Grief - Come to Grief Dystopia - Human = Garbage Eyehategod - In the Name of Suffering Saint Vitus - Born Too Late Hangman's Chair - (A Lament for...) The Addicts Warning - Watching from a Distance Pallbearer - Sorrow and Extinction Teeth of Lions Rule the Divine - Rampton Mournful Congregation - The June Frost Funeral - Tragedies Evoken - Embrace the Emptiness Forgotten Tomb - Songs to Leave Life of Agony - River Runs Red Giles Corey - Giles Corey Low - I Could Live in Hope
Woods of Ypres' Woods 5: Gray Skies and Electric Lights. Super deep lyrics about being alone and having a cynical look at life. And when you realize their lesd singer David Gould would die in a car accident before the album was released, its almost like he was predicting his own death with the final songs
I always feel like this band should be talked about way more. David's lyrics are unlike anything I have heard elsewhere. While they are far from perfect and at times even seem a bit clumsy, they are so deeply personal and touching it almost feels like I'm listening to an old friend sharing his worldview and desperate feelings.
As someone who is forever alone and depressed with a completely ruined life, nothing will ever compare to happy pop love songs, not even kidding. Music that is intentionally depressing is actually comforting, but songs about people being happy and living normal lives is unbearable when you get to this point mentally.
I still think one of the most depressing albums I've heard was Flick Your Tongue Against Your Teeth And Describe The Present by Bedwetter (Lil Ugly Mane). It's still such a blunt gut-punch of raw emotion from dealing with alcohol addiction to pure and utter apathy of the self and others around you, mixed in with very dreary instrumental beats. Based off your inclusion of Earl Sweatshirt in the first video I really highly recommend it as well as the rest of Ugly Manes discography. Honestly his newest album Volcanic Bird Enemy could fit on one of these videos as well
The album 遺。白 by the band Dismal. It's a depressive black metal band from Hong Kong. It's not as harsh as most dsbm, it's more melodic and has a warm guitar tone, conveying feelings of sadness and pity rather than misery and misanthropy. Vocals are very similar to Gris. I find it to be a very soothing album, while still being utterly depressing. "Elixir of Sorrow" by Lunar Aurora. They're not a dsbm band, but they play black metal with lots keyboards that sound very mystical and mysterious. This is their most depressive album in my opinion, it starts with a genuinely eerie intro with the sounds of a man shooting himself, and then overwhelms you with darkness and hopelessness. Their other albums aren't dsbm but are equally as good, so check them out.
Loving that Anathema album in the background! I mentioned it before and I'll mention it here again that Weighing Souls With Sand by The Angelic Process needs a mention. With both members of the group now having passed, the album sounds more dark and sad now than ever before. Member K. Angylus committed suicide shortly after the albums release and after injuring his hand which left him unable to play and write music henceforth. His bandmate and wife died earlier this year for reasons still unknown. Needless to say she was very young and given what she's been through, one can expect the worst.
That pains me to hear, I didn't know that she had also passed. An absolute tragedy. The Angelic Process was something exceptional, their music hits in a way I can't really find anywhere else.
As a “stereotypically” “tough” metalhead. I can’t help but shed a tear or 2 every time I hear “a desolation song” by Agalloch. For whatever reason for me personally it’s always been the most depressing song I’ve ever heard and a journey every time I listen to the song because throughout the song I’m reminded of the pain of all the worst things in my life wether it be a family member who’s passed or a girlfriend who’s left me, or any other dark period, yet by the end of the song has restored hope. For me that song is truly one of the most powerful pieces of music I’ve ever listened to. And I can relate to the lyrics so much which I guess also helps with the depressing atmosphere of the song and it just is filled with nostalgia that I feel too when I listen to it like things I wish I could relive things I wish do and don’t happen, and the like. And then I guess the next 3 would have to be “snuff” by slipknot. “Kin” by whitechapel and “acheive-moi” by Vilsen.
This, this is the most depressing song I’ve ever heard. It has always haunted me and I cannot listen to it unless I’m in the right headspace. The Mantle is my favorite album of all time. So much respect for you mentioning this gem.
“The Ape of Naples” is a masterpiece and very depressing, but you know what’s even more depressing? “…And the Ambulance Died In His Arms”. It was (I believe) the last live album Jhohn Balance was ever involved in, and the performances found in it are very emotionally charged.
This album is in my top 5 of all time, it has saved my life multiple times. never have a had something personify my depression so vividly. it gave me the power to go deeper into my sadness to come out the other side. I've had the pleasure of telling wrest these things as well and he was very receptive to them as well. he is a wonderful and kind person.
It's more of a personal depression honestly but these are the albums that particularly touched me: Waltenasche (Karg), tallahassee (the mountain goats), Brave Murder Day (Katatonia) and To Mourn Is a Virtue (Funeral)
Beware of my super basic picks, I just enjoyed the video and felt inclined to participate. The Cure's Pornography comes to mind with it's nihilistic lyrics and more subtle, eerie moments such as Siamese Twins and the title track. Tempted to throw Converge's You Fail Me here too as it feels like a total rut. The new Swans album, The Beggar, hit me emotionally quite a few times, having strong themes of old age and coming to terms with ones mortality. Not the first Swans album I'd recommend to people, though. I'm digging my grave and proving to be a normie with this, but The Antlers Hospice, though I'm not crazy about it, the ending track hit me hard, similar feelings to A Crow Looked At Me, although a smidge less visceral as it's story is somewhat non-literal, regardless the ending track felt "too real." Didn't mention because you already did but my top 2 most depressing are A Crow Looked At Me and Giles Corey for sure.
if you like none i would argue their predecessor coldworld with their debut album melancholie² are even better and more beautiful. maybe not more depressing though
Daylight Dies - An heir to Emptiness is the number 1 most depressing song to me personally. It's probably a relic of past depression and how I would use music while lifting heavy as a sort self medication. But I can't listen to the song outside of a heavy PR attempt without tearing up. The guitar interlude half way through until the final verse just hits me different, in a way that only melodic doom death metal can hit
Really glad to see someone mention Daylight Dies, so underrated in my opinion. They capture a mood that no other band ever has for me, it's just crushing. One of very few bands who never put out a bad song.
If I had to give my own suggestions, Hospice by Antlers is just a crushing album. Incredibly sad concept album about a hospice worker who falls in love with a terminally-ill cancer patient who he knows is going to die. The instrumentation and vocal delivery is a heartbreaker. S/T by Giles Corey is another one that just assaults you with emotions. Angry, hopeless, calling out for any kind of human kindness. Honorable mention goes to Townes Van Zandt's S/T album. Townes' music is some of the most emotional and sad folk music you'll ever hear and his influence even stretched to metal bands like Neurosis and Saint Vitus.
"Dance of December souls" album, released at 1993 by Katatonia, a Swedish doom/black metal band must be given high regard as one of the most melancholic metal journey, hope you listen to that particular one and mention them in your future videos.
I love your channel, Wyatt man. I've been trying to get into metal because every friend I make who likes metal, everything just goes over my head and I've always dodged the genre.
