10 Darkest Hard Rock Albums Ever Made

Any darkness that comes with the nu metal movement tends to be laughed out of the room a lot more today. For as much as something like Korn may have seemed dark and edgy back in the day, the more melodramatic side of the genre coming from the likes of Staind made the sound of detuned guitars seem wimpy by comparison. If there was ever a time to get serious though, Deftones offered us one hell of a headtrip on White Pony.

At a time when most bands were writing about their family situations, most of Chino Moreno's lyrics were written as the result of getting hooked on hard drugs while recording the record in California. Looking to switch up the usual suburban vocal style, Moreno's stories inhabit characters on this album, which feel all the more twisted as the record goes on, from the electrified murder of Digital Bath to the anti-hero perspective of Street Carp.

Though the most pop friendly song on here might be Change in the House of Flies, there's still something not quite at home in this tune, as Chino makes allusions to religion before giving way to some drastic imagery towards the tail end. Take note next wave of nu metal bands....this is how you pull off disturbing correctly.