10 Most Unnerving Music Subgenres
In order to wrap up the block of horror in music (make sure to check the 10 Scary & Disgusting Album Covers, 10 Best Horror Albums/Soundtracks and 10 Spookiest Songs Ever lists) today whole subgenres will be addressed.
The following are the scariest and most gruesome music subgenres out there. WARNING: You are about the read, see (and listen if you dare) disturbing material that may affect you. If you consider yourself too sensitive (which of course is not something to be ashamed of) I truly encourage you to stop right here.
Horrorcore
Main Genre: Rap
What's scary about it?: The lyrics
Notorious artists: Big L, Scarface, Eminem, Kool Keith
Notorious songs: Devil's Son - Big L, Assassins - Geto Boys, Kim - Eminem, Brotha Lynch Hung - Return Of Da Baby Killa
Subgenre in a lyric: “You ain’t even seen me in my prime
Eatin’ baby brains, baby veins, baby spines
I know they be cryin’ when I’m cuttin’ off the neck
I’m peelin’ off the skin for some bacon-fried croquettes“ from Return Of Da Baby Killa by Brotha Lynch Hung
Rap has always been critiziced for the content in the lyrics. A wide variety of rather controversial themes has been addressed in rap music; every single one of them with its fair share of criticism.
The issue most people have in regard to Horrorcore is that it is controversial not for depicting life in the ghetto, police brutality, racism, political failure or the inequities minorities face; damn, not even for the now-so-common gangsta themes, sexism or the excesses found within success; this subgenre is abhored by countless listeners for being totally disgusting.
All sorts of abominations can be heard here; from the recipe to roast babies to a father asking his 2 year old daughter to help him dispose of the body of her mom (and two more people including another child) he just killed, all the way through a whole album about a homicidal, extraterrestrial and time-traveling gynecologist.
Insane Clown Posse
Kim by Eminem
Grindcore
Main Genre: Punk
What's scary about it?: The lyrics, the vocals and the albums cover art
Notorious artists: Napalm Death, Pig Destroyer, Brujeria, Regurgitate
Notorious songs: Polluted Minds - Napalm Death, Swarming Vulgar Mass Of Infected Virulency - Carcass, Skull Of Shit And Sludge - Regurgitate, Eaten Alive - Repulsion
Subgenre in a lyric: "A fusty cargo of human excreta
Impacted pipes caused the flow to reverse
Upon the cemetery, liters of diarrhea
As the leaden veins burst… rest in faeces
A tsunami of ordure saturated the hallowed soil
Corpulent ballast disinterred coffins, amongst the manure, embroiled. As rectal mung flows
Cadavers exposed. Tombstones in pieces
Resting in faeces. Carcass and sewage
A copro-barrage. It never ceases
Resting in faeces" from Rest In Faeces by Impaled
Not to be confused with Deathgrind or Goregrind, Grindcore has its roots on punk music and not metal (notwithstanding the several acts that chose to follow a metal path afterwards or embraced metal elements later on).
It was considered the most extreme subgenre in music when its term was coined. Such a feat cannot be understated due to the fierce competition it had to face at that particular period of time (Black Metal, Death Metal and the most brutal aspects of Thrash Metal).
Everything from its trademark blast tempos, brutal vocals and totally appaling imagery in the lyrics made up for the foundation of what other subgenres adopted to create the most fearsome and unnerving music ever created. Grindcore, in spite of its savagery, is not the most atrocious, but it was the first in reaching beyond the not-going-back boundaries in music.
Album "Matando Güeros" by Brujeria
Cheerleader Corpses by Pig Destroyer
Witch House
Main Genre: Electronic
What's scary about it?: The themes and the beats
Notorious artists: GR†LLGR†LL, Salem, †‡† (aka rrritualzzz), Okkvlt kAtt
Notorious songs: Red - Okkvlt kAtt, DEATH METAL TRIVIAL - Systematic Doses, Fear Is The Mind Killer - Zheani, Clawing Demon - Satin Puppets
Subgenre in a lyric: "We hunt them
We trap them
We kill them
We burn them to ashes
We dance on the corpses
Before we move onto the others
We can't stop
We won't stop
We must not
Our bloodlust eternal
The gun drawn
The bleeding defiled
There's no god to harm us" from Hunter by SUFFER RING
Out of all the subgenres mentioned in the list, Witch House is the least explicit and, though it may sound odd, it also is the most accesible.
