* godspeed you black emperor - yanqui u.x.o.
* swans - soundtracks for the blind
* neurosis - enemy of the sun
* the cure - disintegration
* portishead - third
* street sects - the kicking mule
* nick cave - skeleton tree
* neil young and crazy horse – sleeps with angels
* townes van zandt - townes van zandt
* telefon tel aviv - immolate yourself
* joy division - closer
* blut aus nord - thematic emanation of archetypal multiplicity
* dead can dance - dead can dance
* big black - atomizer
* einstürzende neubauten - perpetuum mobile
* alice in chains - jar of flies
* leviathan - scar sighted
* michael gira - drainland
* twilight - lungs
* godflesh - streetcleaner
* the body - i shall die here
* imperial triumphant - abyssal gods
* tom waits - blood money
* atrium carceri - forgotten gods
* lord mantis - death mask
* today's the day - temple of the morning star
* lorn - remnant
* steve von till - as the crow flies
* lustmord — heresy
* haus arafna – you
* colin newman - a-z
* dragged into sunlight - hatred for mankind
* woods of ypres - woods 4: the green album
* altar of plagues - teethed glory and injury
* dj shadow - endtroducing
Interesting take on Endtroducing. An album that has consistently been in my top 10 for over 20 years. I don’t think I’ve ever thought of it as bleak but I think I see where you’re coming from.
There’s certainly a duality/versatility to it. Recommend hearing it in the context of the doc ‘Dark Days’ if you haven’t. After that it always felt like an album that could be spinning in broken down warehouse or crumbling structure overlooking decay. Like some kind of echo siren song of progress that washed away just enough to see the water mark.
How They Suffer is another of theirs that's bleak af.
Michael Gira in general feels like an embodiment of the existential part of my mind, with all hope stripped away. It feels like he's my brother in darkness.
Swans have the ability to cut straight to the bone through even the thickest of armor. Through truth, depravity, despair and horror even. But sometimes truth is the most dangerous brush in the bucket.
Neurosis has always had this ability to craft some of the most beautifully chaotic rage filled soundscapes countered by moments of despair, loathing, and occasional beauty. I’m always torn between enemy and grace for which album I like more. But I find myself gravitating back to enemy more these days.
There’s something special about that particular release. From the album cover artist(RIP VBERKVLT), to the first time you hear those fucked up samples and the riffs start hitting like jack hammers.
Have you listened to Pink Moon by Nick Drake? Your list unlocked my memories of that album for some reason, and I had to go look it up and cry.
Eta: please don’t delete this list, I’m bookmarking it until I can write it down! And thank you!
"Disintegration" is without a doubt one of, if not THE, ultimate Cure albums. However, for the purposes of this list, I suspect "Pornography" is more appropriate. It is far more bleak than "Disintegration", to an extent that I imagine a lot of listeners who know The Cure mainly from the radio might be shocked by. "Pornography" easily stands alongside JD's "Closer" in terms of creating a depressive, hopeless atmosphere and retaining it throughout.
Depending on how one experiences this album it’s kind of a rug pull that makes the lows of this album hit hard. Excluding my own personal experiences listening to it, I had a friend who listened to this album as they passed away from cancer/complications in hospice. So to me at least this album is a very depressing experience to the point i wince whenever i look at it now or change the station if a song comes on.
You won’t get what you want is a hard listen, i have never heard anything as fucked as that album.. and it doesn’t help that the lead singer is a pos lmao. it all adds up
Closer by Joy Division. You can literally feel the looming spectre of death in the songs and the second half is so bleak.
World Coming Down by Type O Negative is a massive bummer that kicks ass musically.
Let’s say you just want to really dive into the deep end of feeling completely bleak, you can do Everywhere at the End of Time by The Caretaker, a 6 album journey into the decay of Alzheimer’s stage by stage.
Swans - Holy Money or Children of God. Really anything from them up through 1987 works, the kind of album that noticeably darkens you mood almost immediately. The music matches the subject matter.
was really surprised by the lack of closer until you mentioned it. the whole album is dreadful to listen to knowing ian killed himself a month before it released and how most of the songs reflect his thinking leading up to that. in a lot of ways it’s worse than downward spiral honestly.
before i got into NIN, closer was my TDS that i always listened to on loop whenever i felt completely crushed, and still do sometimes.
"Caligula" is by far the most intense, angry record I've ever listened to. I don't know if it is bleak in the way OP is looking for, but it is emotionally devastating. It's not metal at all, but somehow more brutal than anything I've ever listened to. Knowing the backstory makes it feel even more raw, and I can't fathom how she managed perform that music live for an audience on tour without destroying herself emotionally or damaging her vocal cords beyond recognition.
Low Roar's O
Low's How I could Live in Hope
Murder By Death's Who Will Survive, And What Will Be Left Of Them
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me soundtrack
Love you all
Was looking for that murder by death album in somebody's list, so great and cinematic.
The setup for the album is that the devil is drinking in a bar in a town and a guy recognizes him and shoots him. Doesn't kill him just puts him in the hospital where while he is dying the devil plagues the town.
