Tattoo help

[ian.de]

I've been in love with Scandinavian metal since sophomore year of high school. The music saved my pitiful depressed teenage life. It has helped me through stressful times and countless hours of boredom. I wouldn't trade the powerful emotion and feeling that I get from the music for anything. It's one of the few things my little brother and I have in common and the music has brought us closer and closer.

It's also been a one of the few entities of consistency in my life over the past few years, which is incredible when I think about how much I've changed. Usually people grow out of music phases and play certain music out until they can't stand it anymore. If anything I've delved deeper and my tastes have broadened.

I want to get a tattoo of something representing my love for the music. I don't really want anything too band specific, just something representing the culture/background/atmosphere/messages/mythology. My favorite bands are In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, Kalmah, Insomnium, Amon Amarth, Swallow The Sun.

I was looking at norse symbols, runes, viking mythology, ravens, wolves, moon/stars, things like that. I'm really just looking for a brainstorm of ideas that have to do with Scandinavian melodic death metal. I haven't thought too much about lyrics, so that's a possibility. I want it on my side/oblique/rib area. Arms are out because I'm studying to become a nurse, and back and shoulders are out because they are covered in acne scars, legs and chest are cheesy.

Any ideas welcome, I just want some more input before I go to a local artist to draw something up.

 

[PaganThunder]

What about a Swedish flag with a hand raising the horns of metal! and get HAIL METAL! or Long Live Metal or something written in Runes? i got no idea man....

\m/

 

[Gurby]

Or a triskell with a swedish flag skin?

 

[Skaobh]

A skeleton. Playing a guitar.

 

[Tyra]

Why don't you go even farther back in (pre) history, and use something from the rock carvings in Tanum or some such place? Then you can really honour the culture but be kind of non specific in terms of religion and band. There are some cool symbols there, spirals and knotwork and things that can be made into tribal bands that are sort of one-of-a-kind. Each symbol represents something. There are some twin symbols that you could get if you wanted to have one on you and one on your brother - the symbol is only complete when you come together.
I've seen some really nice bands made entirely from the runes of the futhark in their right order, with tribal bands all around the rune line, too. Those can be made very personal and one-of-a-kind, so nobody has one just like yours.