However, do not let the aforementioned statements fool you; the subgenre does not have that many songs with lyrics, but the ones with lyrical content are as horrendous as it gets. The main themes upon which most of the content is based has within its scope ocultism, blasphemy, paganism, anarchy and just ruthless violence. At times this is shown through the lyrics and at times it is manifested through the aesthetics (artists' and album covers')
Being electronic music, one can expect samples and beats to supply the score, and these tend to be dark, dim and gloomy. This is a genre that can fit perfectly in a goth club but it is one that you definitely would not want to listen to by yourself with the lights off.
Systematic Doses and the album "Sunless Skies"
Wheres Your GOD by Catslash
Black Metal
Main Genre: Metal
What's scary about it?: Everything
Notorious artists: Bathory, Mayhem, Gorgoroth, Burzum
Notorious songs: Danse Macabre - Celtic Frost, De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas - Mayhem, Crucifixion - Hellhammer, Satan My Master - Bathory
Subgenre in a lyric: "I'm in league with Satan. I was raised in hell
I walk the streets of Salem
Amongst the living dead. I need no one to tell me
What's wrong or right
I drink the blood of children
Stalk my prey at night. Look out, beware
When the full moon's high and bright
In every way I'm there
In every shadow in the night. Evil in league with Satan" from In League With Satan by Venom
The scariest aspect regarding Black metal may not be (despite sounding ludicrous) its music or imagery; actually, several people deem the subgenre as one of the worst things that have ever happened to music because of its off-stage infamous incidents.
From more than 50 churches burned to the very ground in a four-year span to bandmates killing each other; all of that passing by bandmates taking pictures of a mate who committed suicide to craft a necklace with the pieces of skull to, then, end up having the actual picture as a cover of an album (make sure to check that one and other gruesome covers here: 10 Scary & Disgusting Album Covers); and of course the now-known animal executions onstage and factual torture allegations regarding Black metal musicians
The music lives up to the monstrous legacy by means of blasting instrumentation, savage and almost inhumane vocals and some of the most blasphemous and directly violent lyrics ever put to record.
"Black Metal Witchcraft" by Neo Satan
Fuck Me Jesus by Marduk
Depressive Suicidal Black Metal
Main Genre: Metal
What's scary about it?: Themes and vocals
Notorious artists: Sadness, Silencer, Forgotten Tomb, My Useless Life
Notorious songs: The Bitter Taste Of Emotional Void - Mütiilation, Psalm III-Alone - Forgotten Tomb, Death, Pierce Me - Silencer, Worthless Being - Intig
Subgenre in a lyric: "We are the ones without God. No more reason to play as you lose every day I don't search any way out to escape this boring downfall. The old world is dying with me, I'm the end of a time. Each lie that tears my soul is what you call a light of hope. Each time God shows his face I'll kill myself with dope. Everything left behind me's gone through waves of bitterness. Another day is ending drowning myself in the pit. Oh Satan... would you give me the force to end. Oh Satan... to end with life now " from The Bitter Taste Of Emotional Void by Mütiilation
Depressive Suicidal Black Metal is in essence Black metal but more...let us say, depressive? In all seriousness and reality this subgenre has very little in common with its blashphemous and more violent fellow.
Addressing their similarities what can be brought up is all the aesthetic aspect (name, colors and production) and the vocals. Other than these elements, we are talking about two different beasts whose only other similarity lies on an extract of the name.
DSBM's power and might is based on the ambience it creates. In order to achieve that it tends to be slower and more atmospherical music-wise than BM; just a handful of songs and works adopt the fast tempos used in BM. And the lyrics abandon the rage against religious doctrines and religion itself to focus on nihilism and straightforward suicidal thoughts and tendencies (sometimes loosely connected to philosophy). Definitely not recommended to people that have experienced real suicidal thoughts or depression.
