Metal umlaut: Difference between revisions

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Other examples: Removed Djerba -- nice design, but clearly intended to look like the taa marbuta in the arabic spelling, not an umlaut
 
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{{short description|Gratuitous diacritic used in the names of some rock bands}}
:''Note: some of the accented letters used in this article may not display properly in all fonts.''
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
[[Image:Motorhead.jpg|thumb|150px|The graphic designer added the umlaut to the cover of Motörhead's first album for æsthetic reasons.]]
[[File:MötleyCrüe Star.jpg|thumb|[[Mötley Crüe]]'s [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] star, which shows the two metal [[Umlaut (diacritic)|umlauts]] used in the band's name.]]
A '''metal umlaut''' (also known as '''röck döts''')<ref>{{cite book | last=Gray | first=R. | title=Great Brand Blunders: The Worst Marketing and Social Media Meltdowns of All Time...and How to Avoid Your Own | publisher=Hodder & Stoughton | year=2014 | isbn=978-1-78059-230-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FtLnDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT164 | access-date=May 10, 2024 | page=164}}</ref> is a [[diacritic]] that is sometimes used gratuitously or decoratively over letters in the names of mainly [[hard rock]] or [[heavy metal music|heavy metal]] bands—for example, those of [[Blue Öyster Cult]], [[Queensrÿche]], [[Motörhead]], [[the Accüsed]], [[Mötley Crüe]], [[Hüsker Dü]], and the parody bands [[Spinal Tap (band)|Spın̈al Tap]] and [[Green Jellÿ]].
 
==Usage==
<!--It has been determined that the term "heavy metal umlaut" should not be hyphenated. If a change is necessary, please post it on the article's talk page. Thank you!-->
Among English speakers, the use of [[Umlaut (diacritic)|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.<ref>{{cite book |last=Garofalo |first=Rebee |title=Rockin' Out: Popular Music in the USA |publisher=Allyn & Bacon |year=1997 |isbn=0-205-13703-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/rockinoutpopular00garo_0/page/292 292] |quote=Some groups, for example Blue Öyster Cult and Motörhead, added gratuitous umlauts to their names to conjure up a more generic gothic horror, a practice that continued into the 1980s with Mötley Crüe and others. |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/rockinoutpopular00garo_0/page/292 }}</ref> 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 å, ä and a, ö/ø and o are distinct letters).
A '''heavy metal umlaut''' (aka '''röck döts''') is an [[umlaut]] over a letter in the name of a [[heavy metal music|heavy metal]] band. The use of umlauts and other [[diacritic]]s with a [[blackletter]] style [[typeface]] is a form of [[foreign branding]] intended to give a band's logo a [[Germanic]] or [[Nordic]] quality. It is a form of marketing that invokes 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 {{Ref|Garofalo}}. The heavy metal umlaut is never referred to by the term ''[[diaeresis]]'' in this usage, nor is it intended to affect the pronunciation of the band's name.
 
Heavy metal umlauts have been parodied in film and fiction. In the film ''[[This Is Spinal Tap]]'' (which is spelled with an umlaut over the "n" and a [[dotless i]]), David St. Hubbins ([[Michael McKean]]) opined, "It's like a pair of eyes. You're looking at the umlaut, and it's looking at you." In [[2002]]<!-- we're still not sure what exact issue - FIXME -->, ''[[Spin magazine]]'' referred to the heavy metal umlaut as "the diacritical mark of the beast".
 
==Umlauts and diaereses==
 
The German word ''Umlaut'' roughly means ''changed sound'', as it is composed of ''um-'' (a prefix often used with verbs involving "change") and ''Laut'', here meaning "sound". Adding an umlaut indeed changes the pronunciation of a [[vowel]] in standard (non-heavy metal) usage; the letters ''u'' and ''ü'' represent distinct sounds, as do ''o'' vs. ''ö'' and ''a'' vs. ''ä''.
Umlauts, or visually similar [[grapheme|graphemes]], are used in several languages, such as [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]], [[German language|German]], [[Swedish language|Swedish]], [[Finnish language|Finnish]], [[Estonian language|Estonian]], [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]], and [[Turkish language|Turkish]]. The sounds represented by the umlauted letters in these languages are typically ''[[front vowel]]s'' (front [[Vowel roundedness|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-umlautted ''u'', ''o'', and ''a'', thus failing to create the intended impression of strength and darkness.
 
