THE BEAST

Credit: Metal Chris on Flickr via CC BY-NC 2.0

If there’s one thing metal bands are known for, it’s dressing up. Whether it’s comprised of face paint, leather clothes, or accessories like sunglasses and studded bracelets, the costumes donned by the biggest genre’s acts often serve to establish identities that distinguish them from mainstream artists. 

That’s a tradition bands like KISS and Slipknot have been known for since as early as the ‘70s—and acts like GWAR continue to embrace it today. Its lineup showed up fully costumed to an NPR interview in 2023, with host Scott Detrow noting that they donned “a mix of, like, medieval war armor meets sci-fi alien meets a little bit of a huggable ‘Sesame Street’ monster.” 

With their penchant for maximalist fashion, it’s thus no surprise that metal artists like to dress up for Halloween, the spookiest and arguably the most “metal” holiday of the year. Now that we’re officially in Christmas territory, why don’t we look back at some of the standout costumes the genre’s most iconic musicians wore for Halloween 2024?

Rob Halford 

Credit: @robhalfordlegacy on Instagram

Judas Priest’s frontman Rob Halford is credited with pioneering metal fashion as we know it. When the band started out in 1969, he stood out on stage by borrowing pieces inspired by leather subculture and motorcycle fashion, which fueled the widespread use of studded leather outfits and sunglasses in the genre. Now in his 70s, Halford’s been diagnosed with Usher Syndrome, which causes gradual vision and hearing loss. That’s probably why he always picks Halloween costumes that integrate the necessary aids into their design. This year, that included prescription sunglasses . In an Instagram post, he’s seen sporting a pair similar to the Ray-Ban Aviator Classic, a model that LensCrafters notes is among the most popular for adding prescription lenses to—and which boasts gold frames that perfectly complement the black leather captain’s hat he’s partial to these days. With this fashionable yet functional getup, Halford channels his inner Hamlet while holding a plastic skull, alluding to the famous “Alas, poor Yorick!” graveyard scene in the Shakespearean play of the same name—a perfectly metal way to dress up for Halloween. 

Frank Iero 

Credit: @frankieromustdie on Instagram

My Chemical Romance is one of the most popular contemporary bands known for dressing up to the max, and its members notably have a taste for the supernatural. Lead vocalist Gerard Way alone is famous for his comic-turned-Netflix series The Umbrella Academy—and rhythm guitarist Frank Iero is a particularly huge fan of another hit Netflix show, Stranger Things. That’s especially apparent in the fact that he dressed up as the superpowered Eleven for Halloween this year. Though Millie Bobby Brown’s character underwent a number of costume changes through the seasons, Iero opted to don her iconic pink dress, paired with the vintage windbreaker designed by none other than the popular footwear brand Nike. As her first outfit since the hospital gown she wore in captivity, Eleven associates these pieces with beauty and goodness. However, Iero foregoes the blonde wig she usually wears with them and sports her trademark shaved head—and, with some makeup, the traces of a nosebleed—to embrace the more serious aspects of this character in a truly metal way. 

Munky’s kids 

Credit: @evis_xheneti and @munky_korn on Instagram

Korn co-founder James “Munky” Shaffer is a huge advocate of metal culture. In the essential documentary Metal: a Headbanger’s Journey, he’s one of the key artists tapped to talk about the factors that led to the genre’s popularity, and why it still heavily influences multiple aspects of mainstream culture—including fashion—today. These insights are arguably something he’s shared with his kids, because they definitely know the value of a good costume. For Halloween 2024, two of them dressed up as popular characters from franchises like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Beauty and the Beast—but Munky’s eldest son stood out by dressing just like his dad! With dreadlocks, a sporty jacket, baggy pants, and a pair of Converse shoes, he donned all the same pieces Korn’s guitarist has been known to wear onstage himself. This particular costume takes the metal Halloween costume to the next level by taking inspiration from one of the best sources possible—and it’s clear why the final look turned out to be incredibly accurate.