Reviler Spookiest Songs (2015)

Halloween is here! The haunted holiday lands on a Saturday this year, so you’ll need a soundtrack to your drunken bash (or for your trick or treating, depending on your age). For those of you who want to celebrate Hallow’s Eve on its true date though here is a short soundtrack of truly horrifying (well, with a little creative thinking) songs to get you shivering. No “Monster Mash” here.

Ali, @egyptoknuckles

Flatbush Zombies “Death 2”

When Meechy Darko talks about serial killers by name for a minute and a half and twists them into nothing but metaphors (check especially for the hauntingly dark prelude accompanied by screams and actual audio from Charles Manson himself), you know you’re dealing with one of the most diabolical rap minds of our current generation.

Dr. Dre & Ice Cube “Natural Born Killaz”

With a Dr. Dre production that’s as sinister as the day it was laid to tape, this reuniting of the former minds of N.W.A. proves to be one of the best and most sadistic cuts on the Murder Was The Case soundtrack. Ice Cube’s lines alone are worth the price of admission with lines like “So fuck Charlie Manson, I snatch him out his truck, hit him with a brick and I’m dancing” sticking out enough to make one wince in fear.

Onyx “Last Dayz”

Yeah, the guys who might have hit you with the rowdiness of “Slam” proved to hold more than their own on this lead off single from their sophomore album “All We Got Iz Us.” It’s the last blood curdling verse from Sticky Fingaz himself which proves to be the proverbial nail to the coffin, where his verse leaves you glad that he stuck with the mic instead.

Gravediggaz “Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide”

If the eerieness of the beat alone doesn’t scare the living shit out of you, then the first verse and closing verse from the RZA will.

Snoop Doggy Dogg “Murder Was The Case”

A man who visualizes his own dying, only to live after selling his soul to the devil? No tale of the afterlife or the rebirth from death will have you more shaken than this tune here.

Chris Besinger, @cbesinger

“You Better Run” by Junior Kimbrough

“Nothing about this song, Kimbrough’s hypnotic meditation on rape & assault, reads as scary which is what makes it so terrifying. The beat is about one step short of being urgent, the guitar is drone-y, keening North Mississippi electric blues the powers the song for close to eight minutes, the vocal is distracted and a bit rambling,with Kimbrough’s voice is pitched higher than a gruff blues man’s as he recounts a tale of woman being chased by a knife wielding man. In the narrative the woman comes to Kimbrough’s bar and he helps her? It is unclear, but the spooky sound, big & hollow like the band is playing inwardly feels more matter-of-fact, like a confession or just the recounting of an everyday occurrence that always puts the creep on me. The main line “you better run/he gonna rape you”, is delivered with the nursery rhyme, lackadaisical quality of everything that is truly evil and scary.”

Jon, Reviler

1. Spoek Matthambo – “Put Some Red on it”

South African artist Spoek Mathambo’s record Father Creeper is full of imagery of zombies, drugged out child soldiers, and warlords; It’s a little horror that’s unfortunately a little too real in certain parts of Africa.

2. Broadcast – “The Equestrian Vortex” (Berberian Sound Studio Soundtrack)

Broadcast’s last album was a soundtrack to the trippy and stylish (if a little slow) Berberian Sound Studio. The soundtrack is actually scarier than the film.

3. Mica Levy – “Death” (Under the Skin Soundtrack)

Another horror film that was more stylish than scary – but with a really terrific unsettling soundtrack from Mica Levi (Michachu and the Shapes).

4. Sinoia Caves – “Forever Dilating Eye” (Beyond the Black Rainbow Soundtrack)

Lot’s of arthouse horror/thriller films on my list – this one is from Sinoia Caves’ soundtrack to the 2010 film Beyond the Black Rainbow.

5. Brute Heart – “Prophecy”

Surprise – another soundtrack choice. In this case local trio Brute Heart created the soundtrack to the silent film classic, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. The soundtrack was later released as a record by Moon Glyph Records.

Josh, Reviler

Soulsavers — Revival

I think this song is about resurrection and is meant to be uplifting, but it always felt heavy as a ton of bricks to me. I picture a tent in the backwoods where weird stuff is going down.

Alina Simone – From Great Knowledge:

Another song that sounds more daunting than scary, but it feels foreboding and deep. The tense, shadowy landscape is probably magnified by the fact that I have no idea what she is singing. It could be a song about petting her cat, for all I know, but I assume it is about a dead body in the ditch or a farmhouse in the woods with chainsaws handing from the walls.

Forest Swords – The Plumes

Forest Swords make the kind of spooky, almost cinematic ancient music that I spend a lot of time listening to, but even in the midst of a sea of unsettling electronic music, his work stands out.

Neil Young – Revolution Blues

I once saw a Youtube video of members of Sonic Youth playing this song at an Occupy event, and everyone got excited because they announced the song title. It wasn’t clear if everyone involved realized it is a creepy telling of demented California through the eyes of psychotic killer Charles Mansion. A rocking song that is both one of Young’s best ever and also scary as hell.

Umberto – Confrontations

Umberto are another group I lump together with Forest Swords, but this one is intentional in its sound. Created as a lost soundtrack to a horror film that was never created, it is a sleek, modern take on the genre John Carpenter created, and is haunting and chilling even without a visual to attach it to.