By the way, feel free to throw out some names of dark sounding songs or riffs below. I'm sure others have their own favourites across various genres that aren't represented here. This is just my list.
Its funny because imo theres so many more sabbath songs that sound “darker” but everyone lists that as their “heaviest”. Like lord of this world, megalomania, into the void, and sabbath bloody sabbath sound sooooo heavy
Exactly what I was thinking, polly’s chords are very joyful sounding. Something like Paper Cuts, a song I love personally, has a much much darker guitar riff than most of these
In what universe are the riffs in tracks like 'Swing on This' and 'Sunshine' 'dark'? I wouldn't even say the majority of AiC's music is dark. The influence of bands like AC/DC and Guns n' Roses stands out in more tracks than the influence of heavier and 'darker' bands does.
@@_Stroda Well, maybe you can't say that for the entire 'Facelift' album, which is partly influenced by street and sleaze metal, but 'Dirt' and 'Tripod' are as dark as can be... Damn, even some of their acoustic songs are: 'Am I Inside' and 'Rotten Apples' for instance.
@Rowan Melton Black Sabbath shouldn’t be on the list? Thats pretty much as dark a riff as they come, it literally uses “The Devils Tritone” don’t see any issue with it being here it was actually one of the only ones I agreed with to be honest.
@Rowan Melton I agree. Also the darkest music is pretty much all underground, these are way too popular riffs and songs for me to be dark and to relate to in dark or depressing moments
@Rowan Melton I think the end by the doors is very dark and I do think it belongs here. The riff is dark and so is the overall tone of the song and lyrics.
Paranoid android has always been a really interesting one to me - it has a brightness to it from the acoustic and the voicings higher up the neck but sounds really menacing at the same time
Seriously, I’m not a crazy huge Radiohead fan, but man that song has something to it that I haven’t heard anywhere else. It’s like its so overly cheerful in a way that it’s really disturbing. I can’t put it into words right.
@@maxieboy1232 The Beatles have sold 2 billion albums and you say they have an underrated song? Maybe I Want You isn't their most famous song, but it's far from underrated. She is much better known than most of the greatest hits of other bands.
Nice...idk what it is about that song, but it’s just Killer to my ears. I was the 16yr old kid in an S-10 Blazer with an ultra Rad stereo system of Max-amplified Highs, Mids & Subs in the ‘90s that blasted that record on CD...4th of July sounded amazing then & always Will to me. there’s a very low bass frequency in the beginning of it that rattled coins enough to flip them over in the ashtray. the groove delivered by the drums coming in is unforgettable, the guitar tracks are heavy, but go sonic & Cornell’s Vocal Performance is the Greatest, as always. Goddamn, I Miss Him & the Music He Didn’t Get to Give Us. Thanks for Reminding Me to Jam 4th of July on My Commute!
@@dobocsillag7007 yeah I have. But it's two different genres, and comparing the two just doesn't work. Even still, you can't listen to something like Frogs and tell me it isn't a dark riff
thats the undarkest song on the whole god damn list. and whats so beautiful about it it sucks balls doors fans should get over themselves doors most overrated band in existence.
That's right, it's superdark, anyway it's very hard to pick a song from the whole Soundgarden catalogue when it comes to darkness. If I had to, I would probably go for either Gun or I Awake from 'Louder Than Love'.
Not counting with the metal stereotypes, that's probably the darkest soundscape I know of - not the riff alone or the lyrics, but all its sound as a whole. It sometimes still amazes me how deep into the dark it goes, almost like the first few time I have heard it 20 years ago. I even have a dark playlist and made sure that was the starting track.
@@pedroedsos the whole unknown pleasures album is like that, the space left between each song adds an eery ambience to it aswell, and the cover seems like such a perfect representation of the music inside
@@evanenitnelav Layne also wrote the riffs for Angry Chair, it's one of the few songs where he has a writing credit for something other than lyrics. He also wrote a pretty big chunk of the band's lyrics during the 90's. He was more than a singer and occasional writer.
@@evanenitnelav There are only 3 songs in the AIC catalog for which Layne wrote the music and one of them is Angry Chair (the other two are Hate to Feel on Dirt and Head Creeps on the self-titled album). That is why he played the guitar when performing Angry Chair and Hate to Feel live.
Listen cry of fear ost riff and you will see that you're wrong And also the genre dsbm ( dépressif black métal) Will show u that its in the 2000-2015 years that much more dark riffs exists
I think frogs is mind blowing How can something so simple sound so unique and dark, I love it so much The whole album is amazing, my favorite one by AiC
"Darkest" seems to refer to psychologically disturbing riffs not necessarily heaviest, considering there was no distortion. Interesting list, nice to see some classics in there.
