The six creepiest moments in the history of metal music
Metal is defined by its aggression and confrontation with humankind’s deepest and darkest recesses. Metal was borne out of the arse end of blues rock, with Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin forming the basis of what would grow heavier and heavier over the decades.
Throughout the 1970s, metal took on a glam appearance, with groups like Kiss and Van Halen sporting elaborate costumes and revolving their sonic output around the ever-increasingly ridiculous guitar solo. Eventually, Judas Priest and Metallica thankfully sought the return of metal to its dark roots, and the anger of the genre rose to the surface once more.
By the time the 1990s rocked up, metal had become one of the most depraved music genres out there. The aesthetic of Slipknot and some of the Norwegian black metal outfits was akin to some of our worst nightmares, with alarming acts taking place both within and outside of the musical sphere.
So, with that in mind, let’s run through some of the most disturbing, horrifying and creepy moments to ever come out of metal’s rich history. Fasten your seat belts and hold on for dear life; here we go.
The six creepiest moments in the history of metal:
Slipknot’s Clown’s crow in the jar
Kicking things off is one of metal’s most artistically fucked up exports, Slipknot. The Iowa-based nu-metal icons have performed some truly messed up acts in their time, from wearing some of the scariest masks you will ever see to printing photos of dead babies in the original packaging for Iowa.
Yet some of Slipknot’s creepiest moments came during their wild live shows. The cream of the crop, though, has to be Shaun Crahan’s (Clown) dead crow in a jar. Clown would huff the jar during shows to induce vomiting right into his mask and would sometimes pass it around the audience too.
Black Sabbath encounter ghost in Gloucestershire
Sabbath knew from the off that their whole unique identity would toy into the horror craze that had been taking off in the 1960s. Several strange occurrences happened during the recording of their debut album, which put Ozzy and the band off toying with the occult.
However, when Sabbath were recording Sabbath Bloody Sabbath at Clearwell Castle, Gloucestershire, rehearsals took place in the castle’s dungeons. One night Ozzy and Tony Iommi followed an apparition into the armoury of the castle. However, when they got there, the ghost was nowhere to be found, which scared the living shit out of the Brummie duo.
Tool’s ‘Schism’ music video
Like Slipknot, Tool are another metal band whose artistic expression is central to their performances and music. Recently, Tool’s ‘Sober’ made it onto our list of the most disturbing music videos of all time, and their video for ‘Schism’ is equally, if not more so, creepy.
The ‘Schism’ video is like something straight out of a David Cronenberg body horror movie. Straight away, the pale atmosphere freaks us out before human bodies are used as crayons, and cubic blocks are pulled out of them as if they were mere Jenga pieces to be discarded on the floor.
Slipknot’s 15-minute ‘Iowa’ track
Slipknot’s second album Iowa went in hard. Tensions in the band had been at breaking point, and several of the interpersonal relationships between Slipknot’s members were strained. As such, you can almost feel the release on this record as they poured everything they had into making it.
Right at the end of the album, the 15-minute self-titled track opens with distorted screams, creepy giggles, and what sounds like a running chainsaw. It’s truly the stuff of nightmares, all the more so when Corey Taylor whispers into the mic, “Relax, it’s over, You belong to me, I fill your mouth with dirt. Relax, it’s over, You can never leave, I take your second digit with me,” as he tells of killing his lover to immortalise them.
The death of Mayhem’s Dead
And now we arrive at arguably the most disturbing music scene of all time. If Slipknot were subversive, then the notable bands of the Norwegian black metal scene would take the absolute piss. Just for starters, how about this? In 1991, Mayhem vocalist Dead slit his wrists and blew his head off with a shotgun.
His bandmate Euronymous found Dead’s body with the note, “Excuse all the blood, cheers”. However, rather than break down or call the police, Euronymous thought it a better idea to nip to the shop and buy a disposable camera so that he could take a picture of his dead friend for the cover art of a live Mayhem album. Euronymous is also said to have eaten some of Dead’s dead body.
The murder of Mayhem’s Euronymous
As if that weren’t bad enough, perhaps Euronymous met his fate two years later when Burzum’s Varg Vikernes murdered him in Oslo, stabbing him 23 times, including twice to the head. Reports vary as to the motive of Vikernes; some suggest that there had been a struggle between two Satanic cults.
What’s most creepy about the event, though, is Vikernes’ cold explanation of how he killed Euronymous. He said later (from prison): “I finished him off by thrusting the knife through his skull, through his forehead, and he died instantaneously. The eyes turned around in his head, and a moan could be heard as he emptied his lungs when he died. He fell down to a sitting position, but the knife was stuck in his head, so I held him up as I held onto the knife. When I jerked the knife from his skull, he fell forward and rolled down a flight of stairs like a sack of potatoes – making enough noise to wake up the whole neighbourhood.”
