Adventuring into the hostile landscape of music made to kill.
Is there anything more refreshing than a sonic slaughter to the ears? The spike of adrenaline. The rush of noise. Thoughts instantly eliminated by the sound that now occupies your mind.
In my own adventures with heavy music, the experience can be addicting, but the effect ultimately wears off on repeat listens. This leads to a craving that constantly needs to be satisfied with greater and greater novelty. An album that seemed heavy at first might sound tame once your ears have grown accustomed to the sound. Then you must continue to search for an album that scratches the same itch: so the process repeats. Listening to heavy music is undoubtedly a downward spiral.
Over the past couple of weeks, I felt like I was being backed into a corner. Staples such as Converge's Jane Doe or Electric Wizard's Dopethrone weren't cutting it anymore. It's not that I disliked the albums, but it was clear that I needed to try something new. So I came up with the question: what is the heaviest album of all time?
It is not easy to create a heavy album. While it might seem simple enough to turn up the volume and layer the instrumentation with as much noise as possible, it's difficult to create a sound that is effective at immersing the listener in the music. The heaviest album of all time has to be something that is not only brutal, but also riveting.
Initial research on this topic didn't yield many results from prominent news outlets. While they delivered a helpful serving of many doom and sludge metal classics, which I enjoyed immensely, I couldn't help but feel disappointed by the albums when it came to how punishing they were on the ears. At this point, I knew I didn't want an 'enjoyable' experience in the traditional way. Drop-tuning along with violent vocal performances only gets so far when they still have grooves and melodies to jam to. The heaviest album wasn't going to be fun: it needed to be painful. So I decided to do my own research and scoured internet forums in hopes of finding the ideal album.
After a couple of dozen listens, it was obvious I had barely scratched the surface of what was possible as I was treated with some of the most grotesque and horrific soundscapes that have ever graced my ears. What I was shocked by the most, however, was the variety in each of their styles. 'Heaviness' is a loose term, and can be achieved through an assortment of methods. When attempting to determine which was the 'heaviest' album, I had trouble making comparisons or setting any standards of ranking.
Instead of finding a singular 'heaviest' album, I have chosen several albums that are the heaviest in their respective genre or have a characteristic that distinguishes them from their counterparts. Each of these albums could be, in their own approach, the heaviest album of all time.
Swans - Filth
Swans is better known for the successful 21st century reboot of their sound towards the mystifying sonic odysseys that are more cinematic than they are gruesome. That's probably for the better, since their earlier works, particularly their debut Filth, are about as vile and inaccessible as music gets. Listening to Filth is comparable to biting hard into a brick and breaking every tooth in your mouth: it hurts. While it is more noise-rock/punk than it is metal, every metal album released during the 1980s is essentially child-play when lined up next to Filth.
In Filth, the tempo is slow and lurching as if being dragged by its own weight. It immediately gets your heart pumping: whether in fear or hate. The album is mixed extremely loud, rivaling the likes of My Bloody Valentine in its ego. However to assert that the heaviness can be attributed solely to the volume is ignorant, as that aspect comes from the emptiness of the industrial soundscape Swans creates. There is nothing human about this album: it is impassionate, merciless, and mechanical. This is not an emotional album, but a hollow one. That being said, while the instrumentation isn't groovy, there's definitely rhythm and direction behind the scraping guitars and clanking percussion. This keeps the album listenable even when there is nothing else to latch onto.
In the context of the Cold War, and the paranoia that came with it, Filth is a release of contempt for society in the form of concentrated fury. Front man Michael Gira spends most of his time tonelessly shouting about capitalism and cultural norms through simple chants: "BE HARD", "GET DRUNK", "USE SEX FOR CONTROL", "SATISFY THE DOG". However, this isn't a call to action or a political message. This is revenge. Gira does not care about changing society, he just wants to spread destruction in an attempt to have his own agency in a world that is obsessed with control. This album is shameless, are you convinced yet?
Filth is undeniably heavy, from the instrumentation to the lyrics. It's ugly and dark, and the themes of power, submission, and nihilism only add to its anarchy. This is certainly the heaviest album of the 1980s and stands the test of time against many contemporary releases, which is an impressive feat given Filth did not have the production resources many newer albums have. While Swans has continued to release modern masterpieces well over 40 years into their career, their debut was no exception.
