Hello and welcome! I’m sure you’re all moist and frothy with excitement. Well, never fear, because you won’t be kept in the dark any longer. That’s right—a DTF exclusive, Ravenheart’s top 50 albums of how he currently felt during the sloppy organization of this list of all time. You won’t be seeing this list anywhere else.
I’ll save you all some time and state this right now: I genuinely don’t think many of these albums will be of much appeal to the majority of the members here, so I don’t think I can realistically expect too many followers. Then again, I’m sure they said the same thing about Charles Manson, and he turned out to be pretty successful. And who knows? If you follow, you might be lucky enough to read about something that tickles your fancy.
There will probably also be some albums on here that people don’t like, but that’s okay. Some people didn’t like Ghandi either.
While I like to think my tastes in music are more diverse than not, I have an affinity for darker, gloomier music, both lyrically and musically. That’s not a secret for those of you who know me well or chat with me in the top-secret really important gossip rag Facebook group.
I toyed with a rule during the compiling of this list to see if I could follow it: no more than 2 albums a band. If that rule made writing the list harder than Drew when looking at pictures of Ariana Grande, then I’d trash it and play without rules. As it turns out, it was actually quite easy to follow, and it’s definitely much more accurate than I was fearing it would be.
Creating these lists can be challenging. 50 albums is a daunting task for any music lover, and I’m sure some of my faithful readers who have crafted top 50s have had challenges and dilemmas. Ranking these albums can sometimes be like ranking your children by how deformed they are. Plus, it can be difficult to discern between which albums have had genuine staying power and which are just spur-of-the-moment kinds of things. But I’ve done my best to create a top 50 list that makes me happy and contains albums I think I can adequately describe my love for.
I’ll include the titles in big bold letters and the artwork of each album because none of you fuckers will read the descriptions. <3
50. (2005) Unter Null - The Failure EpiphanyComing in at #50 is the debut album of classically trained Erica Dunham under the moniker Unter Null. This album is a violent spray of heavy EBM (electronic body music, which would best be described as industrial dance music, I guess) and industrial. The synth sounds and drum beats are extremely fast, furious, and aggressive. Dunhma's vocals are vicious and border on sounding like a bark, adding to the ferocity of each song. Despite the dark and gritty atmosphere, each track is laden with synths and dance beats that make it accessible enough for the whole family to enjoy--at heart, the songs here, such as "Feed the Lie," Sick Fuck," and You Have Fallen From Grace," are pop songs laced with brutality and anger. There is a distinct feeling of remorse and tragedy that flows from track to track, with somber keyboard swells serving as the backdrop.
Ian can also vouch for the awesome of this album.
Recommended tracks: Feed the Lie, Sick Fuck, You Have Fallen From Grace
49. (2005) Chiasm - RelapseIt pains me to see how little attention this woman (Emileigh Rohn) has received, even after being in the business for so long. Her take on Gothic Industrial is quite fresh and a unique stray from EBM or standard industrial. The synths are slow, dark, and ominous, rarely danceable or upbeat. The drumbeats lurking beneath are voyeuristic and menacing. It’s like The Terminator put to music, or some other dark Sci-Fi film. Emileigh’s lyrics, particularly for this album, are introspective pouts of isolation and depression, save for “Rewind,” which hints at a vague plan for redemption. Her voice is sweet, soothing, and oh so mournful. Relapse is a consistent flow of dark, gothic atmospheres that lament and despair with ugly precision.
Recommended tracks: Embryonic, Still, Chosen Fate
48. (1987) Dead Can Dance - Within the Realm of a Dying SunOh lawdy, how to even begin describing this album? The first description that jumps to the front of my mind is: Dark, ethereal soundscapes with ominous darkwave overtones. The ambient keys set a very threatening atmosphere, like an ever-present force lurking in the air.
Brendan Perry’s voice dominates the first half of the album. Deep and soulful, his lyrics, while not particularly difficult to understand, are still deep and relatable in their subject matter. The latter half showcases Lisa Gerrard’s amazing singing talents—a rich, mournful, harrowing falsetto, like middle-eastern music with a touch of evil. The medieval ambiance makes “Within the Realm of a Dying Sun” sound like it’s within the realm of some immense cathedral.
While it’s void of any fast, discordant guitar riffs or aggressive vocals, this absolutely is Gothic in the purest of forms—threatening, ill-omened, haunting, and breathtaking.
The only adjustment I would make is a mix of the two styles to prevent the album from sounding so polarized, but that’s only a very minor complaint.
Recommended tracks: Anywhere Out in the World, Xavier, Persephone (The Gathering of Flowers)