The English word ''[[diaeresis]]'' refers to a diacritic graphically similar to the umlaut; the name comes from a Greek word meaning "divide or distinguish". This diacritic is used in languages such as [[Greek language|Greek]], [[French language|French]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]],[[Catalan language|Catalan]], [[Dutch language|Dutch]], and occasionally [[English language|English]] to indicate that two [[vowel]]s are to be pronounced separately, as in the name "Chloë" or the word "naïve".
 
==History==
The first gratuitous use of the umlaut in the name of a hard rock or metal band appears to have been by [[Blue Öyster Cult]] in 1970. Blue Öyster Cult's website states it was added by guitarist and keyboardist [[Allen Lanier]],<ref name="Blue_Öyster_1">{{cite web |url=http://www.blueoystercult.com/History/history3.html |title=BÖC Retrospectively: Stalk Forrest Group 1969–1970 |access-date=September 12, 2006 |publisher=blueoystercult.com}}</ref> 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 [[Richard Wagner|Wagnerian]] aspect anyway."<ref name="Sandy_Pearlman">{{cite web | url=http://www.spiraling.com/words/umlaut.html |title=Hell Holes: Spin̈al Tap's main man explains the importance of the umlaut |access-date=September 12, 2006|author=Lisa Gidley |publisher=CMJ |year=2000}}</ref>
 
==Reactions==
The [[progressive rock]] band [[Amon Düül II]] (aka Amon Duul II<!--please keep aka for Google-->) released their first album in [[1969]]. However, their name came from "[[Ammon|Amon]] an Egyptian sun god and [[Düül]] a character from Turkish fiction" [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=UIDMISS70406050306300345&sql=B1c8j1vsjzzza], so this use of diaereses was not gratuitous. The third part of [[Yes]]' 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]].
 
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!{{'"}}<ref name=boobs>{{cite news |author=Eric Spitznagel |url=http://www.vanityfair.com/online/oscars/2009/11/motley-crues-vince-neil-is-finally-bored-with-boobs |date=November 27, 2009 |magazine=Vanity Fair |title= Motley Crue's Vince Neil is Finally Bored With Boobs }}</ref>
The first ''gratuitous'' use appears to have been by the [[Blue Öyster Cult]] in [[1970]]. The band's website states it was added by guitarist and keyboardist [[Allen Lanier]] [http://www.blueoystercult.com/History/history3.html], 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 [[Richard Wagner|Wagnerian]] aspect anyway." [http://www.spiraling.com/words/umlaut.html]
 
These decorative umlauts have been parodied in film and fiction; in an interview about the [[mockumentary]] film ''[[This Is Spinal Tap|This Is Spın̈al 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."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zioEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22looking+at+the+umlaut%22&pg=PA11|title=CMJ New Music Monthly|date=Oct 29, 2000|publisher=CMJ Network, Inc.|access-date=Oct 29, 2020|via=Google Books}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Gwar-Hell-O/release/1973195|title=Gwar - Hell-O!|website=Discogs|date=1988 }}</ref> In 1997, the satirical newspaper ''[[The Onion]]'' published an article titled "Ünited Stätes Toughens Image With Umlauts."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theonion.com/united-states-toughens-image-with-umlauts-1819564308|title=Ünited Stätes Toughens Image With Umlauts|website=The Onion|date=30 April 1997 }}</ref>
On their second album ''[[In Search of Space]]'' (1971), [[Hawkwind]] wrote on the backside of the cover: "{{unicode|TECHNICIÄNS ÖF SPÅCE SHIP EÅRTH THIS IS YÖÜR CÄPTÅIN SPEÄKING YÖÜR ØÅPTÅIN IS DEA&#x030B;D}}". To add to the variation, the diacritical mark on the last "{{unicode|A&#x030B;}}" is the "Hungarian umlaut" or [[double acute accent]] ({{unicode|&#x2dd;}})&mdash;two short lines slanting up and to the right rather like a right double-quote mark&mdash;instead of dots (Hungarian does not use the ({{unicode|&#x2dd;}}) umlaut over the letter "A", though). This was before [[Lemmy Kilmister]], later of [[Motörhead]], had become a member of the group.
 