Lightning Bolt - Hypermagic Mountain
I wasn't going to get through this article without mentioning my favorite sonic beating of all time: 2005's Hypermagic Mountain by Lightning Bolt. This is the only heavy album I have listened to that has not been subdued on repeat listens: each time I listen to this album it's just as grueling as before. Why? Because the purpose of this album is to hammer the riffs into your skull until they are the only thing you know. This album can make me forget my own name. The repetition is where the album shines as the unrelenting monster it is.
A perfect example of this repetition would be the track Magic Mountain. The riff here is essentially a scale that plays over and over again, as the moment it gets to the top it falls back to the bottom. The speed here builds over the whole song, bringing the momentum to unbelievable levels. There is nothing that generates more tension than the musical equivalent of a Formula 1 race. At any moment, the bass feels prepared to burst into flames: but it never does. Lightning Bolt builds the tension over the entire track, but never releases it, leaving the listener distressed and confused at the end. This is just one way Lightning Bolt subverts listener expectations on Hypermagic Mountain.
Since Lightning Bolt is just a duo, Hypermagic Mountain is built off of simplicity... if you could call it that. The drumming patterns and guitar playing are about as complex as attempting to figure out what the vocalist is saying: impossible since the noise instantly overpowers any attempts at singing. Therefore Hypermagic Mountain could be considered an instrumental album. While having lyrics to observe positively affected albums such as Filth, in Hypermagic Mountain the brutality is only magnified by not having lyrics to explain the album. Hypermagic Mountain has no interest in pleasing the listener, but instead stomps over their face without pity.
At almost an hour, Hypermagic Mountain has close to zero moments of reprieve in its entire runtime. Unlike Filth, where the heaviness comes from its methodical and sluggish delivery, Hypermagic Mountain is constantly hurrying towards the finish line; delivering ceaseless aggression in the form of hypnotic riffing ad nauseam.
Nails - Unsilent Death
This was a reoccurring pick throughout all of the forums and news outlets I visited, and for good reason: this album is so much fun. While there are many grindcore albums I could have picked for this article, there didn't seem to be much difference between the brutality of each, so I chose the classic. This is not the 'heaviest' grindcore album, but it does do a phenomenal job of captivating listeners who may not be familiar with grindcore.
This is typically the first album that new listeners to the genre are exposed to, as it has critical recognition and is accessible for grindcore standards. Because of this, the album is pretty catchy and the production is not too loud. However, Unsilent Death is not just recommended because of its accessibility, but also its ability to deliver a perfect grindcore experience. Grindcore is a genre of heavy metal that takes thrash metal and refines it into short explosions of savagery. Many of the songs on Unsilent Death are less than a minute long, and the total album length is just under 13 minutes. While the runtime may sound fleeting, Unsilent Death is bound to be the longest 13 minutes of your life.
The opening track, Conform, is appalling in the best possible way. The tempo here is faster than both Filth and Hypermagic Mountain combined, and is successful at turning away any listener who is not prepared for the slew of unadulterated carnage that is to come.
Over the course of the album, the shorter tracks are mixed in with 2-3 minute tracks that bring sludgy riffs to nod along to. This keeps the album from feeling too oppressive, even as it exacts a penance of blood from its victim. Unlike Hypermagic Mountain, where the riffs tended to be spectacular and elaborate, Unsilent Death remains grounded in its rampage: it never strays far from home. This can be observed in the title track, where the riff is deep and chugging, delivering just enough melodic respite to keep the listener engaged.
There is an overwhelming theme of suicide and self-loathing in Unsilent Death, which may be unsurprising after appraising the title and album cover. Lead singer Kurt Ballou screams about the injustice of his world and the pain that he suffers daily: typical punk energy for an atypical grindcore experience. Unfortunately, it is impossible to decipher his vocals without the usage of internet aid.
Unsilent Death is an album that defined grindcore, and it is fitting to include it on this list as a representation of the genre as a whole. I encourage you to find heavier and faster grindcore records that do an even better job of depicting the abuse that Unsilent Death bravely exposes. For now, Unsilent Death will remain the black onyx of grindcore and a blistering display of what the genre has to offer.
