What Makes Music Truly Terrifying?
Is it shrieking violins, cursed lyrics, or bone-chilling atmospheres? NextMinuteNews asked goth, metal, and experimental artists to name the songs that haunt their nightmares—tracks so unsettling, nuns once blamed them for demonic possession.
The Soundtrack to Exorcisms & Cosmic Horror
Atilla Csihar (Mayhem, Sunn O)))) recalls Ligeti’s Requiem—the choral piece from The Shining—as “hell’s own liturgy.” Meanwhile, Dani Filth (Cradle of Filth) cites Penderecki’s Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima: “It’s a nuclear blast translated into strings.”
But the wildest story comes from Jarboe (Swans): “When nuns heard Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells [The Exorcist theme], they accused students of possession. That’s the power of sound.”
Goth’s Ghostliest Anthems
Siouxsie Sioux calls This Mortal Coil’s Song to the Siren “a siren’s drowning lullaby,” while Peter Murphy (Bauhaus) labels Nazi-era Das Lied der Deutschen “music weaponized.”
The late Rozz Williams (Christian Death) feared The Velvet Underground’s The Black Angel’s Death Song: “That violin scrapes like coffin wood.”
Metal’s Most Cursed Riffs
Gaahl (ex-Gorgoroth) picks Burzum’s Sønans Døtre as “isolation’s soundtrack.” Greg Puciato (Dillinger Escape Plan) shudders at Corrosion of Conformity’s Dance of the Dead: “It awakens something ancient.”
Attila Csihar doubles down: The Legendary Pink Dots’ Paralyzed is “an audio exorcism.”
Why We Crave Sonic Horror
Psychologist Dr. Ananya Roy explains: “Scary music lets us confront primal fears—safely.” For dark music fans, these tracks transcend fear, offering glimpses into the unknowable.
Dare to listen? These songs might follow you home.