==Band or album name examples==
Motörhead and [[Mötley Crüe]] then followed. The umlaut in ''Motörhead'' was contributed by the graphic designer of the band's first album cover. In the words of Lemmy, Motörhead's front man: "I only put it in there to look mean." [http://www.thewavemag.com/pagegen.php?pagename=article&articleid=21891] (Interestingly, the standard German pronunciation of ''Motor'' is similar to the standard English pronunciation of "motor", the umlaut over the second "o" requiring, in German, the fronting of the vowel. The French equivalent, ''moteur'', is genuinely pronounced that way.)
At one [[Mötley Crüe]] performance in Germany, the entire audience started chanting "Moetley Crueh!"
 
===English-speaking countries===
[[Image:Spinal Tap logo.jpg|thumb|150px|right|[[Spinal Tap|Spinal Tap]] used the umlaut in an unexpected place &mdash; above a consonant.]]
<!-- PLEASE LINK ONLY TO EXISTING WIKIPEDIA ARTICLES -->
* [[The Accüsed]] – American [[Crossover thrash|сrossover thrash]] band.
* [[Assück]] – American [[grindcore]] band.
* [[Barbariön]] – Australian metal band.
* [[Beowülf]] – California thrash metal band.
* [[Blue Öyster Cult]] – American [[hard rock]] band.
* [[The Crüxshadows]] – American [[alternative rock]] band.
* [[Dälek]] – American hip-hop band.
* [[Daniel Amos]] – American [[Christian alternative rock]] band released their ninth album in 1991 titled ''[[Kalhöun]]'' with band's name contracted to dä.
* [[Death in June]] – British dark folk/experimental band used umlauts and accented "e"s in their name and titles on the original releases of their albums ''The Wörld Thät Sümmer'' (1985) and ''Thé Wäll Öf Säcrificé'' (1989), spelling their name, Deäth In Jüne and Déäth In Jüné, respectively on each.
* [[Deströyer 666]] – [[thrash metal]]/[[black metal]] band.
* [[Dethklok]] – fictional metal band from the cartoon ''Metalocalypse'', sometimes spelled as "Dëthkløk" in the band's logo.
* [[Green Jellÿ]] – comedy metal band, originally spelled (and still pronounced) Green Jellö.
* [[Grotus|G̈r̈oẗus̈]] – Experimental band, their logo design has umlaut marks over only the consonants.
* [[Hüsker Dü]] – American [[punk rock|punk]] band (the game "[[Hūsker Dū?]]" was published with [[Macron (diacritic)|macron]]s instead of umlauts).
* [[Infernäl Mäjesty]] – Canadian thrash metal band.
* [[Jack Ü]] – American [[Electronic dance music|EDM]] DJ duo, side group and collaborative project, consisting of [[Mad Decent]] founder [[Diplo]] and [[Owsla]] founder [[Skrillex]].
* [[Kïll Cheerleadër]] – Canadian punk metal band.
* [[King Creosote]] – Scottish band sometimes used a three-dot "umlaut" in some of their artwork, over the "i."
* [[Lȧȧz Rockit]] – American thrash band. German pronunciation would roughly be "Let's rock it."
* ''[[Läther]]'' – album by [[Frank Zappa]], used an umlaut in its title.
* [[Leftöver Crack]] – American [[anarcho punk]] band.
* [[Living Colour]]'s stylized logo has an umlaut over the ''u''.
* ''[[Love_(Aaron_Carter_EP)|Løvë]]'' – [[Aaron Carter]] EP
* [[Maxïmo Park]] – British indie rock band.
* [[Mïngle Härde]] – British [[hardcore punk]]/[[noise rock]] band.
* [[Mötley Crüe]] – American [[glam metal]] band.
* [[Motörhead]] – English rock band.
* [[Moxy Früvous]] – Canadian political satire band.
* ''[[Night on Bröcken]]'' – debut album by American progressive metal band [[Fates Warning]]. Apparently a reference to the German mountain [[Brocken]], which is not spelled with an umlaut.
* [[Queensrÿche]] – American progressive metal band.
* ''[[Rrröööaaarrr]]'' and ''[[Dimension Hatröss]]'' – albums by Canadian thrash metal band [[Voivod (band)|Voivod]]. They also used it for their songs "Korgüll the Exterminator" and "Chaosmöngers", which appear on ''Rrröööaaarrr'' and ''Dimension Hatröss'' respectively. The band's name is also occasionally spelled "Voïvod" such as on the cover of the album [[Phobos (album)|Phobos]].
* [[Rusted Root|Ruste⃛d Root]] – American [[jam band]] uses a [[Combining Diacritical Marks for Symbols|three-dot umlaut]] over the "e" in its logo, as seen on its album covers.
* [[Spinal Tap (band)|Spın̈al Tap]] – British semi-fictional band, with a [[Dotless i|dotless letter ''i'']] and a [[n-diaeresis|metal umlaut over the ''n'']].
* [[Stöner]] – American [[stoner rock]] band.
* [[Toilet Böys]] – American laser punk band from New York City.
* [[Ünloco]] – American [[nu metal]] band.
* ''[[Up 2 Më]]'' – album of [[Yeat]], used an umlaut in its title.
* [[Yachtley Crew | Yächtley Crëw]] – [[Yacht rock|Yacht-rock]] band from Los Angeles
* [[Znowhite|Znöwhite]] – American thrash band.
* ''[[2 Alivë]]'' – album of [[Yeat]], used an umlaut in its title.
 
