Rules and parameters:
1. IMPORTANT WARNING: graphic and disturbing imagery ahead
2. As some of the videos included in this list are too graphic in nature, they can't be embedded. If that's
__the case, the entry will only include a screenshot and a link to the video under it
3. In order to avoid predictability, no music videos by Marilyn Manson or Tool will be included. The music
__video for "One" by Metallica will also be omitted
4. One entry per artist
With that out of the way, let's begin:
15. "Our Icons" by Ensemble of Christ the Saviour and Crude Mother Earth, 2011
Let's start with a video that has many comedic and cringe-inducing elements. This oddball of a music video was made by Russian ironic political post-punk band Ensemble of Christ the Saviour and Crude Mother Earth for their song "Our Icons". ...
14. "Kids" by MGMT, 2007
There's been various discussions about the child that appears in this video. Mostly, the fact that its not clear if his terrified reactions were just acting or real. These implications are enough to keep many people, even those who enjoy this song, away from watching the music video. It depicts the way children see strangers and how horrifying the experience of being in contact with strangers can be to a child. That's why it's no surprise that this music video always ranks high in lists like these...
13. "Rubber Johnny" by Aphex Twin and Chris Cunningham, 2005
For many, this short film is one of the weirdest to ever see the light of day. In it we see a horribly malformed human being named Johnny. What he says and does is very hard to describe. Its not a matter of the graphic nature of said aspects but rather the fact that everything that the character says, does, experiences, and is surrouded by is just too abstract and surreal in a disturbing and eerie way...
12. "If I Had A Heart" by Fever Ray, 2009
The vibe that this video gives off in combination with how abstract and confusing it is, plus the song itself, make for certainly very unsettling combination. Some have described it as empty, mysterious, and / or bone-chilling. The fact that this song is mostly ambient oriented and quiet makes the imagery even more bizarre and eerie than it already is. From what can be seen, it's clear that something unusual happened in a living room. We also see someone wearing a large and very strange mask. It's hard to describe anything else that goes on in the video, yet it's so much more...
11. "Pinion" by Nine Inch Nails, 1997
This song serves as the intro to the EP titled "Broken" by industrial metal legends Nine Inch Nails. That's why it's so simplistic in nature. The video shows the insides of a tube with liquid flowing through them. When the place where the tube connects to is shown and its purpose is revealed is when it gets overly shocking and disturbing. This just makes something very unnerving out of the simplistic nature of the track...
10. "The Prime Time Of Your Life" by Daft Punk, 2005
This well-known french electronic music duo needs no introduction. However, this often forgotten song brings shivers down the spines of those that saw it's video when it first came out. Those oversaturated, low video quality, red skeletons are scary enough for some to have nightmares. Yet, the context for why they appear in the first place is what turns this video into an unnerving, thought-provoking masterpiece of media...
9. "Tarnished Gluttony" by Job For A Cowboy, 2012
Arizonan death metal legends Job For A Cowboy released this song as the final track of their 2012 album "Demonocracy". The video made for it gained some notoriety among fans of the band for its raw and disturbing feel and grisly content. Years later, it gained a lot more notoriety when it was featured in hispanic youtube horror legend DrossRotzank's video "Los 7 Videos Musicales Más Perturbadores" (The 7 Most Disturbing Music Videos). In the video, a man is seen carrying a kid's unconsious body. What happens next has been described as some sort of H.P. Lovecraft inspired ritual of sorts...
__Click to Watch
8. "Worlock" by Skinny Puppy, 1989
The raw gore this video by Canadian industrial music band Skinny Puppy contains is worse than many of the most gory slasher movies, at least acording to many viewers. The display of scene after scene of numerous injuries and deaths can make the viewers think that there's nothing more to this video than "tossing buckets of blood" just for the sake of cheap shock. This isn't the case. The video effects and editing make this an effective and schocking video that can and will creep out the most sensitive viewers...