Bell Witch - Mirror Reaper
As I was exploring in the hope of finding an album that would placate my pension for pain, I started to see many similarities between the albums I was listening to. One of these comparisons was that none of the albums had any empty space or slower moments. While this makes sense when trying to rationalize what the heaviest album of all time would be, I began to wonder if a more passive listen would make for an equally effective experience. Something that was both intense, but also atmospheric and allowed for quieter moments. My first instinct was to go to drone metal. But after a long time listening to drone metal classics such as Boris' Feedbacker and Sunn O)))'s Black One, I realized that drone metal wasn't going to have what I was looking for. Disappointed, I clicked on a random article about funeral doom metal, which led me to Bell Witch's Mirror Reaper.
Doom metal differs from its counterpart death metal through the tempo and complexity of the playing. While death metal is technical and wandering, doom metal is focused and morose. It involves pouring passion into the confines of a sparse number of notes, making each and every one count. This is where the power of doom metal comes from. The softer moments serve to presage the grand passages, where the words 'larger than life' can be appropriately used.
Mirror Reaper reflects on the eternal stability of death, and the finality that comes with it: what could be a better fit for the heaviest album of all time? Except the heaviness in Mirror Reaper doesn't come from its aggressiveness, but its enormous emotional weight.
There is only one track in Mirror Reaper, but it is over 80 minutes long. Every single bass tone and every drum beat in this 80 minutes counts. Growls, shrieks, and Gregorian crescendos come from both of the members of the duo band. Their voices stand in stark contrast, and here it is applicable to use the good vs evil trope, as Mirror Reaper isn't interested in subtlety. Though instead of fighting, they grip each other in desperation as if they need one another for their own survival. Death does not discriminate, and consumes them both.
Mirror Reaper might be a glorious representation of extinction, but it is lacking the bloodshed of its counterparts. Its heaviness is carried exclusively by emotional impact. To truly have the heaviest album, the pain needs to feel acute and deliver a shock to the system instead of a slow death.
The Gerogerigegege - Instruments Disorder
This is my personal pick for defining the expression 'pain is pleasure'.
First of all: ew. This album is disgusting, front-to-back. And what are the names of these tracks? "Tokyo Anal Dynamite", "Hole in One", "Bumfucking" (this comes up twice in the tracklist). There are also 170 tracks packed into 38 minutes of hell, which is quite the feat of songwriting. This is not metal, noise-rock, or punk. This is noise. Horrible walls of turbulence that threaten to burst your eardrums. Except it's incredible, and one of the best explorations of sound I have heard.
I am very familiar with the genre of harsh noise, as I believe there is no purer sound than its abrasive shriek. I have heard dozens of harsh noise albums, but if there is a more visceral noise recording than Instruments Disorder, I have yet to hear it. I cannot begin to imagine what the recording session for this album must have been like, and I do not believe for one minute that any of the musicians involved were of stable mind.
Every track starts with the same intro: the name of the track, followed by "1! 2! 3! 4!" and then a whirlwind of drumming and noise. The drumming is what makes this album the captivating and absurd adventure it is. The production is perfectly suited for rising above the noise: the snare drum is so crisp it sounds like firecrackers in an empty steel box. The passages are so technical and ferocious it's almost inhuman. I would even go as far as to say that this album has some of the best drumming out of any record I have ever listened to.
While at times you can make out the occasional guitar and bass if you're a keen listener, the rest is just waves of noise that crash repeatedly over the drums: and that's fine since it works. Sitting through this album is definitely painful, but you have to be a masochist on some level to even find this album since it is not on streaming services. While each of the albums mentioned in this article are brutal in their own fashion, Instruments Disorder is the only one that breaches the barrier between my headphones and my mind to wreak havoc. A headache, but a marvelous one.
If you were to ask me to pick one album that represents pain, I would pick Instruments Disorder. However, I am sure that there are heavier albums to be found, and my search continues for the one that fits the shoe perfectly. Some honorable mentions that are worth checking out would be Frontierier's Oxidized, as well as Jeromes Dream's Seeing Means More Than Safety.
Music that kills may get a bad rep, but it's certainly deadly in its addiction.
Ratings and Links
Swans - Filth
Lightning Bolt - Hypermagic Mountain
Nails - Unsilent Death
Bell Witch - Mirror Reaper
The Gerogerigegege - Instruments Disorder
Thank you for reading! I appreciate any feedback.