Personally I don't find stereotypical "depressing" music to be depressing. Even when done well I hear the artistic attempt to create such vibes which brings me enjoyment, not depression. I think depressive music also brings joy in confirming my pessimistic views. There also seems to be an element of melodrama that makes it seem exaggerated. Music I find depressing is music about life. Emotional music that celebrates living that was made for the intention of being uplifting. Devin Townsends song "Life" is a much more depressing song to me than any examples in this video.
Coil one is a great pick. As far as DSBM goes, as someone that went through very very difficult 5 years of basically isolation and depression and anxiety i could not get into it because it never felt personal it never felt genuine it felt fabricated and i don't know if it is production or maybe it is just music itself that doesn't make me feel like they understand it but i will check these ones most definitely. My recommendation would be Through Silver in Blood by Neurosis which certainly isn't some underground record but they made record that represents violent grief, sorrow and depression, pushed to its limit and extreme (as far as vision and imagery goes) something truly apocalyptic, end of everything.
All good picks. Just a couple more I’ll throw out for me: Radiohead - Kid A: it’s a cliche pick, but this album is so unfriendly and lonely feeling. The band crafted some absolutely desolate and surreal soundscapes on this one. Mastiff - Plague: a somewhat obscure UK sludge-core record that is as depressing as it is crushing. The final song is about the vocalist losing his son- really tough to listen to. None - Damp Chill of Life: certified deep winter classic. Always leaves me feeling worse than before. Brand New - The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me: a rock record that shouldn’t be super depressing on the surface, but always manages to put me in the worst mood. Maybe it’s how personal (and unsettling given the allegations) the lyrics are or how despondent and melancholic the music gets at points, but this album has some very bad vibes to it. Gaza - I Don’t Care Where I Go When I Die // No Absolutes In Human Suffering: just fucking miserable sludge metal and mathcore. The former album is like a far more misanthropic version of Converge’s Jane Doe, and the latter is just stone-cold, antisocial, pissed off shit.
The Devil And God is one of my favourite albums ever made, some of the best writing from a lyrical standpoint that is brutally honest about the flaws of oneself
Yes Gaza definitely, I commented about them on the last one along with Grief. Absolutely negative, hopeless and sickening shit which I loved and obviously they evolved into Cult Leader now who are equally good. I like Mastiff as well and agree Plagues is a heavy listen and "Leave Me the Ashes of the Earth" is also crushing.
Me and Him Call it Us "Loss" is a frenetic, itching and bipolar feeling mathcore album, with moments of complete and hopeless darkness. I think it has crazier (as in clinical) atmosphere than Gaza
For those of you missing the vocals of Gris, one of the vocalists from that band recently came out with an album with a member from another French Canadian black metal band under the side project Miserere Luminis. If memory serves me correctly, it’s their first album in like 17 years, I think? It’s one of the best atmospheric black metal albums I’ve heard this year.
@@denverairport3996 no problem. I was thinking about them when Wyatt was talking about Gris, so I had to bring the album up. It’s a really beautiful and fantastic record!
I think the saddest song I’ve ever heard is Her from the DSBM artist Sadness. It has zero lyrics and zero vocals. Just a sad piano before breaking out into guitar with the same notes as the piano before and drums that sound like they are being hit in pure anger. It’s the perfect way to describe a heartbreaking break up that you don’t get over for years or even life and the perfect way to describe losing your partner in death. A comment on the songs TH-cam upload says that there was no lyrics or vocals because no lyric could possibly explain the pain of a break up or death of a significant other.
Damn Still no funeral doom mentions. I find it to be the most depressing music created! My list remains the same for the most part however I removed the ones you mentioned in this video and added a couple more I thought of! Enjoy! Mournful Congregation - The Book of Kings and The June Frost (really any album of theirs) Worship - Last tape before doomsday Black Sheep Wall - Im Going To Kill Myself Glassjaw - Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence Mizmor - Yodh Loss - Horizonless Senthil - Septisemesis Woods Of Ypres - Woods 5: Grey Skies and Electric Light Andavald - Undir skyggðarhaldi Bell Witch - Longing and Mirror Reaper obviously Arizmenda - Within The Vacuum of Infinity Lingua Ignota - Sinner get Ready Kodan Armada - Self titled
Have a Nice Life - The Unnatural World The Caretaker - Everywhere At the End of Time Joy Division - most of their discography Off With Their Heads - From the Bottom Pianos Become the Teeth - Lack Long After
Departure Songs by We Lost The Sea is another very depressing post rock album to me. Every song is about a real story where one person gave their life for another.
I really like this concept of the audience weighing in and you making a follow up based on it. Another album that came to mind is Desertshore by Nico. It's absolutely beautiful but something about it just feels like pure death, like a sermon before the end of days.
I would say "Dismal" by Grief really takes the top spot for me. Out of all their albums this is the one in particular that feels absolutely dreadful and bleak and depressing. Very crushing Sludge Album
Shape Of Despair - Shades Of... (album absolutely crushes me everytime i hear it, one of those albums that needs to be listened to alone in a dark room with the volume cranked to 11) Coldworld - Melancholie Katatonia - Discouraged ones Katatonia - Brave murder day
I do really like DSBM as a genre even tho I agree with a lot of your problems with it, but I would like to draw attention to 2 I think kinda breaks the mold, that being none, for the more experimental and interesting soundscapes to segments where he will down right start sulking or crying (something I would expect in more dsbm but apparently most of it is just monotone screaming?). And an obscure project by Kjiel who makes a lot of BM projects called Angor Animi. for electronic music LORN is deffo one of my favs, idk what that man has done or been through but the sheer amount of bleakness that oozes out of his music is incredibly infectious, my fav album being the collection of 3 EPs called "the maze to nowhere", it feels equally bleak, depressing but very very oppressive at the same time, like a monster slowly forming behind you to tear your world apart
I’d add several albums: Deftones - S/T is pretty emotionally heavy dealing with addiction and withdrawal, how world is bleak without addiction Wreck and Reference - Want Very poetic album, I’d say Kafkaesque . Also doubles as one of the weirdest albums. Deafheaven - Sunbather Suppressed anger, dissatisfaction with life, a bit of melancholy and a bit of BDSM. The Body - No one deserves happiness Something about dsbm shrieks over weird pop-sludge-noise draws me back to this album All these albums were my go to’s during darkest periods of my life and resonated with me back then.
The one album right off the bat that makes me cry everytime I listen to us "a crow looked at me" by mt eerie. It's about how the singers wife died of cancer. It's so incredibly sad. The part that makes me break down without fail is when he talks about receiving a package in the mail and it's a backpack for their infant daughter after the wife died. He says that she always thought of the daughters future even though she knew she wouldn't be in it. Heartbreaking. Obvious mentions besides that would be songs of love and hate by leonard cohen and giles corey s/t. I don't know of any metal albums that hit the same
Finally, I get to propose a new video idea that you have been showing no signs of openly anticipating for the past decade; an iceberg of heavy metal record labels. Roadrunner, Relapse, Nuclear Blast, Metal Blade, Sumerian, Century Media, Unique Leader, New Standard Elite, Profound Lore, Osmose, and many others are what comes to mind.
cant believe there is none of these albums blow in both lists : coldwrld - Melancholie² Psychonaut 4 - Dipsomania Dreariness - my mind is too weak to forget
I guess it would be nice one "the most relaxing and atmospheric albums", by the way i really liked this type of video, I've discovered a couple of great albums, thanks Wyatt
to name a few recent releases that I think are worth listening to: The Beggar - Swans To Be Cruel - Khanate Corrosion Of Hearts - Austere Om Hundrede Ar - Afsky
As for the theme and vibe for Lurker of Chalice, while there are mostly no lyrics published, Jef Whitehead has stated that his late girlfriend Jesse was a muse for the project. She killed herself in 2006 due to the pain from brain cancer, however I'm not sure if she whether or not it was known that she had cancer when the material was composed. Either way, I think the inspiration from Jesse goes beyond that tragic event. When considering the masculine and feminine energies of the universe in the occult sense, Leviathan would be the more masculine project with it being more actively destructive and hateful in comparison, whereas Lurker of Chalice would be more feminine with it conveying the emptiness of the void. I saw Jef Whitehead pretty much confirm this in the comment section of an LOC video (I'm convinced it's actually him due to his playlists matching his very specific music tastes). I know my source on this is basically 'trust me bro' but I thought it was worth mentioning.
