Like the brass with the blackened background. Love the style you've used to give the background that awesome character... I've never seen anything like it before.
the rule that says every square mm of surface must be embellished, to me, seems to be self-imposed by those practicing the notion. to me, i'd rather see a balance of design & background, to my eye, this is more pleasing. having said that, i find no fault with those doing it. for the most part, the work is usually done with such perfection, it would be useless to find fault with such work.