10 Perfect Hard Rock Albums That Are Insanely Dark

10. Thirteenth Step - A Perfect Circle

Most of the darkest albums in rock don't always need to scare you to death from the opening few seconds. It's like the jump scare that you get in movies; if you're left with just a jolt, there's nothing else to grab onto. No, if you're looking to get something disturbed in an album, you're going to need to let that idea of terror sink in a little more.

Even though a Perfect Circle felt more like a side hustle for Maynard James Keenan in between his stints with Tool, Thirteenth Step is in its own unique lane, being a dissection of what it's like to live with addiction of any kind. It's not even about drugs half the time, with songs like Weak and Powerless talking about just how low you will go to satiate your habit.

As you listen further into the record, it's almost like you start to develop the same habits of the characters in these songs, being almost in a dream state without realizing that you're trapped inside your own head. In fact, the darkest songs are the ones that actually sound the sunniest, with The Nurse Who Loved Me serving as the most crazed love ballad ever produced. This isn't the kind of sickness that people like to indulge in. They've practically shut the door on your sanity and are holding you hostage.