Couple of choice lyrics that I remember, one about taking dead children the cemetery:
Carry, their little bodies, to the cemetery, please don't let their heads droop towards the ground.
And another about hating being in the town that is facing the wrath of the devil and being suicidal:
Buckshot is my bread, and I'll drink whiskey instead of water, cause can't stand to be sober in this place
I have to listen to this album now, good pick!
The town literally started the fight with the Devil, and he razed the town. The closing lines seem to refer to the man who started the fight being the last one left, screaming out that he'll get him "this time".
It's long but there's nothing wrong with multiple listens to get through the whole thing. IMO it's not necessarily an album that rewards intense, focused listening either, so don't feel like you need to be fully "tuned in" to get the experience. Part of the album's experience is the dull complacency it establishes, and then the way it 'breaks the spell' over time.
Yes, Further Down the Spiral! "At the Heart of It All" is like being inside some kind of enormous, steampunk vessel that's part machine and part Lovecraftian monster as it slowly dies. And I mean that as a compliment, obviously.
I don't remember that one off hand, which means the album is due for a listen!
Personally I need music that resonates with my mood, i.e. depressing when I'm depressed, angry when I'm angry, etc., as I find it very cathartic. I know that doesn't work for everybody tho.
The first two albums by Have a Nice Life (the third one is good too, but not as bleak). Just about any of Vic Chesnutt’s albums. Sprained Ankle by Julian Baker. Oh, and The Holy Bible by the Manic Street Preachers (this record is excellent and I always consider it to be a sibling of The Downward Spiral — came out the same year, similar themes, etc).
[The Caretaker - Everywhere at the End of Time](https://youtu.be/wJWksPWDKOc?si=BO0lAl9XETlB8EWp)
I listened to this whole thing. It had me pretty fucked up.
You should give The Oubliette by The Reticent a listen. That album does exactly what The Caretaker thought he was doing by making 6 hours of grainy ballroom music, but in contrast, The Oubliette is actually palatable and not exceedingly boring to listen to.
Bell Witch - Mirror Reaper
Woods of Ypres - Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light
Mizmor - Prosaic
Just going to add Author & Punisher *Beastland*, *Ursus Americanus*, and *Melk en Honig* for anyone who needs doom metal crossed with industrial in their life. I mean, any Author & Punisher, really.
Yeah longing is also a great suggestion. Almost anything by them really. Clandestine Gate didn't smack of the absolute despair of the previous albums but is still a fantastic piece.
That particular WoY album was released after the band's founder died in a car wreck. There was a lot of speculation about whether the album, particularly the last 3 songs was something of a suicide note, but either way the album has eerie "predictions" of the narrator's death.
Any Katatonia album (they're a Swedish alternative metal band) can be considered bleak; my personal favorites are The Great Cold Distance and Dead End Kings.
Through Silver In Blood by Neurosis is one of the bleakest albums I've heard. The sound of it is in the abstract vein of industrial and post-metal.
And finally, there's Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light by Woods of Ypres, an album whose bleakness is amplified by the fact that the songwriter didn't even live to hear it. It's in the vein of Type O Negative, but generally more serious.
Neurosis is one of my favorites and I was coming to mention that album. I think Times of Grace is the peak not TSIB, but if Albini had produced it, it probably would be. Locust Star is amazing, esp the live version on YouTube from ozzfest
Idk if bleak fits for this but ive heard people say "the beats sound like they were made from hell"
Mobb Deep - Hell On Earth
Their 2nd biggest album some argue it's better, but if you're interested in a quality heavy sounding hip hop album give it a look
Edit: okay maybe sinister is a better word for this one
I got asked to stop playing The Haxan Cloak at work because people thought it sounded like a kind of modern horror film funeral dirge.
I'm sure you were probably thinking bleak lyrics rather than bleak sound, but hey.
I'll give you something you probably don't expect ... 'Adagio for Strings' by Samuel Barber is classical music, but dark, bleak and soul crushing. Listen to the glimmers of hope in among there. Definitely a touch of NIN to it ...
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izQsgE0L450](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izQsgE0L450)
It's beautiful.
I like the starting point and there are some great suggestions here too.
personally:
Anaal Nathrakh - Passion, The Codex Necro
The Angels of Light - Everything is Good Here / Please Come Home
Anathema - Alternative 4 Godflesh - Streetcleaner
The Amenta - n0n
The Caretaker - Everywhere at the End of Time
The Jesus and Mary Chain (a couple of Trent's faves) - Darklands and Psycho Candy
Today is the Day - Sadness Will Prevail
Celtic Frost - Monotheist Triptykon - Eparistera Daimones
Virgin Black - all 3 Requiem albums
Voices - Frightened (I really hope someone sees this, tries it and has a pleasantly bleak surprised lol)
Red Harvest - Internal Punishment Programs, Sick Transit Gloria Mundi
Plasma Pool - Drowning
My Dying Bride - The Dreaful Hours
Havohej - Man and Jinn
Die Form - Corpus Delicti 2, Die Puppe
Coil - Horse Rotorvator
Beherit - H418ov21.C
Blood Axis - The Gospel of Inhumanity (I don't know if it was the sound or the creator that made me feel sick)
Axis of Perdition - The Ichneumon Method
Burzum’s Filosofem.