===Other countries===
[[Queensrÿche]] went further by putting the umlaut over the ''Y'' in their name. (The symbol ''ÿ'' is used in [[Dutch language|Dutch]] handwriting to display the [[IJ (letter)|letter IJ]] instead of IJ/ij, and, very rarely, in [[French language|French]], ''e.g.'', in the Belgian-French composer [[Eugène Ysaÿe]], in the placename L'Haÿ-les-Roses [http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Ha%C3%BF-les-Roses], etc.) 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."[http://www.spiraling.com/words/umlaut.html]
<!-- PLEASE LINK ONLY TO EXISTING WIKIPEDIA ARTICLES -->
* [[Aquarium (band)|Аквариум]] – Russian rock band, whose name is stylized as "Åквариум" on their logo, and they use "Å" as their symbol.
* [[Die Ärzte#Band_name|Die Ärzte]] – German band, correctly spelled with an "ä", whose logo features a triple dot over "a" instead of the correct two dots.
* [[Crashdïet]] – Swedish glam metal band.
* [[Dün (band)|Dün]] – French progressive rock and [[zeuhl]] band.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Booklet CD Eros |url=https://musicbrainz.org/release/83c5c266-ed14-425d-ac9d-1b5613d33291/cover-art |publisher=Soleil Zeuhl |date=2000 |language=en, fr |access-date=2024-04-10}}</ref>
* [[Girugamesh|Girugämesh]] – Japanese rock band often stylise their name with an umlaut over the a.
* [[Infernal (Danish band)|Infernal]] – Danish electronic band, was stylized as ''Infërnal'' on their album ''[[Waiting for Daylight (Infernal album)|Waiting for Daylight]]''.
* [[Insidiöus Törment]] – Liechtenstein-based old school heavy metal band who use gratuitous umlauts, but pronounce them nonetheless.
* [[Kobaïan]] – French [[progressive rock]] band [[Magma (band)|Magma]] sings in this [[constructed language]], which has many diacritic symbols in its written form.
* [[Közi]] – Japanese rock musician.
* [[Mägo de Oz]] – Spanish folk metal band.
* [[Moottörin Jyrinä]] – Finnish heavy metal band, the umlaut in ''Moottörin'' is gratuitous, but the one in ''Jyrinä'' is not.
* [[Motör Militia]] – Bahraini thrash metal band.
* [[Mütiilation]] – French black metal band.
* [[Püdelsi]] – Polish rock band.
* [[Röyksopp]] - Norwegian electronic duo (the correct Norwegian would be "Røyksopp")
* [[Törr]] – Czech black metal band.
 
