Evil-Sounding Music Pt. 1
In our society, we are taught from an early age that anything “heavy” is what sounds like evil. Deep growling vocals are used as the voices of demons, death metal is the music of the devil, etc.
Yesterday I wanted to start a Halloween station on my Pandora, and, after a brief search, found the station Spooky Symphonies. I got some great classic tracks: songs from the scores of movies such as King Kong, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and Son of Frankenstein, for a few examples. It’s definitely a great way to keep in touch with your inner spooky self.
But what really fascinated me was the way they all sounded. Perhaps it’s because these songs have been around for so long, but they aren’t thought of as “evil-sounding” anymore. When these movies were first coming out, people were legitimately terrified of them.
The song which prompted me to start this post was:
Even when it sounds like classic traveling music, there is a mad urgency in the sound, indicating that something’s not right; that something evil is about. And then it hit me: songs like this make me feel the evil that lurks in the heart of everyone, rather than giving it an outlet.
Let me explain. I mentioned death metal earlier as being the music of evil. Sure, it sounds evil, but what it really does is give that evil within you an outlet (especially if you sing along lol) and allows you to release it. With a symphonic style such as this, you don’t get that. All the dread and bad thoughts are held hostage by the sound, and only when the song is done can you truly end those feelings.