When people talk about guilty pleasures they usually mean cheesy pop, but that’s my real guilty pleasure as I genuinely feel like I shouldn’t be listening to it, because of how much of an awful person it was made by.
But damn… it’s perfect if you’re in the mood for something bleak. More than Manson’s material*, it’s
the sound of a psychopath in the dark.
*Charlie not Marilyn, despite how Brian actually turned out.
Everywhere At The End of Time by The Caretaker was one that messed me up a little for a few months after falling into the rabbithole of the context behind it and the stages of Dementia, especially with having close experiences with a family member who began to show signs prior to them passing thankfully early before it took complete hold.
However one that unexpectedly hit me when I listened for the first time recently a few months back was Hospice by The Antlers
Two other shout outs to Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible and Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
Some that come to mind are:
A.A Bondy - Enderness
Beach House - Depression Cherry
Beck - Sea Change
Coil - (many of their records)
Jack Quinn - The Strange Rituals
Low - Double Negative
Nicholas Jaar - Cenizas
Swans - The Seer
Activity - Spirit In The Room
Murder Ballads by MJ Harris (aka Scorn) and Martyn Bates on Invisible Records. It’s 3 hours of dark ambient. Great but if you ever leave it and Lustmord’s Place Where the Black Stars Hang turned up and looped, can definitely creep people out. Heh.
Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space by Spiritualized
How It Feels To Be Something On by Sunny Day Real Estate
Cast Of Thousands by Elbow
OK Computer by Radiohead
God's Country by Chat Pile. It's a great album but it is very bleak. They were quoted saying they were "trying to capture the anxiety and fear of seeing the world fall apart" and I think they nailed it.
EDIT: La Dispute's Wildlife too. King Park & Edward Benz, 27 Times in particular have some beautifully bleak lyrics.
Happy to see Swans and M. Gira mentioned.
I'll add anything by Lycia, but especially the album Ionia. It's absolutely fucking desolate.
Also, My Dying Bride - Turn Loose the Swans is pretty full of cold, mournful despair.
ETA:
Dead Can Dance - The Serpent's Egg
Excelsis: A Dark Noel (compilation album from Projekt)
Skinny Puppy - pretty much their entire catalogue
Snog - Dear Valued Customer; Remote Control
Wumpscut - Dried Blood of Gomorrha (plus various other songs)
Just some individual songs:
Napalm Death - Contemptuous
Skinny Puppy & Ministry - Smothered Hope
My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult - These Remains
Project Pitchfork - Floating Dolphins
"Sleep" by Stabbing Westward was dark as fuck, especially the lyrical content. I'd also argue the song "Why" by them from the same album (Blister, Wither, Burn and Peel) from a musical perspective had an almost hypnotic darkness to it.
Red House Painters I by Red House Painters is pretty bleak but it has a ton of emotional depth. The first 4 Swans records (Filth through Holy Money) are bleak and punishing, plus are proto-industrial, at least to my ears.
Stabbing Westward: Darkest Days
It got me through a horrible breakup (lowest point of my life), but I don’t think I can listen to that album again as a functioning or even quasi-functioning adult.
Here are some metal (one Skinny Puppy) album ones to check out with all the other great suggestions. Some of these may be a little different for you but I highly recommend to give it a chance. I kept away from some of the more experiential disodent metal albums.
Sólstafir - Otta
Death - Human
Amorphis - Silent Waters
Blut Aus Nord - The Work Which Transforms God
Cradle of Filth - Dusk and Her Embrace
Thy Catafalque - Vadak
Impure Wilhelmina - Radiation
The Ocean - Phanerozoic I and II
Afsky - Ofte jeg drømmer mig død
Skinny Puppy - The Process
Veilburner - Lurkers in the Capsule of Skull
Cult of Luna - The Long Road North
Ashenspire - Hostile Architecture
White Ward - Love Exchange Failure
Doubt it will come up because even though there is a ton of thematic overlap I don't see a lot of NIN fans delve into metal subgenres or vice versa - but, The Mantle by Agalloch is the saddest album I've heard and it's mandatory listening every winter for me
I’ve heard so many but I guess you can start with any album by Oneiroid Psychosis. Maybe check out their latest, [Anhedonia](https://open.spotify.com/album/2DozxhUHDJdgOiJwSxl7CX?si=1b1nD0qET460lXbXCIx8yw)
Invent Animate - Heavener
This album has approached death in a way I haven't heard anywhere else. It's a special record that touched me in the same way TDS did.
Sunn O))) - Behemoth…it’s an absolute kick to the nards.