"Suicide Social" album by Broyeur d'Enfance
Sterile Nails And Thunderbowels by Silencer; with extracts from the movie Begotten
BlackNoise
Main Genre: Metal
What's scary about it?: That it may not even be considered music
Notorious artists: Voilés Par Les Cygnes, Emit, Judas Iscariot, GORBAG
Notorious songs: By The Limbs Of The Anichrist - Capel Beulah, The Moon Darkens The Sun - Celticmoon, Charred Goat Remains - Enbilulugugal, Dead Before Death - Ermit
Subgenre in a lyric: The lyrics in the songs are unentilligible, hence, I tried looking for lyrics but I could not find some that represented the subgenre anywhere due to how underground BlackNoise is.
I will never forget the day I descended unto BlackNoise. Being a follower of extreme metal I just wanted to keep going as down as possible; I managed to get to this subgenre and I am fairly sure that since that very day I have not been capable of reaching a lower point in music.
There is not much to utter in respect of it; it was created due to the intentions of Black Metal purists who wanted the purest depiction of the subgenre. It is, without a shade of doubt, the most underground body of music here.
Other than that there is very little to mention; all of the other spots in the list have at least a pinch of musicality, but not this one. I, an avid extreme metal (and music) listener, do not recommend listening to this one. It lacks any aspect that can even remotely make it music.
Division Black Noise
Dead Before Death by Emit
Goregrind/Gorenoise
Main Genre: Punk
What's scary about it?: Lyrics, vocals and album covers
Notorious artists: Gutalax, Impetigo, Ahumado Granujo, Paracoccidioidomicosisproctitissarcomucosis
Notorious songs: Blood Fetish - Putrid Pile, Grotesque Prosthetic Prolapse - Vulvectomy, Cunt Slime - Ahumado Granujo, Infant Strangulation - Anal Birth
Subgenre in a lyric: "Join us, we’re the worst scum We will offend everyone No taboos, only gore and pain Splatter, Blasts, Tupa and babes Deviants, fucktards, streakers Let’s make Goregrind great again!" from Make Goregrind Great Again by Brutal Sphincter
Meet the evil brothers of Grindcore. In terms of extremity, Grindcore is a baphomet and household name; it is rather difficult to get nastier and scarier that that.
Nonetheless, here we are. I merged both subgenres in one spot due to the fact that there are little to no differences between them. Both are equally filthy, scary and remorseless.
Among the many aspects that make these baddies worse than their big brother, is the corners they dare to reach; the same degree of depravity, violence and senseless aggression can be expected, but in some ocassions the target is unjustifiable: babies and children. Regarding the music, the music is a little bit more aggressive and one of the main vocal techniques is the infamous and notorious pig squeal.
Last Days Of Humanity's "Horrific Compositions Of Decomposition" album
Grotesque Prosthetic Prolapse by Vulvectomy
Brutal Death Metal
Main Genre: Metal
What's scary about it?: The lyrics, vocals, album covers and the names of the bands
Notorious artists: Suffocation, Dying Fetus, Gorgasm, Aborted
Notorious songs: Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis -XavlegbmaofffassssitimiwoamndutroabcwapwaeiippohfffX, Extermination Dismemberment - Protonemesis, Exceptionally Sadistic - Monument Of Misanthropy, Grotesque Impalement - Dying Fetus
Subgenre in a lyric: "Extracting the brains from the skulls
My anger evolves with the more heads I deform
Sawing the neck I am engulfed in fantasy
Chew the esophagus, cannibal delicacy
Utterly execerbated, forver deleterious
Slicing through skin, sundered larynx, veins spraying blood
Tattered windpipe, facial carvings, another head to abhore
Beheading sustains my desire
Enhancing my primitive mind
Annihilation without repreving" from Hacksaw Decapitation by Cannibal Corpse
As mentioned befored with Witch House, it can be stated that Brutal Death Metal is the most "accesible" metal genre in the list. But just by the name one can foresee what it is all about.
