12 Most Brutally Heavy Metal Albums EVER
10. The Downward Spiral - Nine Inch Nails
Most of the heaviest albums of all time tend to feature a loud fuzzy guitar at the forefront. While other acts have created sonic landscapes with bass and drums, guitars always seemed to be the prominent instrument when it came to tearing your audience to the ground. When it came to the 90's though, one electronic whiz named Trent Reznor swung for the fences and made one of the most destructive albums of all time.
Coming right in the center of the industrial boom, The Downward Spiral was Nine Inch Nails' magnum opus where Reznor laid out his emotional turmoil on the table. The entire record has a haunting aura that comes from the glitchy keyboard effects and electronic soundscapes. While NIN is not a metal artist in every instance, songs like "March of the Pigs" show the band's capacity to peel paint off the walls with their sound.
Even slower moments like "A Warm Place" are still dripping with an inner turmoil that the most jaded metalheads would find pretty compelling. Nine Inch Nails would never reach these commercial heights again, but as it stands, the Downward Spiral is one of the most raw performances from a decade that wasn't short on terrifying music.