__Click to Watch
7. "Let Me Burn" by Whitechapel, 2014
Deathcore band Whitechapel is known for using disturbing audio and imagery for their songs and videos. Once again, bloodshed is a prominent element in this video. However, the distinguishing factor in this video is the use of self-harm imagery. That alone can be enough for many to avoid watching the video altogether. Many say this may be the most nerve-wrecking video in Whitechapel's repertoire...
__Click to Watch
6. "Obscure" by Dir En Grey, 2003
Japanese artists have made a name for themselves as a powerhouse of disturbing content. This band is no exeption. For their song "Obscure" they created what many call "an abomination" of a music video, in the style of renowned japanese gore fantasy directors like Takashi Miike and Hideshi Hino no less. In it we see various scenes of graphic and disorienting nature. Fast transitioning imagery and footage of body horror, gruesomeness, disturbing imagery, and more make up the essence of this video's atmosphere...
__Click to Watch
5. "Orwhurm", by Cephalic Carnage, 2010
Even though the first thing we see is a very ominous quote, this video starts out pretty mildly in comparison to many other notorious shocking music videos. It misleads the viewer into thinking that this video contains nothing but an erotic encounter. The shocking footage shown afterwards was enough to earn this video the #2 position on DrossRotzank's previously discussed "Los 7 Videos Musicales Más Perturbadores" list. This video works better without context, but some Reddit users say it reminds them of the 2010 film titled "A Serbian Film"...
4. "Through The Eyes of The Dead", by Necrophagia, 1999
A music video anthology VHS by remowned death metal act Necrophagia. All of the 6 videos it contains are considered very gruesome and distressing, even with a spoken word intro that has been considereded very sleazy and embarassing. With song titles like "Blood Freak" and "Embalmed, Yet I Breathe", the concepts displayed aren't surprising. The gruesome acts of violence and its sociopathic characters whose trashy behaviour can be reminiscent of the exploitation film "August Underground" make it feel more realistic and unexagerated...
__Click to Watch
3. "Under The Boards", by Stormlord, 2004
According to many, there's something unsettling and nerve wrecking about the way that extreme metal band Stormlord's music video for their 2004 song "Under The Boards" was filmed in that makes it possible for a video as cliché and stereotypical as this one may seem to be a step above most famous and well-known disturbing music videos. The sheer raw violence, despair, fear, and gruesomeness displayed all throughout this clip can make it one of the most horrifying examples to have ever been filmed...
__Click to Watch
2. "Forced Gender Reassignment", by Cattle Decapitation, 2012
This deatchore band's name and the song title alone are really disturbing. Yet, in the early 2010s, a wave of YouTube reaction videos to this clip surfaced, effectively consolidating it as an internet legend. The reason is simple: the level of gore and depravity in this video was so exagerated that it no longer was considered a music video, but rather, a shock video. It was in fact so much that the video was banned from both YouTube and Vimeo on release. It made its debut on a website named "bloody-disgusting.com". It's not on the band's YouTube channel. Only the official trailers and audio remain. This video's reputation has made it a very hard video to find online. From a "writing style" point of view, this story technically sounds like a legend...
1. "It Was Beautiful, Now Its Sour", by RWAKE, 2011
According to the website Vice.com, everything you see in this video is real and no props were used. Created for the song "It Was Beautiful, Now Its Sour" by Arkansas based sludge metal band RWAKE, this video wasn't banned by most major video hosting websites because it wasn't allowed to be posted in the first place, forcing it to make its debut on Vice.com. DrossRotzank has described it as "extremely rugged and really disturbing" and warned his audience, especially those who love animals, to refrain from watching it. The sheer extremity of the gruesome actions displayed in this footage has earned it a reputation of being one of, if not THE hardest music video to watch from start to finish to have ever been filmed...
And so, we come to a conclusion: music videos can be as disturbing and gruesome as they can get away with. I hope you found this list entertaining and informative. Thanks for reading. Until next time!...