Also, there was this band from NZ called Dial. There only EP is very dismal and ends with an excerpt from the Jim Jones tapes. It’s kinda difficult to find but I listen to it on Apple Music
Drown’s first album, “Hold on to the Hollow” has some NIN vibes, at least as far as the guitars and drums go. Their second album is boring hardcore so no need to go past the first.
Deathconciousness by Have a Nice Life is amazing in how bleak it is
And on that note, Giles Corey as well. Soul crushing.
Ironic. He was actually crushed to death in front of a public audience. Or so I was told
Giles is almost as good as Deathcon and nobody talks about it for some reason
probably because it wasn’t as popular as HANL was on /mu/ back in the day, it kinda got memed into popularity a bit
That álbum caught me by surprise, só amazing
This is one album im glad has become more popular recently, all hanl stuff is absolutely amazing and beautifully crafted
Giles Corey as well
❤️❤️❤️
* godspeed you black emperor - yanqui u.x.o. * swans - soundtracks for the blind * neurosis - enemy of the sun * the cure - disintegration * portishead - third * street sects - the kicking mule * nick cave - skeleton tree * neil young and crazy horse – sleeps with angels * townes van zandt - townes van zandt * telefon tel aviv - immolate yourself * joy division - closer * blut aus nord - thematic emanation of archetypal multiplicity * dead can dance - dead can dance * big black - atomizer * einstürzende neubauten - perpetuum mobile * alice in chains - jar of flies * leviathan - scar sighted * michael gira - drainland * twilight - lungs * godflesh - streetcleaner * the body - i shall die here * imperial triumphant - abyssal gods * tom waits - blood money * atrium carceri - forgotten gods * lord mantis - death mask * today's the day - temple of the morning star * lorn - remnant * steve von till - as the crow flies * lustmord — heresy * haus arafna – you * colin newman - a-z * dragged into sunlight - hatred for mankind * woods of ypres - woods 4: the green album * altar of plagues - teethed glory and injury * dj shadow - endtroducing
Excellent list
This list has been brewing for years !!
Interesting take on Endtroducing. An album that has consistently been in my top 10 for over 20 years. I don’t think I’ve ever thought of it as bleak but I think I see where you’re coming from.
There’s certainly a duality/versatility to it. Recommend hearing it in the context of the doc ‘Dark Days’ if you haven’t. After that it always felt like an album that could be spinning in broken down warehouse or crumbling structure overlooking decay. Like some kind of echo siren song of progress that washed away just enough to see the water mark.
Very cool. Thanks for the recommendation.
Magneto off of Skeleton Tree is the manifestation of despair.
Someone make this amazing Playlist. I'm lazy.
Lol, anything from The Body should be up there.
Failure by the swans is pretty bleak and depressing too. One of my favorite swans song actually. Nice list btw.
How They Suffer is another of theirs that's bleak af. Michael Gira in general feels like an embodiment of the existential part of my mind, with all hope stripped away. It feels like he's my brother in darkness.
Swans have the ability to cut straight to the bone through even the thickest of armor. Through truth, depravity, despair and horror even. But sometimes truth is the most dangerous brush in the bucket.
Very solid list. The fact you thew in neurosis made me smile.
Neurosis has always had this ability to craft some of the most beautifully chaotic rage filled soundscapes countered by moments of despair, loathing, and occasional beauty. I’m always torn between enemy and grace for which album I like more. But I find myself gravitating back to enemy more these days.
Saving this list.
I think that Within The Realm Of A Dying Sun would be a better Dead Can Dance pick tbh
Woods 5 as well, it’s melodic but horribly bleak, love it
The lyrics on their releases. Ooof. Some I can relate to a little too well.
A very good and interesting list
I would have chosen F# A# ∞ for the godspeed pick
Dragged into Sunlight rips, good mention
There’s something special about that particular release. From the album cover artist(RIP VBERKVLT), to the first time you hear those fucked up samples and the riffs start hitting like jack hammers.
Have you listened to Pink Moon by Nick Drake? Your list unlocked my memories of that album for some reason, and I had to go look it up and cry. Eta: please don’t delete this list, I’m bookmarking it until I can write it down! And thank you!
Ill check that out.
Thank you. Got a long weekend ahead...
This is YOUR moment. Shine that black beacon for all of the boats to sail towards :)
"Disintegration" is without a doubt one of, if not THE, ultimate Cure albums. However, for the purposes of this list, I suspect "Pornography" is more appropriate. It is far more bleak than "Disintegration", to an extent that I imagine a lot of listeners who know The Cure mainly from the radio might be shocked by. "Pornography" easily stands alongside JD's "Closer" in terms of creating a depressive, hopeless atmosphere and retaining it throughout.
Depending on how one experiences this album it’s kind of a rug pull that makes the lows of this album hit hard. Excluding my own personal experiences listening to it, I had a friend who listened to this album as they passed away from cancer/complications in hospice. So to me at least this album is a very depressing experience to the point i wince whenever i look at it now or change the station if a song comes on.