==Other examples==
[[Hawkwind]]-influenced [[1980s]] [[space-rock]] band [[Underground Zerø]] used a variation on the concept, using the [[Scandinavian language|Scandinavian]] vowel ''[[ø]]'' in their name. This may have been inspired by [[computer system]]s of the time, many of which used the [[slashed zero]] as a glyph for the digit [[0 (number)|0]] to distinguish it from the letter [[O]] and thus resembled ''ø''.
===Video games===
* ''[[Brütal Legend]]'' – action-adventure video game
* ''[[Dynamite Düx]]'' – a beat 'em up video game
* Lars Ümlaüt – a character in the ''[[Guitar Hero]]'' series
* ''[[DieselStörmers]]'' – a crowdfunded in 2014 pre-released [[steampunk]] multiplayer [[platformer]]
* ''[[Crüe Ball]]'' – a Pinball game featuring the music of [[Mötley Crüe]]
 
===Other===
The [[spoof]] band [[Spinal Tap (band)|Spın̈al Tap]] raised the stakes in [[1984]] by using an umlaut over the letter ''N'', a [[consonant]]. This is a construction only found in the [[Jacaltec]] language of [[Guatemala]] and in some orthographies of [[Malagasy]], although it is unlikely that the writers of ''This Is Spın̈al Tap'' knew this at the time.
* [[Häagen-Dazs]] – an ice cream brand (introduced 1961)
 
* [[Stüssy]] - the skateboard / punk / streetware brand started by Shawn Stussy (introduced 1984)
==The heavy metal umlaut in popular literature==
* [[Cröonchy Stars]] – a discontinued breakfast cereal (introduced 1988)
 
* [[Scab (band)|Scäb]] - the name of a fictional band in the 1999 animated sitcom [[Home Movies (TV series)|Home Movies]]
In the mid-1980s, cartoonist [[Berkeley Breathed]] parodied the heavy metal umlaut in the comic strip [[Bloom County]] with the fictional group [[Billy and the Boingers|Deathtöngue]], fronted by the depraved and unwholesome singer/'lead tongue' [[Bill the Cat|"Wild" Bill Catt]] and infamous for the songs "Let's Run Over [[Lionel Richie]] With a Tank", "[[Clearasil]] [[Messiah]]" and "U Stink But I Love U". Breathed eventually had Deathtöngue change their name to the umlaut-free [[Billy and the Boingers]] following pressure from congressional hearings on "porn rock" led by one "Tippy Gorp", an obvious reference to heavy metal [[bête noire]] [[Tipper Gore]] and the [[Parents Music Resource Center|PMRC]].
* [[Tonfön]] – the Tongan telephone company (introduced 2002)
 
* ''[[Brüno]]'' – film by [[Sacha Baron Cohen]] (2009)
In [[1988]], [[Jim Henson]] and [[General Foods]] released a [[breakfast cereal]], [[Cröonchy Stars]], based on the popular [[Swedish Chef]] [[muppet]]. In addition to the gratuitous umlaut in ''Cröonchy'', most of the cereal's labelling and promotional material used the idiosyncratic spelling ''Swed&#x308;ish Chef''. [http://www.kermitage.com/html/collectibles/rarestuffnew/page3.html] As with ''Spin&#x308;al Tap'', this marks one of the rare instances of an umlaut being used over a consonant.
* [[Jason Derulo]] stylised his stage name as "Jason Derülo" on his 2010 debut album and its promotion
 
* Löded Diper – name of the fictional band that [[List of Diary of a Wimpy Kid characters#Rodrick Heffley|Rodrick Heffley]] plays in the ''[[Diary of a Wimpy Kid]]'' book series
The novel ''[[Zodiac (book)|Zodiac]]'' (1988) by [[Neal Stephenson]] features a fictional band called Pöyzen Böyzen, which one character describes as "not bad for a two-umlaut band".
* Deathtöngue – the original name of a metal band in the comic ''[[Bloom County]]'' (changed, after media publicity, to "Billy and the Boingers")
 
* Krëfel - Belgian chain of consumer electronics. In this case the intention is however not to project a 'gothic' quality but rather 'quality'.
In [[1997]], [[parody]] newspaper ''[[The Onion]]'' published an article called "Ünited Stätes Toughens Image With Umlauts", about a [[United States Congress|congressional]] attempt to add umlauts to the name of the [[United States|United States of America]] to make it seem "bad-assed and scary in a quasi-heavy metal manner".
* [[Asüna]] - Canadian automobile brand
 
* In a series 8 episode of ''[[Taskmaster (TV series)|Taskmaster]]'', [[Joe Thomas (actor)|Joe Thomas]] and [[Sian Gibson]] created the fictional 1980s band "Shoë" (pronounced "show") in a task to design an iconic album cover. Thomas's description of using a "rock 'n' roll umlaut" coined the episode's title.
[[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 [[2003]] book ''Fargo Rock City'' with ''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 [http://www.pvponline.com/index.php3 ''PvP Online''] webcomic. Apart from possibly satirizing the heavy metal umlaut, this name also refers to the Icelandic singer/songwriter [[Björk]] Guðmundsdóttir, whose umlaut is genuine.
 
