Mildly Unsettling Metal Albums
Here's a few metal albums that might disturb your neighbors, your parents, your sister, your sister's boyfriend...etc...etc... No guaranteed succes
One album per band, in no particular order |
| 1 |  | Infester
To the Depths... In Degradation
when Jason Oliver doesn't sound like he's choking on his own cut out tongue, he lets loose some of the most alarmingly terrifying shrieks and gurgles in existence; once in a lifetime vocal performance
by the way: what the hell happened to Oliver? dude vanished from the face of the earth
those keyboard soundscapes bring the creeps as well |
| 2 |  | Khanate
Khanate
it's like wandering around a cornfield, coming across a deserted farmhouse and hearing sounds coming from the shed which turn out to be the ramblings of a psychotic lunatic who's about to dismember an already bloated corpse with a rusty hacksaw
two words: Alan Dubin |
| 3 |  | maudlin of the Well
Bath
strange pick but this thing is haunting as hell
at its most soothing its contradictorily at its eeriest as well, like it wants to lull you into sleep while you know a nightmare is awaiting you |
| 4 |  | At the Gates
The Red in the Sky Is Ours
Alf opened a portal to pull a couple of riffs out of a hellish netherworld
Tompa howls like a tortured ghoul
ps: people rarely talk about that brief, but demented moment where Tompa shrieks "she's not alive anymore" in 'Claws of Laughter Died' |
| 5 |  | Katatonia
Dance of December Souls
Renkse shrieks, howls, rasps, gurgles, screams...at times you can almost hear him tearing up his vocal chords
the creeping melodies and warped song structuring are an extra bonus on top of the downright tormented vocal performance |
| 6 |  | Neurosis
Souls at Zero
hard to choose between this one or the almighty Through Silver in Blood, but I feel the atmosphere on this one is a bit more grainy and suffocating
Dave Edwardson's earth shattering bellows are ridiculously effective on this album, they seem to come out of nowhere and in their own way they're terrifying: he doesn't sound 'demonic' or anything, rather he sounds like someone who's genuinely pissed off at you for something, making you soil your pants like a toddler |
| 7 |  | The Ruins Of Beverast
Unlock the Shrine
Rain Upon the Impure is dark as hell, but the debut edges it out in the creep department
song structures are more warped, the samples and soundscapes are horrific
"the eeeeyyyyyeeeesssss...I saw his eeeeeeyyyyyeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssssss" |
| 8 |  | Celtic Frost
Monotheist
Warrior delivers a vicious hateful vocal performance while the music dooms over you like an all consuming dark cloud
whenever Ain comes in with those ghostly spoken word passages, things go straight into hell
(fucking "Totengott"...) |
| 9 |  | Acid Bath
When the Kite String Pops
broken glass and dirty needles
soul erosion truth
electric god
our superman found dead in a telephone booth
shards of teeth, ice pick abortions
orgasmic death so warm
let's die screaming, black goat semen
I can't hear you whisper conform
hearts will stop and brain cells pop
apocalyptic high
she screams bloody murder as they chop off her fingers
so this is how it feels to die
but it's ok...it's ok...it's ok (it's ok) |
| 10 |  | Deathspell Omega
Si Monvmentvm Reqvires Circvmspice
'First Prayer' most evil instrumental ever made?
they really summoned something evil with this one |
| 11 |  | Blut Aus Nord
The Work Which Transforms God
supposedly inspired by The Black Witch Project, this captures the same alarming anxiety the characters in that movie are going through |
| 12 |  | The Axis of Perdition
Deleted Scenes From Transition Hospital
more experimental blackened industrial metal stuff, sorta like Gnaw Their Tongues but a bit more "metal" (and yes, "song") based
sources of inspiration: Silent Hill, Lovecraft and mannequins |
| 13 |  | Grotesque
In the Embrace of Evil
for a compilation, this flows ridiculously well as an album
blackened death/thrash spiraling you deeper into hell with each song
those chilling random shrill screams in the 'Incantation' song attain almost Fleurety levels of eagle-ness |
| 14 |  | Destruction
Release from Agony
at their most technical, they also turn out to be at their most evil
listening to this album makes you feel like they're turning you into that frankenmutant on the cover |
| 15 |  | diSEMBOWELMENT
Transcendence into the Peripheral
the lyrics seem to be spiritual in nature, but make no mistake, this one screws with your brain
there's a strange feeling of "I've heard this somewhere before in a dark dream" when you listen to those reverby growls and screams and chants |
| 16 |  | Esoteric
The Pernicious Enigma
a 2 hour long mindfuck
difficult to describe, I mean...it's Esoteric |
| 17 |  | Godflesh
Streetcleaner
the sound of a decrepit industrial landscape and a manifestation of unbridled rage, hatred and anxiety from a rundown estate |
| 18 |  | Gorguts
Obscura
I mean wtf |
| 19 |  | Bethlehem
Dictius Te Necare
the vocalist screams, shrieks, growls and spits in German |
| 20 |  | Cultes Des Ghoules
Henbane
like being part of a devilish ritual
I'm almost certain the vocalist actually tried to summon an evil spirit while recording |
| 21 |  | Beherit
Drawing Down the Moon
ridiculous to some, downright chilling to others
Beherit captured something here |
| 22 |  | Burning Witch
Crippled Lucifer
"when I first heard Burning Witch I laughed... and then I did not"
- Aaron Turner |
| 23 |  | HellHammer