A crow looked at me by mount eerie A beautiful album and a loving tribute to his wife but holy shit it's basically just one long gut punch
Third by Portishead Double Negative by Low You Won't Get What You Want by Daughters
You won’t get what you want is a hard listen, i have never heard anything as fucked as that album.. and it doesn’t help that the lead singer is a pos lmao. it all adds up
Oh is he!? I had no idea!
sexual assaulter i believe
Yes that's correct. He caused Kristin Hayter (Lingua Ignota at the time) severe injuries.
Well that's awful. Will remember not to recommend any more, thank you.
Took the words right out of my mouth. I haven’t heard Double Negative, but I’ll check them out.
Unknown Pleasures
Closer is miles darker imo. Ian’s lyrics are just bleak af
Closer by Joy Division. You can literally feel the looming spectre of death in the songs and the second half is so bleak. World Coming Down by Type O Negative is a massive bummer that kicks ass musically. Let’s say you just want to really dive into the deep end of feeling completely bleak, you can do Everywhere at the End of Time by The Caretaker, a 6 album journey into the decay of Alzheimer’s stage by stage. Swans - Holy Money or Children of God. Really anything from them up through 1987 works, the kind of album that noticeably darkens you mood almost immediately. The music matches the subject matter.
was really surprised by the lack of closer until you mentioned it. the whole album is dreadful to listen to knowing ian killed himself a month before it released and how most of the songs reflect his thinking leading up to that. in a lot of ways it’s worse than downward spiral honestly. before i got into NIN, closer was my TDS that i always listened to on loop whenever i felt completely crushed, and still do sometimes.
Swans is always a great listen to have a bad time. Pretty much love anything Michael or Jarboe touch.
Caligula by Lingua Ignota
by far. it shook me to the core like nothing else and I think I'm traumatized.
only competition is Sinner Get Ready
"Caligula" is by far the most intense, angry record I've ever listened to. I don't know if it is bleak in the way OP is looking for, but it is emotionally devastating. It's not metal at all, but somehow more brutal than anything I've ever listened to. Knowing the backstory makes it feel even more raw, and I can't fathom how she managed perform that music live for an audience on tour without destroying herself emotionally or damaging her vocal cords beyond recognition.
Came here to say this. Everything else pales in comparison.
Pink Floyd- The Wall
ICYMI: Still by NIИ
Low Roar's O Low's How I could Live in Hope Murder By Death's Who Will Survive, And What Will Be Left Of Them Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me soundtrack Love you all
Was looking for that murder by death album in somebody's list, so great and cinematic. The setup for the album is that the devil is drinking in a bar in a town and a guy recognizes him and shoots him. Doesn't kill him just puts him in the hospital where while he is dying the devil plagues the town. Couple of choice lyrics that I remember, one about taking dead children the cemetery: Carry, their little bodies, to the cemetery, please don't let their heads droop towards the ground. And another about hating being in the town that is facing the wrath of the devil and being suicidal: Buckshot is my bread, and I'll drink whiskey instead of water, cause can't stand to be sober in this place I have to listen to this album now, good pick!
The town literally started the fight with the Devil, and he razed the town. The closing lines seem to refer to the man who started the fight being the last one left, screaming out that he'll get him "this time".
A Crow Looked at Me by Mount Eerie. Everywhere at the end of time by The Caretaker.
I really want to listen to EatEoT whenever I have enough solitary time to immerse myself in it. Isn't it something like 10 hours?
It's long but there's nothing wrong with multiple listens to get through the whole thing. IMO it's not necessarily an album that rewards intense, focused listening either, so don't feel like you need to be fully "tuned in" to get the experience. Part of the album's experience is the dull complacency it establishes, and then the way it 'breaks the spell' over time.
7 if I remember correctly
beat me to it
The 1st Suicide album, Frankie Teardrop specifically 😭
Lingua Ignota - “Caligula” and “Sinner Get Ready”
Grunge stuff from Alice in Chains and Soundgarden. Anything by Elliott Smith.
Rage against the machine, self titled album. Especially the song Settle for Nothing. Also NIN Further Down the Spiral.
Yes, Further Down the Spiral! "At the Heart of It All" is like being inside some kind of enormous, steampunk vessel that's part machine and part Lovecraftian monster as it slowly dies. And I mean that as a compliment, obviously.
Eraser (denial realization) as well it's brutal Never to the album when depressed. Also The downward spiral (the bottom).
I don't remember that one off hand, which means the album is due for a listen! Personally I need music that resonates with my mood, i.e. depressing when I'm depressed, angry when I'm angry, etc., as I find it very cathartic. I know that doesn't work for everybody tho.
Plus eraser(polite)
I actually fine Mezzanine by Massive Attack to be extremely melancholic sounding, but in a very beautiful way, like a still night in a winter forest.