New Dawn Fades by Joy Division was the darkest guitar I had ever heard, a year later and Im just now picking up guitar and hoping to be able to play it soon
Fun fact: “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” was originally called “In A Garden of Eden” but when they recorded it, the singer was so drunk it sounded like he said “In a Gadda da vida” so the band just called it that. Funny story Quick edit: Check out God Am by Alice In Chains, one of the most freakiest songs ever made. “World dies I still pay taxes” Godam that line makes my hairs stand up.
I Wanna Be Your Dog and The End; both menacing from opposite ends of the scale. Both riffs absolutely nailed. Keep up the great work, Bloxsy. Dynamite account, this👌🏼
Yes! that lick is definitely List-Worthy. btw, if you play geetar, try de-tuning the D, G & B strings down a little, maybe an 8th of a step...just enough to make a D-Chord sound Crappy. I was amazed...a Cool Older Kid told me the trick/secret in the ‘90s & he was a drummer.
This is a good list, but I'll repeat what someone said below: I think we may be confusing 'dark' with 'heavy'. And I'm not sure that dirge/sludge/death/black metal applies. A handful of layered and heavily processed power chords are not a 'riff' - ref Nomine Satanas by Bathory mentioned below. It's a great tune, but it doesn't really have a riff. Here are a few of my candidates. YMMV. John Cale - Gun (LP: Fear) Iggy Pop - Sister Midnight (LP: The Idiot) Iggy and the Stooges - I Need Somebody (LP: Raw Power) Soundgarden - Fell on Black Days (LP: Superunknown) Velvet Underground - Sister Ray (LP: White Light/White Heat)
@Blue Heeler he’s definitely in the same league lol, he and Alice are known for making dark music, they’ve got music that is darker than anything sabbath did. Both bands kick ass but AIC and a lot of cantrells riffs are the definition of dark
@@dualtahunter4043 get list no doubt, I’d def put get born again above head creeps, frogs would probably be #1 for me. Jerry’s Incredible album degradation trip is dark as fuck too with some dark ass riffs. Jerry is a fuckin genius of makin dark music and writing incredible riffs. Degradation is an absolute must listen for anyone who hasn’t heard it
@@viniciusn9893 é, não é a toa que a corda mi é desafinada para baixo... Mas se for pensar assim, eu preferiria colocar Paper Cuts, o riff é um dos mais obscuros do Nirvana.
There’s a dark edge to some early B-52s. Planet Claire uses the “Peter Gunn” riff. I’d never made this connection before, but Fred Schneider's lunatic intensity is kind of like Black Francis's…
On a related note, "Shiny Happy People" sounds so over-bright it gives off dark vibes; I think it was Blender Magazine that said it "sounded like a serial killer's ringtone" or something.
Not even thinking of engaging in that "there are darker riffs than these" discussion. Sure, there are many dark riffs and songs out there and here are ten cool examples of them. And you play them great, that's for sure. Besides, any playlist containing Soundgarden, AIC, Nirvana, Joy Division, the Cure and Radiohead is instantly catching my attention ❤ Thank you!
I'm just thinking: Will The Stooges be here? They're pretty dark, but I don't think they'll be here. I Wanna Be Your Dog starts playing immediately after it...
Nicely curated collection, Day of the Lords was covered by one of my faves Neurosis, which fits nicely in the obscure. I think Bowie’s Blackstar would bump off some of the picks easily. How about BH’s Bela Lugosi’s Dead? Cheers
I wouldn’t say Poly sounds dark at all by itself. It’s more the lyrics and general vibe of the vocals that make the song so dark. P.S. as far as just the riffs themselves I personally think Obituary’s cause of Death album is stuffed full of riffs darker then everything on this list except the cure and alice in chains riffs.
I don't think 'Polly' is that dark of a riff it just feels that way with the lyrics but I think that 'Sappy (sad version)' by Kurt Cobain definitely is one of the darkest riffs
My personal favorite dark sounding riff is the intro to the Nirvana version of Marigold. I might be the only one but it has such a dark atmosphere to it that the other versions don’t quite capture
Oh, for me it's probably gonna have to be Tool's "Prison Sex", and Faith No More's "Jizzlobber". Both swampy sounding riffs with lyrics about...well...um But, great video! Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath on the Black Sabbath album is one of my faves!
@shane h but why and how is heavy and dark music, dark only for teenagers (when I've never actually met a teen thats listened to BM), while a band that capitalized on teenage angst is actually dark?...
That are some dark songs i can remember. Acid Bubble - Alice In Chains Angry Chair - Alice in Chains Floods - Pantera Get Born Again - Alice in Chains 4th of July - Soundgarden Godsmack - Alice In Chains The Call of Ktulu - Metallica Malocchio - Tomahawk Point and Click - Tomahawk Slayer - Raining Blood
Literally any riff from Iron Maiden's X Factor album. I mean, it's their darkest and most introspective album. And it doesn't deserve the hate it gets.