==Other usages of diacritics in band or album naming==
{{heavymetal}}
===Umlaut===
* [[Frank Zappa]] used an umlaut in the title of the album ''[[Läther]]'' (the pronunciation approximates to "Leather," and the album cover features a cow)
* The novelty rock band [[Green Jellÿ]] kept the umlaut after changing their name from "Green Jellö"
* The [[Music of Scotland|Scottish]] [[NWOBHM]] band [[Holocaust (band)|Holocaust]] spelled their name Hölöcäust on their first [[7"]], "Heavy Metal Mania".
* The [[Music of Canada|Canadian]] [[thrash metal]] band [[Infernäl Mäjesty]].
* The [[Music of Australia|Australian]] [[thrash metal|thrash]]/[[black metal]] band [[Deströyer 666]].
* The [[Music of France|French]] [[black metal]] band [[Mütiilation]], this umlaut cannot affect pronunciation, as ''u'' and ''ü'' have the same sounds in French as ''ü'' in German.
* The [[Florida]] [[grindcore]] band [[Assück]].
* The [[Czech Republic|Czech]] death metal band [[Hypnös]] formerly known as Hypnos
* The [[Melbourne]] based avant-metal-jam-band [[Cünt Brigade]].
* The hardcore/ska-punk band [[Leftover Crack|Leftöver Crack]].
* [[Dürty Nelly's Pub]], a rock bar in [[Charlottesville, Virginia]].
* [[Peoria, Illinois]] band [[Mudvayne]] listed their members on one release as Chüd, Güüg, R-üD and Spüg.
* Minneapolis crust/hardcore punk band Stāte of Feär
* The [[rock en espanol|Spanish band]] [[Mägo de Oz]].
* The term "nü-metal", used to describe [[nu metal]] with added umlautness.
* Gay heavy metal band/cabaret act [[Pink Stëël]] have two ''consecutive'' gratuitous umlauts, the first such instance in a band name.
* The library/scifi metal band [[Blöödhag]] also have consecutive gratuitous umlauts.
* Seattle Spaz-core band BLOÜD WÜLF.
* The [[Devin Townsend]] punk parody project [[Punky Brüster]].
* The Canadian thrash band [[Voivod (band)|Voïvod]]'s second album from 1986 was titled ''RRRÖÖÖAAARRR''. This album title actually has three consecutive gratuitous umlauts. The band's name has an umlaut over the I, but this may be acting as a diæresis.
* The Finnish hardcore punk band [[Ümlaut]] (this use is almost a [[self-reference]]).
* [[Zee (band)|Zee]], a short-lived band formed by [[Pink Floyd]] keyboard player [[Richard Wright (musician)|Richard Wright]] and [[Dave Harris]], made excessive use of gratuitous umlauts on their 1984 album ''[[Identity (album)|Identity]]'' which included song titles such as "Cönfüsiön" and "Höw Dö Yöü Dö It".
* The [[kibology]] inspired, [[Usenet]]-based quasi-band [[Interröbang Cartel]], containing, in addition to its heavy metal umlaut, another exotic typographical reference, to the [[interrobang]] character.
* The Spanish EBM duo [[Culture Kultür]].
* The album "Paradÿsso", recorded by Spanish rock band [[Sôber]], who added a gratuitous circumflex after changing their name from Sober Stoned.
* Chuck Dukowski of [[Black Flag]] was previously in Würm
* Heavy Metal spoofers Insidiöus Törment revitalize the umlaut by placing it at strategically hard to pronounce vowels.
* Experimental group [[Grotus]] spell their name with an umlaut over each consonant, leaving the vowels unembellished.
* The dance music record label [[nocturnal groove]] has an umlaut on the n.
* [[Hungary|Hungarian]] ''black n' roll'' band [[Korog]] has a gratuitous umlaut over the letter ''r'' in their name, which actually means "it rumbles" and is a verb that is used exclusively to describe the sound of a hungry person's stomach.
* Italian metal band [[Labyrinth]] used to call themselves [[Labÿrinth]] until 2003
 