I mentioned Weighing souls with sand on the first video and now I have a second one being the only album from Dismal (a band from Hong Kong), it’s depressive black metal but this album hits different to me, the screaming sounds so sorrowful, the instrumental part are beautifully melancholic and the more calm moments really contrast with the terrifying screaming
This topic could definitely use some love for The Reticent. His entire discography is pretty dreary, but the progressive death metal approach is a welcome departure from the usual funeral doom and DSBM. I’d especially like to mention his last two albums 2016’s On The Eve Of A Goodbye and 2020’s The Oubliette. Eve was the album he wrote to help deal with the witnesses suicide of a dear friend while Oubliette concerns the stages of someone going through Alzheimer’s and the effects of the mind, body, and family of the sufferer. Very heady stuff and presented in a genuine manner.
Next you should do most brutal maybe not of all time cus it will all be noise but more like different genres so like rap, punk, electronic, metal and noise. i think that will be a banger video
They may seem a little mainstream and dated for you guys, but Lou Reed's "Berlin" and Pink Floyd's "The Final Cut" are emotional beatings that you never forget. They just grab you and drag you across the room nonstop, but you can't stop loving what you're hearing.
I totally forgot to mention Skeleton Tree in your previous video! Yeah that album is very depressing but it is also probably my favorite album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. (the only other one in contention would be Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus)
Diamanda Galas - Gloomy Sunday (the live version, black and white video) That absolutely takes me back to the hell of grief and addiction every time. NIN - Right Where It Belongs (also the live version from the dvd since the visuals add to it) Placebo - Running Up That Hill Nachtmystium - Assassin’s Part 1 Dead Can Dance - just in general no specific song John Kale - Venus In Furs Leonard Cohen - You Want It Darker Mark Lanegan - his entire fucking existence lmao There’s many many more but those always get me bumming hard
I forgot to comment on the last video but my personal addition to this list would be Shinsei Kamattechan - Tsumanne. A very raw, noisy, dive into loneliness, depression, and isolation told from the perspective of a NEET going through some serious shit. Shinsei Kamattechan's entire discography is filled with some very personal, depressing music but Tsumanne is not only hits the hardest in that regard, it also is my personal favourite album of all time because of how much i personally relate to it. Definitely worth a listen, translations of almost all of the band's output can be found online
This might be a more mainstream pick for most standards, but one of the most depressing albums I have heard is Hushed And Grim by Mastodon. That album got me through a lot of pain, and explores death, loss, anxiety, and feeling lost in life.
Great picks, Wyatt! I would also add the following albums to the list: Metal: Leviathan - Massive Conspiracy Against All Life Bethlehem - Dictius te Necare Esoteric - Maniacal Vale Malvery - Mortal Entrenchment in Requiem Endless Dismal Moan - Lord of Nightmare Wormphlegm - Tomb of the Ancient King Mutiilation - Remains of Ruined, Dead, Cursed Soul None - Damp Chill of Life Dryom - Dryom 2 Sterbend - Dwelling Lifeless Non-metal: Grazhdanskaya Oborona - the 1989 trilogy (Zdorovo i Vechno, Armageddon - Pops, Russkoe Pole Eksperimentov) Yanka Dyagileva - Anhedonia Akira Yamaoka - Silent Hill 2 OST
Would you ever want to make a video about what headphone or earbuds do you used to listen to your music when your out and can't listen to your vinyl player music?
Deathconciousness does it for me pretty much as does most of Death and Unter Null's albums, Hole's Live Through This and Soundgarden's Badmotorfinger aren't depressing but I listened to them a lot during a recent nervous breakdown I had so I can't really listen to them anymore because of that
I dont know why, but "Annorkoth - You're my only dream" always makes me cry my eyes out. It's so beautiful, yet so sad. It is not as hateful as other dsbm bands but I think there is something about the contrast of the instrumental and vocal part. One is beautiful while the other is filled with agony. I also like to imagine the whole song as a metaphor for life, sometimes the true beauty of the world can be seen only through the eyes that have endured most pain.
Wyatt, I don’t care much for dsbm for most of the reasons you talked about either but had never heard of Thy Light before. Really enjoyed them and love the album featured in the video. I think pieces like those can make dsbm music some of the most cathartic and beautifully harrowing. Have you got any videos detailing dsbm you like? Would you consider making one?
I tend to like the more depressive or crazy albums of Nick Cave. I don't remember if I've heard the whole Skeleton Tree album but I remember liking what I heard. I like that darker version of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. Their 80's albums are especially good and the most depressive in my opinion is Your Funeral, My Trial. The most memorable song from the album is the song Carny, which is about a weird, dark Circus. It has a powerful bounding rhythm and organ playing creepy circus music while Nick Cave is telling his dark story and sucks you into that world. I don't usually care much about lyrics, but Nick Cave's lyrics are rare exceptions. By the way, Johnny Cash made an incredible cover of Nick Cave's song Mercy Seat. It's on the American Recordings III album.
Surprised Mirror Reaper didn't make it to the list. Also, a very recent DSBM that rivals Lurker of Chalice: Andavald - Undir skyggðarhaldi. Easily my favorite album of the entire last decade, and the vocals and melodies are truly harrowing.
The most depressing album to me isn't a metal album but a folk one, "A Boy" by Doji Morita. You don't even need to understand the lyrics (which are about loss) to feel the pain behind her words, and the cello playing completely shocks you.
Canadian black metal band None the album life has gone on long enough or damp chill of life most definitely should be on this list considering you included thy light.
If I remember correctly Jeff’s muse for lurker of chalice had died and that’s why he won’t write anymore for lurker. Also stated that those were his darkest times he ever experienced while writing that album.
Anubi's demo "Mirties Metafora" isn't an album but is one of the most depressing-feeling black metal I've listened to. The whole style and atmosphere of how each song sounds is a very somber and desolate one, and the vocals add a lot to that feeling as well.
One of the first black metal records I listened to. It never came off as depressing to me but it was weirdly atmospheric in it's own way. I used to listen to this demo while I'm in my bed before sleeping, as well as Hypothermia's Gråtoner which is a dsbm adjacent record, also one of the first ones I've checked out.
@@JohnDoe-dg7vo Oh yeah one of my first black metal albums I've listened to was Hypothermia's Veins. It wasn't for me but maybe I'd like Gråtoner. Thanks for the insight!