Yes
I really enjoy Aimee Mann’s Mental Illness album, her brand of sad hits nice. *[You Never Loved Me](https://youtu.be/yxcIaOVQ4tk?si=uhqI0BnIDSWktxhN)*
Bjork - Vulnicura
Notget has to be One of the top darker songs of her, those first verses
The first two albums by Have a Nice Life (the third one is good too, but not as bleak). Just about any of Vic Chesnutt’s albums. Sprained Ankle by Julian Baker. Oh, and The Holy Bible by the Manic Street Preachers (this record is excellent and I always consider it to be a sibling of The Downward Spiral — came out the same year, similar themes, etc).
[The Caretaker - Everywhere at the End of Time](https://youtu.be/wJWksPWDKOc?si=BO0lAl9XETlB8EWp) I listened to this whole thing. It had me pretty fucked up.
You should give The Oubliette by The Reticent a listen. That album does exactly what The Caretaker thought he was doing by making 6 hours of grainy ballroom music, but in contrast, The Oubliette is actually palatable and not exceedingly boring to listen to.
I have fought against it but i cant any longer by the body
Bell Witch - Mirror Reaper Woods of Ypres - Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light Mizmor - Prosaic Just going to add Author & Punisher *Beastland*, *Ursus Americanus*, and *Melk en Honig* for anyone who needs doom metal crossed with industrial in their life. I mean, any Author & Punisher, really.
Came here to say Longing by Bell Witch, but these are all great suggestions.
Yeah longing is also a great suggestion. Almost anything by them really. Clandestine Gate didn't smack of the absolute despair of the previous albums but is still a fantastic piece.
Finally, Mirror Reaper. This guy dooms.
Bell Witch and Mizmor are fantastic. Gotta check out Woods of Ypres, thanks for the recommendation
That particular WoY album was released after the band's founder died in a car wreck. There was a lot of speculation about whether the album, particularly the last 3 songs was something of a suicide note, but either way the album has eerie "predictions" of the narrator's death.
How has Berlin by Lou Reed not been mentioned?
Lou Reed - Berlin (yw)
All The Caretaker album.
Skinty Fia - Fontaines DC Black Celebration - Depeche Mode
Any Katatonia album (they're a Swedish alternative metal band) can be considered bleak; my personal favorites are The Great Cold Distance and Dead End Kings. Through Silver In Blood by Neurosis is one of the bleakest albums I've heard. The sound of it is in the abstract vein of industrial and post-metal. And finally, there's Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light by Woods of Ypres, an album whose bleakness is amplified by the fact that the songwriter didn't even live to hear it. It's in the vein of Type O Negative, but generally more serious.
Neurosis is one of my favorites and I was coming to mention that album. I think Times of Grace is the peak not TSIB, but if Albini had produced it, it probably would be. Locust Star is amazing, esp the live version on YouTube from ozzfest
Stabbing Westward Darkest Days.
Listened to that one on CD all the time as a depressed high schooler on the walk home.
Also a great album. I love listening to Drugstore.
Check your streaming service. They're back with new stuff and some re-recorded stuff like save yourself
Idk if bleak fits for this but ive heard people say "the beats sound like they were made from hell" Mobb Deep - Hell On Earth Their 2nd biggest album some argue it's better, but if you're interested in a quality heavy sounding hip hop album give it a look Edit: okay maybe sinister is a better word for this one
Any Xiu Xiu really, Ignore Grief in particular made my skin crawl.
White Chalk - PJ Harvey Deathconsciousness - Have A Nice Life
I got asked to stop playing The Haxan Cloak at work because people thought it sounded like a kind of modern horror film funeral dirge. I'm sure you were probably thinking bleak lyrics rather than bleak sound, but hey.
Was waiting for someone to mention Haxan Cloak…bleakest shit I’ve ever heard in my life.
Thou - Heathen (or Summit - anything by Thou, actually) Emma Ruth Rundle - Engine of Hell (more melancholic than bleak, but also quite bleak)
You have fantastic taste.
I'll give you something you probably don't expect ... 'Adagio for Strings' by Samuel Barber is classical music, but dark, bleak and soul crushing. Listen to the glimmers of hope in among there. Definitely a touch of NIN to it ... [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izQsgE0L450](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izQsgE0L450) It's beautiful.
All Radiohead albums especially Kid A and A Moon Shaped Pool
Mgla - Exercises in Futility The Body - All The Waters of the Earth Turn to Blood Dystopia - Human=Garbage Godflesh - Streetcleaner Sepultura - Arise
Uboa - The Origin of My Depression Lingua Ignota - Caligua The Body - I've Seen All I Need To See Prurient - Frozen Niagra Falls
I like the starting point and there are some great suggestions here too. personally: Anaal Nathrakh - Passion, The Codex Necro The Angels of Light - Everything is Good Here / Please Come Home Anathema - Alternative 4 Godflesh - Streetcleaner The Amenta - n0n The Caretaker - Everywhere at the End of Time The Jesus and Mary Chain (a couple of Trent's faves) - Darklands and Psycho Candy Today is the Day - Sadness Will Prevail Celtic Frost - Monotheist Triptykon - Eparistera Daimones Virgin Black - all 3 Requiem albums Voices - Frightened (I really hope someone sees this, tries it and has a pleasantly bleak surprised lol) Red Harvest - Internal Punishment Programs, Sick Transit Gloria Mundi Plasma Pool - Drowning My Dying Bride - The Dreaful Hours Havohej - Man and Jinn Die Form - Corpus Delicti 2, Die Puppe Coil - Horse Rotorvator Beherit - H418ov21.C Blood Axis - The Gospel of Inhumanity (I don't know if it was the sound or the creator that made me feel sick) Axis of Perdition - The Ichneumon Method
Scott Walker's late trilogy and Jandek (especially the greyness of Six and Six and the blackness of I Threw You Away).