===Other characters===
 
* The German punk band [[Die Ärzte]] used three dots (triaeresis?) over the "A" in ''Ärzte'' to distinguish from its normal spelling with "Ä" (double dot) diaeresis. This can be represented in Unicode: {{unicode|Die A&#8411;rzte}}. The three dots may stand for the three band members.
* A three-dot umlaut has also been seen in artwork for [[King Creosote]], over the i, as ''Ki&#8411;ng Cresote''.
* The American thrash band [[Lååz Rockit]] actually used the letter "[[å]]" gratuitously in their logo, but the umlaut ("Lääz Rockit") in some press releases.
* The French band [[Magma (band)|Magma]] used a [[constructed language| fictional language]], the Kobaïan, for its lyrics. The umlaut appeared in several album titles, such as ''Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh'' and ''Köhntarkösz''. However, this umlaut does affect pronunciation, and thus cannot be considered gratuitous. Kobaian also uses a three-dot diacritic over some letters in song titles, and an original letter that seems to be a cursive [[ligature (typography)|ligature]] of "ie", which never appears without an umlaut.
* The English [[indie rock]] band [[Maxïmo Park]] also uses a double dotted "i" in its name.
* The [[Accent (linguistics)|accent]]s and [[cedilla]] in the name of the French electronica band [[Rinôçérôse]] are also gratuitous.
*[[William Orbit|William Ørbit]].
* The dark folk / experimental / occult band [[Death In June]] used umlauts (and in the second case, even 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]].
 
===Non-gratuitous umlauts===
 
* The US [[punk rock]] band [[Hüsker Dü]] took their name from a [[Husker Du? (game)|children's memory game]], which added [[macron]]s over each u in the phrase, replacing these macrons with umlauts. Without the umlauts, "husker du" is a [[Danish language|Danish]] and [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]] phrase meaning "Do you remember".
* The name of the [[Toronto, Ontario]] area folk-pop/geek-rock band [[Moxy Früvous]] is pronounced with long-u, "Fruuvous", so this is perhaps not gratuitous.
* The [[Florida]] [[goth]]/[[darkwave]] band [[The Crüxshadows]], is also pronounced with long-u, "Cruu-shadows", so this is also perhaps not gratuitous.
* The [[heavy metal (music)|heavy metal]] band [[Trojan (band)|Trojan]] used umlauts in their name on the 1985 release ''Chasing the Storm''. For [[Sweden|Swedes]] the tour T-shirts from this time are particularly amusing, as "Tröjan" in Swedish translates as "the shirt".
* The [[Rhode Island]] "futurock" band [[Grüvis Malt]] have an umlaut in their name, but it may not be gratuitous, since it clarifies the pronunciation as "oo" rather than "uh".
*The [[San Francisco]] band [[Children of Umlaut]] do not in fact have an umlaut in their name.
* The Icelandic artist [[Björk]] Guðmundsdóttir is using her birth name.
* The [[Ä]] in the Finnish heavily [[Manowar (band)|Manowar]]-influenced heavy metal band [[Teräsbetoni]] ''(reinforced concrete)'' is not gratuitous; while ''teräs'' means [[steel]] in Finnish, ''teras'' is not even a word.
* The [[J-Rock|Japanese rock]] band [[Lä-ppisch]] derives its name from the German colloquialism ''läppisch'', meaning "laughable".
* The Danish [[spoof band]] [[Insidiöus Törment]] feature 2 umlauts in their name, though whether they are gratuitous or not is up for debate. The first functions as the umlaut in Motörhead, arguably indicating the use of the [[schwa]] (Ə) in pronunciation (in both names), whereas the second - contrary to common practice - influences the pronunciation of "torment" so that it becomes "tørment" - using the [[Danish language|Danish]], [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]] or [[Faroese]] vowel of [[ø]].
* The Haïti Twoubadou current in [[Haitian music]] represents another legitimate use of umlauts in a musical title, because it indicates separate pronunciation of two adjacent vowels. (Pronounced ha-ee-tee or ha-ee-tsee)
* Norwegian electronica duo [[Röyksopp]] spell their name with a Swedish-influenced [[ö]] rather than the proper Norwegian [[ø]]; however, the umlaut is not gratuitous, as 'røyksopp' is Norwegian for 'smoke mushroom'.
* Another German band, [[Einstürzende Neubauten]] ''(collapsing new buildings)'', features an umlaut where, in German, there ought to be one.
* Two of the eight correct spellings of the [[discordian]] project [[Die Epheser]] include wrong umlauts.
* The correctly umlauted name of the German folk band [[Bläck Fööss]] means ''bare feet'' in [[Kölsch (dialect)|Kölsch]], a German dialect.
* Belgian experimental electronics act Köhn from the belgian [[post-rock]] band [[de portables]] uses the umlaut excessively in his song titles. All the words are (West-)Flemish wordgames and are made up. Their purpose is to mock the seriousness and intellectualism that is attached to "difficult" electronic music, e.g. Möhik Bin pronounced in West-Flemish dialect means "Can i come in". A selection: Zwöhn, Köhning, Kröhn, öhnöch, Köh-köh-köh-kök, Dröhn, Söng, Döhre, Mendelköhn, Niplöhn, Dedzu!, Plöhs, Nigewöhne,Vlaamse Röhs, Öhresong, Könöhn, Zwähftähf, Klöhrgöhr, Föhnen, Mendelssöhn, Köhnepijp, Köhtels, Nöhk, Köhnepoht, Köhnetand, Böhnhahs, Köhnflict, Swöhr L, Kallkühn, Akkönnkönk, Püberiosum and Möhik Bin?
 