I have 2 choices, #1 would mirror reaper by bell witch an album made after the death of the drummer Adrian, it really feels the most desolate in their discography and a good bye to Adrian. #2, black heart procession - 1, the album has just a rich and dark atmosphere using a saw and violin bow, I highly recommend this alternative rock band and their unique sound.
Listened to the Ape of Naples frequently over the 2020 pandemic. This album (as well as The Light Is Leaving Us All) always brings back these really obscure feelings from that period (mostly consisting of trying acid and playing Dark Souls). I really believe that album to be a masterpiece. They worked on it, reworked it, and after John Balance died, Sleazy gave what I suppose to be a finishing touch. Whatever it was he did to these songs made them perfect. Fire of the Mind, Amethyst Decievers, Tattooed Man, all of these songs are profound, spiritual, yet deeply tragic. They are like the tears of the cosmos yet sweet as nectar, enjoyed by an entity purely human. I love this album.
Carissa's Wierd - Songs About Leaving always comes to my mind first when I talk about SAD music dsbm is usually so catchy and comforting to listen so I don't really think it is depressive and\or suicidal in any way lol
Winter - into darkness The whole atmosphere is just so heavy and cruel. Remember - chuzpe Feels like theres not a glimpse of hope for nothing and noone and there never was
idk if anybody has brought this up in the comments yet but in the interview with jef whitehead he says his longtime girlfriend was the inspiration for LOC. she was diagnosed with brain cancer shortly after LOC came out and she ended up taking her own life.
Another installment to the "The most (x) albums (y) know" could be "The Most Insane/Viscious Albums (y) know". I'd honestly love to hear some of what you might know, I already know what mine is- an "experimental" solo project called 'Methwitch', and the album named "Indwell". Tells about a man summoning a Goetic demon and the portal he creates instead summons the demons hellspawn and they visciously torture and maim the guy while he tries to commit suicide in multiple different ways, instead reviving him to let him suffer even more. Though the album is a mixed bag, you can easily call it something like "Experimental Deathgrind", but honestly that doesn't even begin to explain how crazy the album is. It even borders noise in a couple songs as well, it's fucking crazy and I do recommend at least hearing "Burn Victim" and "Uninvited Guests".
First video where I've known most of the bands you discussed. Too bad it's a genre you dislike. Just ordered a test pressing of "The Ape of Naples." Can't wait.
Interesting fact regarding Nick Cave album is that almost all songs were written before his son death. I think actually all songs except one. But it doesn't make this particular album less depressive, even probably more interesting in that context - how true artist can predict things or feel that something bad is coming.
Blackstar (Bowie), You want it Darker (Leonard Cohen), and Purple Mountains (Purple Mountains) are all very good unhappy albums, not sure if they're necessarily depressing but they dont evoke a happy feeling.
The Old Dead Tree - The Nameless Disease. The whole album is about the suicide of their former drummer. The songs are very catchy but in this case it makes it way more depressing because the overall sound feels so desperate and the lyrics are so painfull straight to the point. Some of the Lyrics: "My brother, my old friend, It can not be the end Of your smiles when your face was shining with joy, Of these hours we spent, speaking about our great band" "But no one is prepared to live something like the suicide of a 21 years old Friend Who lived his life in pain and went before his end" "I can't find the words In front of your mother I know that I'm sad but I feel better than her I can't imagine the hell she's been living in since the day you've gone You, the younger son. Her feelings have felt in pieces and dissolve in her Veins"
For me if I want a depressing album, I go to ORPHAN - Porcelain, its not black metal or depressing black metal but its instead the most RAW Slam and Ballads you would hear. Made by two brothers, they completely abused themselfs recording it, one of them sounds like he is getting murdered and the other has growls that will make a Black Bear shit his pants. Once you read the lyrics (except for SBC because they didnt release them) its just a raw processing of death and the pain that it brings to people that you love. Truly a deep look at how much a death can break mentally a human.
Grief - Come to Grief
Dystopia - Human = Garbage
Eyehategod - In the Name of Suffering
Saint Vitus - Born Too Late
Hangman's Chair - (A Lament for...) The Addicts
Warning - Watching from a Distance
Pallbearer - Sorrow and Extinction
Teeth of Lions Rule the Divine - Rampton
Mournful Congregation - The June Frost
Funeral - Tragedies
Evoken - Embrace the Emptiness
Forgotten Tomb - Songs to Leave
Life of Agony - River Runs Red
Giles Corey - Giles Corey
Low - I Could Live in Hope
Gileeees coreyyyy, bloodiieeeeed and goryyyyy, we will redress your wouuuuunds
Yes! Mournful Congregation are the masters of depressive music. No one tops them!
totally agree on Saint Vitus. the lyrics are unquestionably depressing.
Woods of Ypres' Woods 5: Gray Skies and Electric Lights. Super deep lyrics about being alone and having a cynical look at life. And when you realize their lesd singer David Gould would die in a car accident before the album was released, its almost like he was predicting his own death with the final songs
I always feel like this band should be talked about way more. David's lyrics are unlike anything I have heard elsewhere. While they are far from perfect and at times even seem a bit clumsy, they are so deeply personal and touching it almost feels like I'm listening to an old friend sharing his worldview and desperate feelings.
I just discovered this album a month ago and am listening to it on repeat since then
That album absolutely destroys me you're right
Traveling alone just hits me different
Travelling alone 🤘
As someone who is forever alone and depressed with a completely ruined life, nothing will ever compare to happy pop love songs, not even kidding. Music that is intentionally depressing is actually comforting, but songs about people being happy and living normal lives is unbearable when you get to this point mentally.
Agreed!!
One thing I noticed as my mental health got worse lol... listening to pop music just becomes impossible
How are you doing now brother? i hope things have gotten better
I still think one of the most depressing albums I've heard was Flick Your Tongue Against Your Teeth And Describe The Present by Bedwetter (Lil Ugly Mane). It's still such a blunt gut-punch of raw emotion from dealing with alcohol addiction to pure and utter apathy of the self and others around you, mixed in with very dreary instrumental beats. Based off your inclusion of Earl Sweatshirt in the first video I really highly recommend it as well as the rest of Ugly Manes discography. Honestly his newest album Volcanic Bird Enemy could fit on one of these videos as well
I’ll add Katatonia’s Discourage Ones, probably the most depressing album from the band and very gloomy and sad
Agreed
Yeah! 🤩🤘
Everytime i feel like ending it all i listen to this album.. it makes me feel heard and understood
I CAME HERE TO SAY THAT
Dance of December Souls is sadder
The album 遺。白 by the band Dismal. It's a depressive black metal band from Hong Kong.
It's not as harsh as most dsbm, it's more melodic and has a warm guitar tone, conveying feelings of sadness and pity rather than misery and misanthropy. Vocals are very similar to Gris.
I find it to be a very soothing album, while still being utterly depressing.
"Elixir of Sorrow" by Lunar Aurora. They're not a dsbm band, but they play black metal with lots keyboards that sound very mystical and mysterious.
This is their most depressive album in my opinion, it starts with a genuinely eerie intro with the sounds of a man shooting himself, and then overwhelms you with darkness and hopelessness.
