10 Scariest Music Albums

Now it is not the turn for my favorite albums covering horror ground through music, concept or lyrics; this time around I will address albums that possess (or once possessed) the capability of creeping me out and making me feel unnerved. Do not mistake this list for the 10 Best Horror Albums/Soundtracks since they do not belong to the same concept. Let us walk it through.

Stalaggh - Projekt Misanthropia

Year: 2007

Genre: Black Metal/Noise

Scariest songs:  The only song it features

Putting it plainly, Stalaggh have produced what might well be considered as the scariest song of all time. Not only that, this song makes up for a whole album (this one) and there are several reasons why it is no easy feat to get scarier that this.

The song per se is intimadating and fearsome enough to make it to any list regarding the subject matter. However, the context behind the music is what really stands out making this first entry one of the most nightmarish rides in music. The only song, a thirty five minute song, features screams, howls and noises produced by actual mental patients. Moreover, some of them are alleged screams emanated by a lady who was stabbed to death by his son and some others by people who ended up killing themselves. Do not find it suprising to become sort of numb after listening to it regardless of how much time you endured.

Skar - Atnifonía De Entrada

Year: 2001

Genre: Black Metal

Scariest songs: Crucifícalo (a - pasión; b - fornicación y c - muerte), Orad Por Ellos, Comunión

My lack of interest and devotion for any deity or religious doctrine at the time being makes really hard for me to be impressed and unnerved by the countless bands, albums and songs that approach the blasphemous and anti-religious theme no matter how gruesome or profane the lyrics and imagery are.

Nonetheless, mexican "household" name (at least in the underground scene and purview) Skar crafted an EP with the aforementioned and worn out cliché approach (even for 2001) but with elements that separated it from the average Black Metal standards. With a sloppy (but truly suitable for Black Metal) production, unholy voices and drilling riffs it makes the subgenre feel scary no matter how experienced you may feel you are. Another point is that for me (a native Spanish speaker) understanding the lyrics clearly the first time you listen to them (and some Latin scattered through the album) also ramps up the creepy factor.

Deathpile - G.R.

Year: 2003

Genre: Electronic/Experimental

Scariest songs: Shrine, The First Whore, Addicted

Are you into Found Footage horror films? Well, then the execution and perspective of this album might draw you in; and besides that, I hope it is the only thing you like about this recording.

G.R. is based on a true story, the story of Gary Ridgeway (a.k.a. The Green River Murderer). Essentially, it is a POV perspective, and a very detailed one, of Gary committing atrocities and narrating them. The means of trying to make you feel disturbed are grotesquery, misogyny and a non-stop rampage of screams and bewildering sounds that impulse the already daunting and repulsive lyrics. 

Anal Cunt - 5643 Song EP

Year: 1989

Genre: Hardcore Punk

Scariest songs: No track list available so the whole EP

In the music panorama there exist short songs that serve as connection for main ideas and passages in concept albums (e.g. Goodbye Cruel World in Pink Floyd's The Wall); there are also connecting skits that have the same purpose or offer breaks between songs (this is more noticeable in rap albums); in addition to this, there are short songs that only purpose is to be taken as a joke or are meant to be funny (e.g. You Suffer by Napalm Death); and then, there is 5643 Song EP by Anal Cunt.

There is not track listing made for this recording but the concept is the following: apparently, we are about to listen to 5643 different songs in the twelve-minute run time of the album. As expected, we are bestowed an album that lacks any type of coherence or musicality; damn, according to some information, there is a point in the midst of the album in which we are listening to sixteen songs at the same time and each song has an average duration of two seconds.

Aghast - Hexerei im Zwielicht der Finsternis

Year: 1995

Genre: Dark Ambient/Black Metal

Scariest songs: Sacrifice, Das Irrlicht, Call From The Grave

It is very likely that you have stumbled upon this album at any moment in your life; it is also fairly likely that it happened to you without you even noticing it. Sinister fans and YouTube enthusiast here we go.

If you have seen/watched Sinister then you do have listened to Sacrifice; said song is featured in the tape Sleepy Time '98 and is unfairly and mistakenly credited to Christopher Young. The same song is also widely used for mystery and horror videos on the Tube. With its minimalistic musical approach in terms of instrumentation that highlight the vocal aspect, this album is a masterpiece in ambience. In addition to that, toss into the mix the allegations of Aghast being actual witches and their music being meant to be used in rituals, and that they used the microphone of the late Mayhem's vocalist and frontman Dead. Creepy indeed.