I myself am one of the biggest and more devoted Death Metal subgenre; nonetheless, Brutal Death Metal has hurled it onto the next level in every conceivable aspect; fiercer guitars, gorier album art, more brutal lyrics and more savage vocals.
All that without taking into account the indicipherable band logos and the totally obscene and horrible names; we have something short but acute as Dying Fetus or Cannibal Corpse, as well as the most ridiculous and graphic name I have ever seen for a band in XavlegbmaofffassssitimiwoamndutroabcwapwaeiippohfffX (or Acidic Vaginal Liquid Explosion Generated By Mass Amounts Of Filthy Fecal Fisting And Sadistic Septic Syphilic Sodomy Inside The Infected Maggot Infested Womb Of A Molested Nun Dying Under The Roof Of A Burning Church While A Priest Watches And Ejaculates In Immense Perverse Pleasure Over His First Fresh Fetus for the mates).
Legendary Cryptopsy album "None So Vile"
Killing For Sport by Esophagus
War Metal
Main Genre: Metal
What's scary about it?: Everything
Notorious artists: Goatsmegma, Morbosidad, Abhomine, Abominator
Notorious songs: The Darkest Sabbat - Abominator, Excrements Of Creation - Bestial Raids, Satanic - Bestial Warlust, Fornicating In Goat Feces - Goatsmegma
Subgenre in a lyric: "I see crimson in your blood
Snow-white is your dead skin
They told me that you were supposedly god
And my deed was ultimate sin
But what I have done
Was just pure justice
I raised the shining blade
To protect myself
I crush the crucifix because
Age of satan shall come to pass
Mark of the beast: 666
On my breast means I'm anti-christ
Son of fire, son of Satan
Anti-christ and the beast
Messenger of destruction
Great beast and the blasphemer" from The Blasphemer by Barathrum
Having the same relationship as Goregrind/Gorenoise and Grindcore, we can bring into the mix War Metal and Black Metal. If you thought the latter was too much, wait until you can get a slight glimpse of this one.
War Metal is in essence all what defines Black Metal and makes it fearsome but amplified tenfold. You get as much blashpemy, violence, satanism and paganism as you could imagine (and way more). It evens put Deicide on shame and that might be the best parameter that anyone could ever give.
What sets apart this subgenre and BlackNoise (whose purpose is almost identical) is the execution. While BN focuses just on the nuance lacking any musical element or quality, WM actually shows dexterity in the playing and a decent production (for extreme metal standards).
Album "Goat Separatist Movement" by Goatsmegma
Escupe La Maldita Cruz by Morbosidad
Horror Soundtracks
Main Genre: Various
What's scary about it?: This is the soundtrack that supplies a backbone for horror pieces of work
Notorious artists: Akira Yamaoka, Collin Stetson, Goblin, Christopher Young
Notorious songs: Ave Satani - Jerry Goldsmith, Blank Fairy - Akira Yamaoka, Hail, Paemon! - Collin Stetson, Suspiria - Goblin
Subgenre in a lyric: "Goin' to Camp Lake, ain't you? You'll never come back again. It's got a death curse!" from Friday the 13th Part. 1 Theme by Henry Manfredini
I beg pardon for this entry, but the cheatcode was in order. Horror soundtracks are a pivotal part of almost every representation of horror in the media.
By embracing different genres (and subgenres within the genres) the resulting pieces of work are mostly tailor made so that they suit perfectly the needs of the movie, videogame or series.
And with horror series, movies and videogames galore, one can expect the same amount of chilling soundtracks (most of the time said soundtracks live up to its vessel or surpass it making the final product scary just for the music on it).
Silent Hill 3 Soundtrack composed by Akira Yamaoka
Hail, Paemon! by Collin Stetson
(Dis)honorable mentions:
-Death Metal
-Thrash Metal
-Doom Metal
-Ghoststep
-Grave Wave
-Hauntology
-Heavy Metal