Their other albums aren't dsbm but are equally as good, so check them out.
Loving that Anathema album in the background! I mentioned it before and I'll mention it here again that Weighing Souls With Sand by The Angelic Process needs a mention. With both members of the group now having passed, the album sounds more dark and sad now than ever before. Member K. Angylus committed suicide shortly after the albums release and after injuring his hand which left him unable to play and write music henceforth. His bandmate and wife died earlier this year for reasons still unknown. Needless to say she was very young and given what she's been through, one can expect the worst.
That pains me to hear, I didn't know that she had also passed. An absolute tragedy. The Angelic Process was something exceptional, their music hits in a way I can't really find anywhere else.
As a “stereotypically” “tough” metalhead. I can’t help but shed a tear or 2 every time I hear “a desolation song” by Agalloch. For whatever reason for me personally it’s always been the most depressing song I’ve ever heard and a journey every time I listen to the song because throughout the song I’m reminded of the pain of all the worst things in my life wether it be a family member who’s passed or a girlfriend who’s left me, or any other dark period, yet by the end of the song has restored hope. For me that song is truly one of the most powerful pieces of music I’ve ever listened to. And I can relate to the lyrics so much which I guess also helps with the depressing atmosphere of the song and it just is filled with nostalgia that I feel too when I listen to it like things I wish I could relive things I wish do and don’t happen, and the like.
And then I guess the next 3 would have to be “snuff” by slipknot. “Kin” by whitechapel and “acheive-moi” by Vilsen.
This, this is the most depressing song I’ve ever heard. It has always haunted me and I cannot listen to it unless I’m in the right headspace. The Mantle is my favorite album of all time. So much respect for you mentioning this gem.
Agalloch is so positive for me so it's interesting to hear your perspective. The Mantle is a such a place and time for me.
I honestly don't find Agalloch depressing. The Mantle is a fantastic album to put on and relax to.
@@rupe82 I don’t in general, but Desolation Song specifically is one of the most depressing songs personally.
Don't start comments with 'As a'.. Only cunts do that!
katatonia - dance of december souls, uses deathdoom with hints of black metal to create a mournful atmosphere
“The Ape of Naples” is a masterpiece and very depressing, but you know what’s even more depressing? “…And the Ambulance Died In His Arms”. It was (I believe) the last live album Jhohn Balance was ever involved in, and the performances found in it are very emotionally charged.
It's good to see LoC getting some recognition. Absolutely brilliant album.
One of my favourites of all time 🖤
@@unknown.mp4 Same here, easily in my top 10.
This album is in my top 5 of all time, it has saved my life multiple times. never have a had something personify my depression so vividly. it gave me the power to go deeper into my sadness to come out the other side. I've had the pleasure of telling wrest these things as well and he was very receptive to them as well. he is a wonderful and kind person.
The saddest song for me personally has to be Nutshell by AIC. That song makes me reflect on my life every time. Beautiful shit man.
Love that song such a heartstring tugger. Best song about drug addiction ever made imo
It's more of a personal depression honestly but these are the albums that particularly touched me: Waltenasche (Karg), tallahassee (the mountain goats), Brave Murder Day (Katatonia) and To Mourn Is a Virtue (Funeral)
Glad to see you again. I love your content!
Beware of my super basic picks, I just enjoyed the video and felt inclined to participate.
The Cure's Pornography comes to mind with it's nihilistic lyrics and more subtle, eerie moments such as Siamese Twins and the title track.
Tempted to throw Converge's You Fail Me here too as it feels like a total rut.
The new Swans album, The Beggar, hit me emotionally quite a few times, having strong themes of old age and coming to terms with ones mortality. Not the first Swans album I'd recommend to people, though.
I'm digging my grave and proving to be a normie with this, but The Antlers Hospice, though I'm not crazy about it, the ending track hit me hard, similar feelings to A Crow Looked At Me, although a smidge less visceral as it's story is somewhat non-literal, regardless the ending track felt "too real."
Didn't mention because you already did but my top 2 most depressing are A Crow Looked At Me and Giles Corey for sure.
Glad you add some good Canadian DSBM I suggest you get Sombres Forêt and Miserere Luminis which is a collaboration between Gris and Sombres Forêt
Hey Wyatt, have a few albums to recommend for you that you might like:
Kanashimi - Inori
None - Damp Chill of Life
Heretoir - Self Titled
if you like none i would argue their predecessor coldworld with their debut album melancholie² are even better and more beautiful. maybe not more depressing though
Love the Heretoir cover of Austere's Just for a Moment.
none are so good man
Daylight Dies - An heir to Emptiness is the number 1 most depressing song to me personally. It's probably a relic of past depression and how I would use music while lifting heavy as a sort self medication. But I can't listen to the song outside of a heavy PR attempt without tearing up. The guitar interlude half way through until the final verse just hits me different, in a way that only melodic doom death metal can hit
Really glad to see someone mention Daylight Dies, so underrated in my opinion. They capture a mood that no other band ever has for me, it's just crushing. One of very few bands who never put out a bad song.
If I had to give my own suggestions, Hospice by Antlers is just a crushing album. Incredibly sad concept album about a hospice worker who falls in love with a terminally-ill cancer patient who he knows is going to die. The instrumentation and vocal delivery is a heartbreaker. S/T by Giles Corey is another one that just assaults you with emotions. Angry, hopeless, calling out for any kind of human kindness. Honorable mention goes to Townes Van Zandt's S/T album. Townes' music is some of the most emotional and sad folk music you'll ever hear and his influence even stretched to metal bands like Neurosis and Saint Vitus.
"Dance of December souls" album, released at 1993 by Katatonia, a Swedish doom/black metal band must be given high regard as one of the most melancholic metal journey, hope you listen to that particular one and mention them in your future videos.
This was one of my most listened albums last year and Katatonia no 1. I’ve been grieving and super depressed
I love your channel, Wyatt man. I've been trying to get into metal because every friend I make who likes metal, everything just goes over my head and I've always dodged the genre.
I honestly think swans new album “The Beggar” is pretty dark with its lyrical themes. It’s one of their best to date imo
Personally I don't find stereotypical "depressing" music to be depressing. Even when done well I hear the artistic attempt to create such vibes which brings me enjoyment, not depression. I think depressive music also brings joy in confirming my pessimistic views. There also seems to be an element of melodrama that makes it seem exaggerated.
Music I find depressing is music about life. Emotional music that celebrates living that was made for the intention of being uplifting. Devin Townsends song "Life" is a much more depressing song to me than any examples in this video.
mirror reaper by bell witch is the most accurate representation of loss through music
Loss - despondent is the winner for me by a massive margin
And WARNING - Watching from a distance... I believe its called
Coil one is a great pick. As far as DSBM goes, as someone that went through very very difficult 5 years of basically isolation and depression and anxiety i could not get into it because it never felt personal it never felt genuine it felt fabricated and i don't know if it is production or maybe it is just music itself that doesn't make me feel like they understand it but i will check these ones most definitely. My recommendation would be Through Silver in Blood by Neurosis which certainly isn't some underground record but they made record that represents violent grief, sorrow and depression, pushed to its limit and extreme (as far as vision and imagery goes) something truly apocalyptic, end of everything.
