Who Is the Man in Death Metal Shirt Pictured With Miley Cyrus?

A man wearing a death metal T-shirt was photographed on the red carpet with pop superstar Miley Cyrus. But who is he?!

The man in question is Panos Cosmatos, and that's not just any ol' death metal shirt he's sporting in the photo above — it's last year's biggest underground buzz band, Blood Incantation. And, yes, technically the carpet was blue at this particular event, but the "red carpet" sentiment remains the same.

The image has already been widely circulated among metalheads, with many flocking to the comments section of Miley's Instagram slideshow post to flaunt their credentials to a crowd of pop music and mainstream celebrity fans.

Below, learn more about Panos Cosmatos, what he's worked on, his connection to Cyrus, and why you, as a metal fan, should even care.

Who Is Panos Cosmatos + Where Was He With Miley Cyrus?

Panos Cosmatos is a 51-year-old Italian-Canadian film director, screenwriter and film producer who has been active since 1993.

He's best known for the 2018 surrealist action horror Mandy (starring Nicolas Cage) and as well as the dark and twisted 2010 psychedelic horror flick Beyond the Black Rainbow. The latter also featured guitarist Stephen O'Malley of drone legends Sunn O))) as a contributing artist to the score.

Dream Theater drummer and known film aficionado Mike Portnoy is a fan of both Blood Incantation and Beyond the Black Rainbow, for whatever that's worth. At Loudwire, we're guilty again as we too are big fans of the progressive death metal band and that unsettling flick — it's the kind of thing that naturally appeals to a lot of metalheads and prog obsessives.

Cosmatos joined the pop singer at the world premiere of Something Beautiful With Miley Cyrus, which took place at the Beacon Theatre on Broadway in New York amid the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival. He's one of the producers of the 55-minute exclusive conversation with Cyrus, alongside co-producers Nick Spicer, Nate Bolotin, Aram Tertzakian.

The two posed together on the red carpet, Cosmatos bearing his death metal fandom while others at the event must have been wondering what on earth that illegible logo says.

Dia Dipasupil, Getty Images

It's another big win for Blood Incantation, who mesmerized the metal world with the adventurous Absolute Elsewhere in 2014, topping dozens of year-end lists — even some of our own. Get your copy of the album from Loudwire's vinyl shop directly below!