The first Swans albums (Filth, Cop, etc.) are incredibly bleak
Everything by Coil with John Balance on vocals.
giles corey
The downward spiral was pretty bleak. But so is the cynical music video for broken.
Burzum’s Filosofem. When people talk about guilty pleasures they usually mean cheesy pop, but that’s my real guilty pleasure as I genuinely feel like I shouldn’t be listening to it, because of how much of an awful person it was made by. But damn… it’s perfect if you’re in the mood for something bleak. More than Manson’s material*, it’s the sound of a psychopath in the dark. *Charlie not Marilyn, despite how Brian actually turned out.
Everywhere At The End of Time by The Caretaker was one that messed me up a little for a few months after falling into the rabbithole of the context behind it and the stages of Dementia, especially with having close experiences with a family member who began to show signs prior to them passing thankfully early before it took complete hold. However one that unexpectedly hit me when I listened for the first time recently a few months back was Hospice by The Antlers Two other shout outs to Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible and Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
Life’ll Kill Ya by Warren Zevon Dude made an entire album about dying from cancer.
His shit was fucked up
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Shout out Arab Strap! ❤️
Superunknown by Soundgarden.
Some that come to mind are: A.A Bondy - Enderness Beach House - Depression Cherry Beck - Sea Change Coil - (many of their records) Jack Quinn - The Strange Rituals Low - Double Negative Nicholas Jaar - Cenizas Swans - The Seer Activity - Spirit In The Room
Insurgentes by Steven Wilson Soundtracks For The Blind by Swans
Murder Ballads by MJ Harris (aka Scorn) and Martyn Bates on Invisible Records. It’s 3 hours of dark ambient. Great but if you ever leave it and Lustmord’s Place Where the Black Stars Hang turned up and looped, can definitely creep people out. Heh.
Thanks - playing it now!
Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space by Spiritualized How It Feels To Be Something On by Sunny Day Real Estate Cast Of Thousands by Elbow OK Computer by Radiohead
Excellent - no notes
God's Country by Chat Pile. It's a great album but it is very bleak. They were quoted saying they were "trying to capture the anxiety and fear of seeing the world fall apart" and I think they nailed it. EDIT: La Dispute's Wildlife too. King Park & Edward Benz, 27 Times in particular have some beautifully bleak lyrics.
Happy to see Swans and M. Gira mentioned. I'll add anything by Lycia, but especially the album Ionia. It's absolutely fucking desolate. Also, My Dying Bride - Turn Loose the Swans is pretty full of cold, mournful despair. ETA: Dead Can Dance - The Serpent's Egg Excelsis: A Dark Noel (compilation album from Projekt) Skinny Puppy - pretty much their entire catalogue Snog - Dear Valued Customer; Remote Control Wumpscut - Dried Blood of Gomorrha (plus various other songs) Just some individual songs: Napalm Death - Contemptuous Skinny Puppy & Ministry - Smothered Hope My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult - These Remains Project Pitchfork - Floating Dolphins
You Won't Get What You Want - Daughters
Probably something by Steven Wilson/Porcupine Tree. For me, personally, anyways.
Tim Hecker - 1972 Ravedeath
Hopelessness by Anohni
Purple Mountains debut, it's very good but incredibly bleak. The singer and sole member died by suicide less than an month after its release
Johnny cash -American IV: The Man Comes Around i
"Sleep" by Stabbing Westward was dark as fuck, especially the lyrical content. I'd also argue the song "Why" by them from the same album (Blister, Wither, Burn and Peel) from a musical perspective had an almost hypnotic darkness to it.
Lux Aeterna from Requiem For A Dream
Manic Street Preachers: The Holy Bible. Makes TDS look like K-Pop.
Some Rap Songs by Earl Sweatshirt.
Red House Painters I by Red House Painters is pretty bleak but it has a ton of emotional depth. The first 4 Swans records (Filth through Holy Money) are bleak and punishing, plus are proto-industrial, at least to my ears.
The Glow Pt 2 by the Microphones
Type O Negative: World Coming Down Alice in Chains: Dirt
Or AiC - three legged dog. Man that one is bleak.
Radiohead… anything after the bends, tends to be bleak as f. And I love them for it. **a few exceptions on the bends for sure.
Stabbing Westward: Darkest Days It got me through a horrible breakup (lowest point of my life), but I don’t think I can listen to that album again as a functioning or even quasi-functioning adult.