All good picks. Just a couple more I’ll throw out for me:
Radiohead - Kid A: it’s a cliche pick, but this album is so unfriendly and lonely feeling. The band crafted some absolutely desolate and surreal soundscapes on this one.
Mastiff - Plague: a somewhat obscure UK sludge-core record that is as depressing as it is crushing. The final song is about the vocalist losing his son- really tough to listen to.
None - Damp Chill of Life: certified deep winter classic. Always leaves me feeling worse than before.
Brand New - The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me: a rock record that shouldn’t be super depressing on the surface, but always manages to put me in the worst mood. Maybe it’s how personal (and unsettling given the allegations) the lyrics are or how despondent and melancholic the music gets at points, but this album has some very bad vibes to it.
Gaza - I Don’t Care Where I Go When I Die // No Absolutes In Human Suffering: just fucking miserable sludge metal and mathcore. The former album is like a far more misanthropic version of Converge’s Jane Doe, and the latter is just stone-cold, antisocial, pissed off shit.
The Devil And God is one of my favourite albums ever made, some of the best writing from a lyrical standpoint that is brutally honest about the flaws of oneself
Yes Gaza definitely, I commented about them on the last one along with Grief. Absolutely negative, hopeless and sickening shit which I loved and obviously they evolved into Cult Leader now who are equally good. I like Mastiff as well and agree Plagues is a heavy listen and "Leave Me the Ashes of the Earth" is also crushing.
"I don't care where I go when I die" is a fuckin masterpiece, probably the best mathcore of all time in my opinion
Love the Kid A mention. How to Disappear Completely is an incredibly sad sounding song.
Me and Him Call it Us "Loss" is a frenetic, itching and bipolar feeling mathcore album, with moments of complete and hopeless darkness. I think it has crazier (as in clinical) atmosphere than Gaza
Shining is always the band I reach when I feel like listening something really bleak
V and IV are my favorite
For those of you missing the vocals of Gris, one of the vocalists from that band recently came out with an album with a member from another French Canadian black metal band under the side project Miserere Luminis. If memory serves me correctly, it’s their first album in like 17 years, I think? It’s one of the best atmospheric black metal albums I’ve heard this year.
Dude thank you so much!
@@denverairport3996 no problem. I was thinking about them when Wyatt was talking about Gris, so I had to bring the album up. It’s a really beautiful and fantastic record!
I think the saddest song I’ve ever heard is Her from the DSBM artist Sadness. It has zero lyrics and zero vocals. Just a sad piano before breaking out into guitar with the same notes as the piano before and drums that sound like they are being hit in pure anger. It’s the perfect way to describe a heartbreaking break up that you don’t get over for years or even life and the perfect way to describe losing your partner in death. A comment on the songs TH-cam upload says that there was no lyrics or vocals because no lyric could possibly explain the pain of a break up or death of a significant other.
any project by Damián is amazing, you should listen to Life and Trhä, they're by the same guy, very different styles tho
9:10 “agonizing depressive pain” sounds like a dsbm band
The Angelic Process-Weighing Souls With Sand is also a depressing album.It's a mixture between doom metal,drone and shoegaze
Damn Still no funeral doom mentions. I find it to be the most depressing music created! My list remains the same for the most part however I removed the ones you mentioned in this video and added a couple more I thought of! Enjoy!
Mournful Congregation - The Book of Kings and The June Frost (really any album of theirs)
Worship - Last tape before doomsday
Black Sheep Wall - Im Going To Kill Myself
Glassjaw - Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence
Mizmor - Yodh
Loss - Horizonless
Senthil - Septisemesis
Woods Of Ypres - Woods 5: Grey Skies and Electric Light
Andavald - Undir skyggðarhaldi
Bell Witch - Longing and Mirror Reaper obviously
Arizmenda - Within The Vacuum of Infinity
Lingua Ignota - Sinner get Ready
Kodan Armada - Self titled
Lots of excellent albums in this list
extra points for mizmor,bell witch and lingua ignota also woods of ypres
I find Worship even more depressing knowing Mad Max later took his own life.
Totalselfhatred: Totalselfhatred, and Lifelover: Dekadens
I can't get enough of this format keep it up please :)
Joy Division- Closer considering it is centred around death and obviously the frontman killed himself before it was released.
Have a Nice Life - The Unnatural World
The Caretaker - Everywhere At the End of Time
Joy Division - most of their discography
Off With Their Heads - From the Bottom
Pianos Become the Teeth - Lack Long After
I'm late but;
King Midas Sound - Solitude
Uboa - The Origin of My Depression
Father2006 - White Death
Midwife - Luminol
Nate Scheible - Fairfax
That Uboa's album... Please don't leave me scares the shit out of me.
Uboa is something forsure
Awesome list. Nick Cave was really messed up on those days.
Departure Songs by We Lost The Sea is another very depressing post rock album to me. Every song is about a real story where
one person gave their life for another.
Love that album!
I really like this concept of the audience weighing in and you making a follow up based on it.
Another album that came to mind is Desertshore by Nico. It's absolutely beautiful but something about it just feels like pure death, like a sermon before the end of days.
Personally i think Lifelover - Konkurs is the most depressing album and my personal favourite in that genre.
I would say "Dismal" by Grief really takes the top spot for me. Out of all their albums this is the one in particular that feels absolutely dreadful and bleak and depressing. Very crushing Sludge Album
That's my vote. Grief is fucking real.
Shape Of Despair - Shades Of... (album absolutely crushes me everytime i hear it, one of those albums that needs to be listened to alone in a dark room with the volume cranked to 11)
Coldworld - Melancholie
Katatonia - Discouraged ones
Katatonia - Brave murder day
I do really like DSBM as a genre even tho I agree with a lot of your problems with it, but I would like to draw attention to 2 I think kinda breaks the mold, that being none, for the more experimental and interesting soundscapes to segments where he will down right start sulking or crying (something I would expect in more dsbm but apparently most of it is just monotone screaming?). And an obscure project by Kjiel who makes a lot of BM projects called Angor Animi.
for electronic music LORN is deffo one of my favs, idk what that man has done or been through but the sheer amount of bleakness that oozes out of his music is incredibly infectious, my fav album being the collection of 3 EPs called "the maze to nowhere", it feels equally bleak, depressing but very very oppressive at the same time, like a monster slowly forming behind you to tear your world apart
I’d add several albums:
Deftones - S/T is pretty emotionally heavy dealing with addiction and withdrawal, how world is bleak without addiction
Wreck and Reference - Want
Very poetic album, I’d say Kafkaesque . Also doubles as one of the weirdest albums.
Deafheaven - Sunbather
Suppressed anger, dissatisfaction with life, a bit of melancholy and a bit of BDSM.
The Body - No one deserves happiness
Something about dsbm shrieks over weird pop-sludge-noise draws me back to this album
All these albums were my go to’s during darkest periods of my life and resonated with me back then.
The one album right off the bat that makes me cry everytime I listen to us "a crow looked at me" by mt eerie. It's about how the singers wife died of cancer. It's so incredibly sad. The part that makes me break down without fail is when he talks about receiving a package in the mail and it's a backpack for their infant daughter after the wife died. He says that she always thought of the daughters future even though she knew she wouldn't be in it. Heartbreaking.