Diamanda Galás - The Litanies Of Satan

Year: 1982

Genre: Darkwave/Avant-Garde

Scariest songs: The two songs featured in the album.

Diamanda Galás, and this album in particular, have gotten quite a few words throughout different posts in Hell House MMV (check out the 10 Spookiest Songs Ever and the 10 Best Horror Albums/Soundtracks posts to track it down). 

Diamanda is an artist that has never been afraid of throwing crazy and interesting ideas into otherwordly scary music. This aforementioned fact was never more present than during her beginnings; her first two albums are an enduring testament for the horror landscape that showcases her inhuman vocal abilities and her capability or providing textures and layers of emotions through her avant-garde (ever for avant-garde parameters) music.

Swans - Public Castration Is A Good Idea

Year: 1985

Genre: Noise Rock/Dark Ambient

Scariest songs:  A Screw, Anything For You, A Hanging

Swans can pretty much be the equivalent of Death or Opeth but for "scary" matters; they have an impeccable discography horror-wise. Basically, we are dealing with the (to the wide or narrow of my knowledge) scariest discography put out by any band.

The Seer and Various Failures are albums that having this list been broader it would have made the final cut easily. Nonetheless, though providing a very subpar and simple cover, Public Castration Is A Good Idea offers rather extended tracks that do not diminish the impact regardless of their run time (which by the way can get as long as almost 13 minutes).

Smegma- Pigs For Lepers

Year: 1982

Genre: Progressive Rock/Experimental

Scariest songs: Dying Cows With Putrid Not Praiseworthy Predation, Oh-Ooh!, In The Murder Room

In the list of 10 Album Covers (5 Scary & 5 Disgusting) I alluded to the importance and value of the cover in any musical product to expand or diminish its qualities; for this entry that aspect is clearly essential.

By no means I am stating that the cover is what makes this album scary but rather that it helped me opt for it over a couple more of contenders in the honorable mentions list. Smegma's experimentation helped them enlarge their palate of of sounds and sonic landscape to veer towards the creepy and scary over the virtuosism and musicality. With attempts to craft a solid and "coherent" musical product among all the chaos and craziness, we are before the most complex album in the list.

Butthole Surfers - Locust Abortion Technician

Year: 1987

Genre: Hardcore Punk/Alternative

Scariest songs: Hay, Graveyard, U.S.S.A.

Not many albums are as related taking into account music and cover; this one definitely is. Get a glimpse of the cover and try to foresee (or forehear?) the music that will emanate once you play it. Any similarities? 

Locust Abortion Technician is an album which can get to be funny at times. However, it is the kind of humor not all people are appealed to by. Look and hear no further than the combo of Sweet Loaf (which parodies and samples Sweet Leaf by Black Sabbath) and Graveyard to confirm this; the album goes from goofy to disturbing from song to song (sometimes it even does during the same song). Consider it as a darker Trout Mask Replica; it is not as scary as the other albums in the list but it did freak me out when I experienced it.

Diagnose: Lebensgefahr - Transformalin

Year: 2001

Genre: Dark Ambient/Experimental/Doom Metal

Scariest songs: De Vårdar Mig In I Döden, Upon The High Horse Of Self Destruction, Anoxi

I decided to place this entry at the very last spot for a fair few reasons; said reasons converge upon the same point: perhaps, the scariest album of all time. Which are the reasons behind that assertion?

Nattramn, former Silencer member, and yeah the pig hands guy, was admitted into a psychiatric hospital for a severe schizophrenia episode. Our guy escaped the place and attemped to kill a 6-year-old girl with an axe. Once again in the hospital, he was asked to do something that makes this album one of the most personal ever made: he was asked to create music so the doctors could diagnose if he was really progressing or not. They basically made Nattramn's music a case study. Add the collaborations with other mental patients and you have the background to hurl the music down to the very abyss

Honorable Mentions:

Maurizio Bianchi - Symphony For A Genocide 

SPK - Information Overload Unit

Silencer - Death-Pierce Me

Slayer - Hell Awaits

The Beatles - The Beatles (White Album)

Swans - The Seer

Suicide - Suicide

Captain Beefheart - Trout Mask Replica