==See also==
* [[Sign of the horns|Devil horns]], heavy metal hand signal
 
* [[Disemvoweling#Use in company and band names|Disemvoweling in band names]]
* [[Foreign branding]] ([[Häagen-Dazs]], Fahrvergnügen)
* [[Faux Cyrillic]] (Faцx Cyяillic)
* [[Corna|Devil horns]] heavy metal hand signal
* [[FauxForeign Cyrillicbranding]] ([[LinkinHäagen-Dazs]], Park|Liиkiи Park[[Fahrvergnügen]])
* [[IDN homograph attack]]
* [[Leet]]
* [[Nu metal]], also stylized as ''nü-metal''
* [[Language game]]
* [[wordSensational playspelling]]
* [[ISO-8859-1Word play]]
 
==SourcesReferences==
{{Reflist}}
*{{book reference|Author=Garofalo, Rebee|Title=Rockin' Out: Popular Music in the USA|Publisher=Allyn & Bacon|Year=1997|ID=ISBN 0205137032}}
 
==NotesExternal links==
{{Spoken Wikipedia|Heavy_Metal_Umlaut.ogg|date=2006-06-13}}
#{{note|Garofalo}} Garofalo, pg. 292 <small>''Some groups, for example Blue Öyster Cult and Motörhead, added gratuitous umlauts to their names to conjure up a more generic gothic horror, a practice that continued into the 1980s with Mötley Crüe and others.''
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050327011411/http://www.arrivistepress.com/salmondheavymetal0503page1.shtml ''My Life in Heavy Metal''] by Steve Almond (excerpt)
 
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20030402233054/http://www.rockdots.com/thedots.html The Döts] (Dave Krinsky)
==External links and references==
*[http://www.spiraling.com/words/umlaut.html Hell Holes: Spinal Tap's main man explains the importance of the umlaut] (Lisa Gidley, ''CMJ'', 2000)
* ''[http://arrivistepress.com/salmondheavymetal0503page1.shtml My Life in Heavy Metal]'' by Steve Almond (excerpt)
* [http://www.rockdots.com/thedots.html The Döts] (Dave Krinsky)
* [http://www.clicknation.com/snoof/stuff/umlaut.pdf Would you like umlauts with that?] (PDF) by Bruce Campbell
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20030522111419/http://liff.comegetsome.at/search.php?browsed=1&searchme=Doetinchem The Metal Umlaut in the Liff Dictionary]
* [http://www.pvponline.com/archive.php3?archive=20041106 PvP Online: Djörk]
* [httphttps://weblogjonudell.infoworld.comnet/udell/2005gems/01umlaut/22umlaut.html#a1156 HeavyEarly Metal Umlaut: The Movie] Storyhistory of this page] (screencast) by [[Jon Udell)]]
 
* [http://liff.comegetsome.at/search.php?browsed=1&searchme=Doetinchem The Heavy Metal Umlaut in the Liff Dictionary]
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