The Dark Side of Halloween

If music didn’t set the tone for every occasion, movie, and TV show, we wouldn’t have musicians paid for simply matching the right remix to a move scene. There’s a specific name for this position I’m sure that eludes me at the present moment.

Let me set the scene: Halloween. Not one of those Halloweens we give our children – trick or treating and dressing up as princesses or superheroes. Also not one of the teenager or college Halloweens that involves dressing up in revealing clothing, bobbing for apples, and drinking poorly conceived alcoholic concoctions that make you want to brush your teeth 10 times to get the sugar out.

I’m talking HALLOWEEN. As in, ritualistic witchcraft or voodoo performed in the dead of night, in the middle of a field or next to a pond, far away from any city lights or civilization. This is music and activity that you wouldn’t dare let your child, friend, sibling, or cousin get into.

1. Conjuring the Dead by Belphegor

What is a Halloween gathering without conjuring up some dead of the animated corpse variety (that’s probably a song name too)? This song is about giving yourself over to Satan, with hollowed out eyes. I’ve heard before that witches get their power from demons/Satan so I suppose they do in fact give themselves over.

2. Soil the Stillborn by Infant Annihilator

This one is pretty disgusting, and an ode to pedophiles, particularly the ones who were priests? We’re all familiar with this level of scum so low that other criminals will remove them from society since our justice system is too cowardly to do so, yes? Well, if you can imagine a stillborn infant being defiled, it is definitely a nightmare fit for this kind of Halloween.

3. Decapitation Fornication by Infant Annihilator

Decapitation Fornication is a cross between a crime of passion and a guillotine executioner. For those who don’t know, a common humane method of termination in animal research for science and medicine is decapitation with a guillotine. Another is cervical dislocation after euthanasia. Same concept, but a lot more hands on to break the neck without having blood spilled.

4. Plague of Filth by Guttural Slug

Plague of Filth by Guttural Slug is about the annihilation of the bureaucratic system with swords. You’re familiar – the people who go to space but don’t pay their workers enough to live, the ones who deny women access to safe and affordable birth control and abortion, regardless of if they’re raped? The ones who target women and people of color?

5. Castration Mutilation by Vulvodynia

I love this song. My hetero ladies, if you don’t listen to this, you’re truly missing out. Have you ever been on a date with a man so disgusting that you wanted to teach them the meaning of the excruciating pain you went through with them? This is basically a list of ideas of how to do just that, and will probably take about 2-3 hours to execute.

6. Apocalyptic Premonition by Analepsy

In comparison to its predecessors on this playlist, Apocalyptic Premonition is almost a little safe – it describes how the human race will starve and fall ill, then devour the earth, and repeat. If nothing else, it does describe this continuous COVID issue. Let’s face it, science and medicine are wonderful disciplines. You can dedicate your whole life to eradicating disease only to find that 2+ more evolve for every one that is even temporarily eradicated.

7. A Gluttonous Abomination by Acrania

Another one about corporate greed. If you have an image in your mind about a fat CEO shoveling fast food down his gullet, that’s a pretty good one.

8. Baba Yaga by Slaughter to Prevail

Baba Yaga has been mentioned many times lately – in Lost Girl, when Kenzie invokes the fae Baba Yaga to curse her best friend Bo’s ex-lover Dyson. Baba Yaga steals the souls of young Russian girls who look in the mirror and say “Baba Yaga” three times. Baba Yaga also made its way into the John Wick movies (starring Keanu Reeves). Needless to say, the media versions aren’t close to the many Slavic legends that describe Baba Yaga in many ways. But while the dead are being conjured for this Halloween, let’s add a witch to the mix.

9. Monsters by Gothminister

The song title to this one doesn’t leave much to the imagination. Halloween is fraught with monsters so they get their own special mention.

10. Erebus by Aversions Crown

Erebus is about walking through blood, flesh, bone, and general carcasses. After this Halloween why wouldn’t this happen?

11. Sugar by Fleshgod Apocalypse

Since its Halloween, sugar has a special appearance, and a twist in this song.

Starting with Conjuring the Dead in a graveyard and ending with Sugar at home makes for a great spooky Halloween celebration, whether your style is voodoo and witchcraft in the middle of nowhere, or wreaking havoc in the city.