Obvious mentions besides that would be songs of love and hate by leonard cohen and giles corey s/t. I don't know of any metal albums that hit the same
Hi Wyatt, I would like to recommend the following:
Vàli - Forlatt
ColdWorld - Melancholie²
Uaral - Sounds Of Pain
Sortsind - Sår
Neil Young's "Tonight's The Night";
Robert Wyatt's "Rock Bottom";
Mark Lanegan's "Whiskey For The Holy Ghost". 🍻🍻
As ll of em. Especially Lanegan.
Bruce springsteen Nebraska... its quite a depressing album
Bruce springsteen Nebraska..... quite a depressing album
Finally, I get to propose a new video idea that you have been showing no signs of openly anticipating for the past decade; an iceberg of heavy metal record labels.
Roadrunner, Relapse, Nuclear Blast, Metal Blade, Sumerian, Century Media, Unique Leader, New Standard Elite, Profound Lore, Osmose, and many others are what comes to mind.
cant believe there is none of these albums blow in both lists :
coldwrld - Melancholie²
Psychonaut 4 - Dipsomania
Dreariness - my mind is too weak to forget
I guess it would be nice one "the most relaxing and atmospheric albums", by the way i really liked this type of video, I've discovered a couple of great albums, thanks Wyatt
to name a few recent releases that I think are worth listening to:
The Beggar - Swans
To Be Cruel - Khanate
Corrosion Of Hearts - Austere
Om Hundrede Ar - Afsky
40 Watt Sun - The Inside Room. Warning’s Patrick Walker’s newer band first album from 2011. Very sad stuff
As for the theme and vibe for Lurker of Chalice, while there are mostly no lyrics published, Jef Whitehead has stated that his late girlfriend Jesse was a muse for the project. She killed herself in 2006 due to the pain from brain cancer, however I'm not sure if she whether or not it was known that she had cancer when the material was composed. Either way, I think the inspiration from Jesse goes beyond that tragic event. When considering the masculine and feminine energies of the universe in the occult sense, Leviathan would be the more masculine project with it being more actively destructive and hateful in comparison, whereas Lurker of Chalice would be more feminine with it conveying the emptiness of the void. I saw Jef Whitehead pretty much confirm this in the comment section of an LOC video (I'm convinced it's actually him due to his playlists matching his very specific music tastes). I know my source on this is basically 'trust me bro' but I thought it was worth mentioning.
I think it's more or less correct, comes up in the brilliant One Man Metal documentary Vice made.
That's wild that people still care about him
The logo on the album cover in the thumbnail looks like balls
Can’t have a depressing album list without Bjork - Vulnicura
I mentioned Weighing souls with sand on the first video and now I have a second one being the only album from Dismal (a band from Hong Kong), it’s depressive black metal but this album hits different to me, the screaming sounds so sorrowful, the instrumental part are beautifully melancholic and the more calm moments really contrast with the terrifying screaming
This topic could definitely use some love for The Reticent. His entire discography is pretty dreary, but the progressive death metal approach is a welcome departure from the usual funeral doom and DSBM. I’d especially like to mention his last two albums 2016’s On The Eve Of A Goodbye and 2020’s The Oubliette. Eve was the album he wrote to help deal with the witnesses suicide of a dear friend while Oubliette concerns the stages of someone going through Alzheimer’s and the effects of the mind, body, and family of the sufferer. Very heady stuff and presented in a genuine manner.
Awesome. LoC and Skeleton Tree were/ are absolutely on my list. I like these video formats btw
The lyrics in ''Il étais une Forêt...'' are the reason i come back to this album.
The Ape of Naples is totally fucked up. Glad to see it mentioned here.
Next you should do most brutal maybe not of all time cus it will all be noise but more like different genres so like rap, punk, electronic, metal and noise. i think that will be a banger video
Great idea!
great idea
It’s not a metal album but I find Everywhere at the end of time by the caretaker extremely depressing, you might wanna check that out
Weighing souls with sand by the angelic process
They may seem a little mainstream and dated for you guys, but Lou Reed's "Berlin" and Pink Floyd's "The Final Cut" are emotional beatings that you never forget. They just grab you and drag you across the room nonstop, but you can't stop loving what you're hearing.
Lou Reed was actually the CEO of depression at one point
@@wightclaudia Certainly the drug-induced kind.
Lou Reed is fr one of the goats of depressing music
I totally forgot to mention Skeleton Tree in your previous video! Yeah that album is very depressing but it is also probably my favorite album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. (the only other one in contention would be Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus)
Diamanda Galas - Gloomy Sunday (the live version, black and white video)
That absolutely takes me back to the hell of grief and addiction every time.
NIN - Right Where It Belongs (also the live version from the dvd since the visuals add to it)
Placebo - Running Up That Hill
Nachtmystium - Assassin’s Part 1
Dead Can Dance - just in general no specific song
John Kale - Venus In Furs
Leonard Cohen - You Want It Darker
Mark Lanegan - his entire fucking existence lmao
There’s many many more but those always get me bumming hard
I forgot to comment on the last video but my personal addition to this list would be Shinsei Kamattechan - Tsumanne. A very raw, noisy, dive into loneliness, depression, and isolation told from the perspective of a NEET going through some serious shit. Shinsei Kamattechan's entire discography is filled with some very personal, depressing music but Tsumanne is not only hits the hardest in that regard, it also is my personal favourite album of all time because of how much i personally relate to it. Definitely worth a listen, translations of almost all of the band's output can be found online
The last album you picked reminded me of David Bowie's Blackstar - music made to process his own impending death.
This might be a more mainstream pick for most standards, but one of the most depressing albums I have heard is Hushed And Grim by Mastodon. That album got me through a lot of pain, and explores death, loss, anxiety, and feeling lost in life.
"Say when, and I'll come running back" 😔
Great picks, Wyatt! I would also add the following albums to the list:
Metal:
Leviathan - Massive Conspiracy Against All Life
Bethlehem - Dictius te Necare
Esoteric - Maniacal Vale
Malvery - Mortal Entrenchment in Requiem
Endless Dismal Moan - Lord of Nightmare
Wormphlegm - Tomb of the Ancient King
Mutiilation - Remains of Ruined, Dead, Cursed Soul
None - Damp Chill of Life
Dryom - Dryom 2
Sterbend - Dwelling Lifeless
Non-metal:
Grazhdanskaya Oborona - the 1989 trilogy (Zdorovo i Vechno, Armageddon - Pops, Russkoe Pole Eksperimentov)
Yanka Dyagileva - Anhedonia
Akira Yamaoka - Silent Hill 2 OST
Would you ever want to make a video about what headphone or earbuds do you used to listen to your music when your out and can't listen to your vinyl player music?
Deathconciousness does it for me pretty much as does most of Death and Unter Null's albums, Hole's Live Through This and Soundgarden's Badmotorfinger aren't depressing but I listened to them a lot during a recent nervous breakdown I had so I can't really listen to them anymore because of that
I dont know why, but "Annorkoth - You're my only dream" always makes me cry my eyes out. It's so beautiful, yet so sad. It is not as hateful as other dsbm bands but I think there is something about the contrast of the instrumental and vocal part. One is beautiful while the other is filled with agony. I also like to imagine the whole song as a metaphor for life, sometimes the true beauty of the world can be seen only through the eyes that have endured most pain.