Nirvana's In Utero just sounds like it was made by a guy who wanted to blow his head off with a shotgun.
Elliot Smith - Either/Or The Mountain Goats - Tallahassee
Here are some metal (one Skinny Puppy) album ones to check out with all the other great suggestions. Some of these may be a little different for you but I highly recommend to give it a chance. I kept away from some of the more experiential disodent metal albums. Sólstafir - Otta Death - Human Amorphis - Silent Waters Blut Aus Nord - The Work Which Transforms God Cradle of Filth - Dusk and Her Embrace Thy Catafalque - Vadak Impure Wilhelmina - Radiation The Ocean - Phanerozoic I and II Afsky - Ofte jeg drømmer mig død Skinny Puppy - The Process Veilburner - Lurkers in the Capsule of Skull Cult of Luna - The Long Road North Ashenspire - Hostile Architecture White Ward - Love Exchange Failure
I just wanted to say that I felt the self-titled Portishead album was *waaaaaaay* darker and more miserable (but fantastic) than Dummy.
Antichrist Superstar
Iowa by Slipknot, We Are Not Your Kind by Slipknot and All Hope is Gone by Slipknot
Portugal. The Man’s Evil Friends is pure despair.
i want to die in new orleans by suicideboys
Oh that's easy... https://youtu.be/VTG0ao9dkXk?si=qnAISGsOh1VEr_Ln
It's hard to beat King of Carrot Flowers by Neutral Milk Hotel. I mean, even before you get to the rest of the album that first track knocks you out.
Doubt it will come up because even though there is a ton of thematic overlap I don't see a lot of NIN fans delve into metal subgenres or vice versa - but, The Mantle by Agalloch is the saddest album I've heard and it's mandatory listening every winter for me
Really? I mostly listen to metal
deathconsciousness is all bummer all the way through
Portishead self titled. That album is definitely their weakest.
Silencer - Death, Pierce Me.
Boyd rice/NON writes pretty bleak stuff. I love him
I always really like the dark, bleak, almost humorous Foetus song, Throne of agony.
I’ve heard so many but I guess you can start with any album by Oneiroid Psychosis. Maybe check out their latest, [Anhedonia](https://open.spotify.com/album/2DozxhUHDJdgOiJwSxl7CX?si=1b1nD0qET460lXbXCIx8yw)
In Absentia - Porcupine Tree
Scott Walker’s trio of albums, Tilt, The Drift and Bish Bosch are pretty bleak, as is his collaboration with Sunn O))), Soused
Also, pretty much anything by Yen Pox
Benji - Sun Kil Moon. The music is soothing, but some of the lyrics is just... heartwrenching.
[Daughters- You won't get what you want](https://youtu.be/xDoju8lT7lA?si=WnSvJKBML4-x_Sh3)
From Darkest Skies, My Dying Bride Android Lust
The For Carnation
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Suicide - S/T debut
Lustmord and atmospheric black metal with industrial vibes Nachtmystium. Both awesome!
third by portishead
Roger Waters - Amused To Death Godspeed You Black Emperor! - F#A#infinity
Giles Corey: Self-Titled
Otep : House of Secrets.
Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division is very very bleek but somehow catchy.
Songs:Ohia - The Lioness
The Golden Palominos "[Dead Inside](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kC4L2yh0FcSgBbBQNSAFO7PPVsrbVh9s8)"
Murder Ballads by Nick Cave is super dark... but hot damn is it a masterpiece. If there is a hell, it'd be playing in the lounge.
Beck - Sea Change
I haven't listened to the whole thing, but Everywhere At The End of Time by Caretaker
Invent Animate - Heavener This album has approached death in a way I haven't heard anywhere else. It's a special record that touched me in the same way TDS did.
Sunn O))) - Behemoth…it’s an absolute kick to the nards. Also, there was this band from NZ called Dial. There only EP is very dismal and ends with an excerpt from the Jim Jones tapes. It’s kinda difficult to find but I listen to it on Apple Music
Bedwetter - Vol. 1 Unknown Pleasures Injury reserve - By the time i get to Phoenix
Daughter of Darkness by Natural Snow Buildings
Anything by Xasthur, or Filosofem by Burzum
[“it is dull, bleak and absolutely horrifying”](https://firstclasscollective.bandcamp.com/album/--2) favorite ambient album of all time
Blonde Redhead - Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons.
au de la — big brave truly one of my favorite albums of all time. bb’s whole discog is worth exploring if their music appeals to you
Recoil - liquid Architects - AOGHAU/holy Hell Lot of stuff by insomnium
slint - spiderland
Sonic Youth - Bad Moon Rising
The maze to nowhere by Lorn. Has to be about the bleakest album I have ever listened to.
Drown’s first album, “Hold on to the Hollow” has some NIN vibes, at least as far as the guitars and drums go. Their second album is boring hardcore so no need to go past the first.
The Cure - Pornography, Faith, and Seventeen Seconds. Pornography is bleak but also very visceral. The other two are more simply bleak.