Demon Entrails (Remastered)
sure, it's primal, but at times it sounds like you're stumbling upon a bunch of ghouls holding a jam session in your basement after waking up in the middle of the night |
| 24 |  | Incantation
Mortal Throne of Nazarene
could've picked any of the 3 classic Incantation albums, but here Pillard's vox sound as if they're rising up from the deepest abyss |
| 25 |  | Immolation
Dawn of Possession
Dolan's serpentine vox and the unholy lyrics will unnerve you
the lyrics aren't of the "I'm gonna rape Jesus up the ass" variety, no, they actually seem to mock and torment God |
| 26 |  | Leviathan
The Tenth Sub Level of Suicide
pure fucking misery |
| 27 |  | Rippikoulu
Musta Seremonia
one of the most decrepit sounding death metal records ever
the keyboard soundscapes make the rather primitive recording sound even more spectral |
| 28 |  | Demilich
Nespithe
scientists have yet to find a name for the creatures who put together this album |
| 29 |  | Rwake
Voices of Omens
feels like you're lost in the Ozarks at night and a bunch of screaming, yelling, bellowing, shouting hillbilly voices are surrounding you from all sides, yet you don't know where the fuck they are coming from |
| 30 |  | Morbus Chron
Sweven
this was actually recorded in a fever dream |
| 31 |  | Obliteration
Black Death Horizon
Sindre howls like he's captured in the dungeon of a forgotten occult manor |
| 32 |  | Silencer (SWE)
Death - Pierce Me
ridiculous to some, downright chilling to others [2] |
| 33 |  | Blasphemy
Fallen Angel of Doom
music that actually feels antagonistic
they want to beat you to death and they do mean it |
| 34 |  | Today Is the Day
Temple of the Morning Star
structured like a psychotic stream of consciousness
"I can't be what you want me to be I am dead" |
| 35 |  | The Angelic Process
Coma Waering
I am stuck in a coma, I want to get out, but the coma is telling me to go fuck myself because I'm never getting out |
| 36 |  | Winter
Into Darkness
this one evokes images of that landscape in Fallout 3, only without the humor and cartoonish creatures |
| 37 |  | Lord Mantis
Death Mask
somewhere in a rundown apartment in a derelict big city neighborhood, a couple of smack heads' heroin buzz just ended and they are really pissed off |
| 38 |  | Weakling
Dead as Dreams
how bleak can you get?
it definitely won't be easy to out-bleak Gossard's incoherent screams, yells, howls and gurgles |
| 39 |  | Darkthrone
Transilvanian Hunger
"Darkthrone is for all the evil in man" |
| 40 |  | Portal
Outre
it's Portal |
| 41 |  | SubRosa
More Constant Than The Gods
there's something decidedly unnerving about the almost comatose vox and screeching use of violins for lead guitars |
| 42 |  | Unholy (FIN)
From the Shadows
weird blackened doom, this is one of those things they buried a long time ago and then a bunch of stupid fucks unearthed it unaware of the hell they brought upon themselves |
| 43 |  | Dragged Into Sunlight
Hatred For Mankind
serial killer sludgegrind as presented to you by a bunch of hooded goons from the Liverpool suburbs
talks about cannibalism, stoning, dismemberment, scissors cutting through flesh and straight into bone and the like |
| 44 |  | Ahab
Call Of The Wretched Sea
sometimes when I listen to this album, I actually get seasick |
| 45 |  | Evoken
Antithesis of Light
if being lost in a giant graveyard at night might be your idea of a fun time |
| 46 |  | Ved Buens Ende
Written In Waters
this stuff's so off-kilter it gets under your skin
also, the vocals are completely warped...like the dude has no soul or something |
| 47 |  | Void Of Silence
Human Antithesis
the horrors of war transformed into an industrial doom album |
| 48 |  | Sigh
Scorn Defeat
Sigh's first and most evil album: black metal with a twist, seemingly recorded at the Aokigahara Suicide Forest |
| 49 |  | Akhlys
The Dreaming I
suffering from sleep paralysis blows
I speak from experience |
| 50 |  | Saint Vitus
Die Healing
Scott Reagers at his most psychotic
Saint Vitus' most underrated and discomforting album |
| 51 |  | Merciless
The Awakening
straight up evil death/thrash from the crypts |
| 52 |  | Sepultura
Morbid Visions
Sepultura's underrated debut studio album
just listen to that Latin invocation in 'Crucifixion'... |
| 53 |  | Bathory
The Return of the Darkness and Evil
it's fucking Bathory |
| 54 |  | Ulcerate
The Destroyers of All
imho the moments of industrial-like ambience are at their most haunting and malevolent on this album |
| 55 |  | Mayhem
De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas
legends |
| 56 |  | Paramaecium
Exhumed of the Earth
christian guys, yet it's one of the creepiest sounding doom/death records around |
| 57 |  | Zao
Liberate Te Ex Inferis
a christian metalcore album, but at the beginning of their career Zao was one of the only metalcore bands ever that could match a death or black metal band in terms of eeriness
the atmosphere on this one is surprisingly hellish |
| 58 |  | Cathedral
Forest of Equilibrium
like being lost in a dark medieval forest
Dorrian delivers a strange, but one of a kind vocal performance |
| 59 |  | Amenra
Mass III
grimy guitars that form a dark cloud over you
vox sounding like a wounded animal bleeding to death at the side of the road |
| 60 |  | Eyehategod
Dopesick
apparently they cut themselves up while recording
there's something demented about Williams' style of screaming: zero technique, just straight up throat destroying mayhem |
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