Lamentations by Solstice is the first album that came to my mind when I read the title of the video.
Wyatt, I don’t care much for dsbm for most of the reasons you talked about either but had never heard of Thy Light before. Really enjoyed them and love the album featured in the video. I think pieces like those can make dsbm music some of the most cathartic and beautifully harrowing. Have you got any videos detailing dsbm you like? Would you consider making one?
I tend to like the more depressive or crazy albums of Nick Cave. I don't remember if I've heard the whole Skeleton Tree album but I remember liking what I heard. I like that darker version of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. Their 80's albums are especially good and the most depressive in my opinion is Your Funeral, My Trial. The most memorable song from the album is the song Carny, which is about a weird, dark Circus. It has a powerful bounding rhythm and organ playing creepy circus music while Nick Cave is telling his dark story and sucks you into that world. I don't usually care much about lyrics, but Nick Cave's lyrics are rare exceptions. By the way, Johnny Cash made an incredible cover of Nick Cave's song Mercy Seat. It's on the American Recordings III album.
Surprised Mirror Reaper didn't make it to the list. Also, a very recent DSBM that rivals Lurker of Chalice: Andavald - Undir skyggðarhaldi. Easily my favorite album of the entire last decade, and the vocals and melodies are truly harrowing.
Lou Reeds Berlin is depressing but also his best work for me.
The most depressing album to me isn't a metal album but a folk one, "A Boy" by Doji Morita. You don't even need to understand the lyrics (which are about loss) to feel the pain behind her words, and the cello playing completely shocks you.
Canadian black metal band None the album life has gone on long enough or damp chill of life most definitely should be on this list considering you included thy light.
You could make 2 or 3 more vids on this topic based on all the albums listed in the prior video lol, nice.
If I remember correctly Jeff’s muse for lurker of chalice had died and that’s why he won’t write anymore for lurker. Also stated that those were his darkest times he ever experienced while writing that album.
Anubi's demo "Mirties Metafora" isn't an album but is one of the most depressing-feeling black metal I've listened to. The whole style and atmosphere of how each song sounds is a very somber and desolate one, and the vocals add a lot to that feeling as well.
One of the first black metal records I listened to. It never came off as depressing to me but it was weirdly atmospheric in it's own way. I used to listen to this demo while I'm in my bed before sleeping, as well as Hypothermia's Gråtoner which is a dsbm adjacent record, also one of the first ones I've checked out.
@@JohnDoe-dg7vo Oh yeah one of my first black metal albums I've listened to was Hypothermia's Veins. It wasn't for me but maybe I'd like Gråtoner. Thanks for the insight!
I have 2 choices, #1 would mirror reaper by bell witch an album made after the death of the drummer Adrian, it really feels the most desolate in their discography and a good bye to Adrian.
#2, black heart procession - 1, the album has just a rich and dark atmosphere using a saw and violin bow, I highly recommend this alternative rock band and their unique sound.
I discovered Type O Negative in late 2022. Love their music. RIP Peter Steele.
Listened to the Ape of Naples frequently over the 2020 pandemic. This album (as well as The Light Is Leaving Us All) always brings back these really obscure feelings from that period (mostly consisting of trying acid and playing Dark Souls). I really believe that album to be a masterpiece. They worked on it, reworked it, and after John Balance died, Sleazy gave what I suppose to be a finishing touch. Whatever it was he did to these songs made them perfect. Fire of the Mind, Amethyst Decievers, Tattooed Man, all of these songs are profound, spiritual, yet deeply tragic. They are like the tears of the cosmos yet sweet as nectar, enjoyed by an entity purely human. I love this album.
Carissa's Wierd - Songs About Leaving always comes to my mind first when I talk about SAD music
dsbm is usually so catchy and comforting to listen so I don't really think it is depressive and\or suicidal in any way lol
One of my favorite sad albums of all time. Shit absolutely crushes me
Winter - into darkness
The whole atmosphere is just so heavy and cruel.
Remember - chuzpe
Feels like theres not a glimpse of hope for nothing and noone and there never was
Don't know why, but the latest three Amenra albums (Mass V, Mass VI, De Doorn) sound so depressing and sad to me.
Because they are.... Solitary Reign is still one of my favorite songs ever extremely depressive
idk if anybody has brought this up in the comments yet but in the interview with jef whitehead he says his longtime girlfriend was the inspiration for LOC. she was diagnosed with brain cancer shortly after LOC came out and she ended up taking her own life.
That Gris (more or less pronounced as "Gree" for english speakers) album is excellent and needs a repress asap 🤘🏻
Another installment to the "The most (x) albums (y) know" could be "The Most Insane/Viscious Albums (y) know". I'd honestly love to hear some of what you might know, I already know what mine is- an "experimental" solo project called 'Methwitch', and the album named "Indwell". Tells about a man summoning a Goetic demon and the portal he creates instead summons the demons hellspawn and they visciously torture and maim the guy while he tries to commit suicide in multiple different ways, instead reviving him to let him suffer even more.
Though the album is a mixed bag, you can easily call it something like "Experimental Deathgrind", but honestly that doesn't even begin to explain how crazy the album is. It even borders noise in a couple songs as well, it's fucking crazy and I do recommend at least hearing "Burn Victim" and "Uninvited Guests".
I wish I could listen to Indwell again for the first time. It’s definitely an experience
Listen to Mulk.
First video where I've known most of the bands you discussed. Too bad it's a genre you dislike. Just ordered a test pressing of "The Ape of Naples." Can't wait.
Interesting fact regarding Nick Cave album is that almost all songs were written before his son death. I think actually all songs except one. But it doesn't make this particular album less depressive, even probably more interesting in that context - how true artist can predict things or feel that something bad is coming.
Blackstar (Bowie), You want it Darker (Leonard Cohen), and Purple Mountains (Purple Mountains) are all very good unhappy albums, not sure if they're necessarily depressing but they dont evoke a happy feeling.
Blackstars so good, especially Lazarus. You could just tell bowie knew his time was almost up.
The Old Dead Tree - The Nameless Disease. The whole album is about the suicide of their former drummer. The songs are very catchy but in this case it makes it way more depressing because the overall sound feels so desperate and the lyrics are so painfull straight to the point. Some of the Lyrics:
"My brother, my old friend,
It can not be the end
Of your smiles when your face was shining with joy,
Of these hours we spent, speaking about our great band"
"But no one is prepared to live something like the suicide of a 21 years old Friend
Who lived his life in pain and went before his end"
"I can't find the words
In front of your mother
I know that I'm sad but I feel better than her
I can't imagine the hell she's been living in since the day you've gone
You, the younger son.
Her feelings have felt in pieces and dissolve in her Veins"
For me if I want a depressing album, I go to ORPHAN - Porcelain, its not black metal or depressing black metal but its instead the most RAW Slam and Ballads you would hear. Made by two brothers, they completely abused themselfs recording it, one of them sounds like he is getting murdered and the other has growls that will make a Black Bear shit his pants. Once you read the lyrics (except for SBC because they didnt release them) its just a raw processing of death and the pain that it brings to people that you love.
Truly a deep look at how much a death can break mentally a human.
The guys behind Gris are still active, they are 2/3 of Misere Luminis, wich released an album 2 weeks ago, great record.