.
Usage
Among English speakers, the use of umlaut marks and other diacritics with a blackletter typeface is a form of foreign branding, which has been attributed to a desire for a "gothic horror" feel. The metal umlaut is not generally intended to affect the pronunciation of the band's name, unlike the umlaut in German (where the letters u and ü, a and ä, as well as o and ö, represent distinct vowels) and the Scandinavian languages (where ÃÂ¥, ä and a, ö/ø and o are distinct letters).
History
The first gratuitous use of the umlaut in the name of a hard rock or metal band appears to have been by Blue ÃÂyster Cult in 1971.
Reactions
Speakers of languages which use an umlaut to designate a pronunciation change may understand the intended effect, but perceive the result differently. When Mötley Crüe visited Germany, singer Vince Neil said the band couldn't figure out why "the crowds were chanting, 'Mutley Cruh! Mutley Cruh!
These decorative umlauts have been parodied in film and fiction; in an interview about the mockumentary film This Is SpñnÃÂal Tap, 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." The heavy metal band Gwar parodied the use of metal umlauts in a lyric insert included with its first record, stylizing the song names with gratuitous diacritics. In 1997, the satirical newspaper The Onion published an article titled "ÃÂnited Stätes Toughens Image With Umlauts."
Examples in music
English-speaking countries
- The Accüsed â American ÃÂrossover thrash band.
- Assück â American grindcore band.
- Barbariön â Australian metal band.
- Beowülf â American thrash metal band.
- Blue ÃÂyster Cult â American hard rock band.
- The Crüxshadows â American alternative rock band.
- Dälek â American hip-hop band.
- Death in June â British dark folk/experimental band. Early works used umlauts and accented "e"s, such as on The Wörld Thät Sümmer (1985) and Thé Wäll ÃÂf Säcrificé (1989). The band's name was stylized as Deäth In Jüne and Déäth In Jüné, respectively, on each.
- Deströyer 666 â Australian thrash metal/black metal band.
- Dethklok â fictional metal band from the cartoon Metalocalypse, sometimes spelled as "Dëthkløk" in the band's logo.
- Green Jellÿ â American comedy metal band, originally spelled (and still pronounced) Green Jellö.
- GÃÂrÃÂoáºÂusàâ American Industrial rock band. Notably, their logo design has umlaut marks over only the consonants.
- Hüsker Dü â American punk band (the game "HÃ
«sker DÃ
«?" was published with macrons instead of umlauts).
- Infernäl Mäjesty â Canadian thrash metal band.
- Jack àâ American EDM DJ duo, side group and collaborative project, consisting of Mad Decent founder Diplo and Owsla founder Skrillex.
- Kïll Cheerleadër â Canadian punk metal band.
- Lççz Rockit â American thrash band. German pronunciation would roughly be "Let's rock it."
- Leftöver Crack â American anarcho punk band.
- Maxïmo Park â British indie rock band.
- Mïngle Härde â British hardcore punk/noise rock band.
- Mötley Crüe â American glam metal band.
- Motörhead â English rock band.
- Moxy Früvous â Canadian political satire band.
- Queensrÿche â American progressive metal band.
- RusteâÂÂd Root â American jam band. Uses a three-dot umlaut over the "e" in its logo, as seen on its album covers.
- SpñnÃÂal Tap â British semi-fictional band, with a dotless letter i and a metal umlaut over the n.
- Stöner â American stoner rock band.
- Toilet Böys â American punk band.
- ÃÂnloco â American nu metal band.
- Yächtley Crëw â American yacht rock band.
- Znöwhite â American thrash metal band.
Other countries
Other examples
Video games
Other
- Deathtöngue â the original name of a metal band in the comic Bloom County (changed, after media publicity, to "Billy and the Boingers")
- Häagen-Dazs â an ice cream brand introduced in 1961.
- Löded Diper â the name of the fictional band that Rodrick Heffley plays in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid book series.
- Scäb â the name of a fictional band in the 1999 animated sitcom Home Movies.
- Shoë â the name of a fictional band created by Joe Thomas and Sian Gibson in a series 8 episode of Taskmaster. Thomas's description of using a "rock 'n' roll umlaut" coined the episode's title.
See also
References
External links