This English progressive rock band can write some absolutely terrifying songs if they put their mind to it.
- Most of the lyrics on In Absentia. While most of the songs are pretty ambiguous and can be interpreted in a number of ways, Word of God states that several songs on the album are about Serial Killers, and in light of this the lyrics often become terrifying. Wilson on the title: "It's about people on the fringes, on the edges of humanity and society. I have an interest in Serial Killers, child molesters and wife beaters…not in what they did but in the psychology of why, what caused them to become unhinged and twisted? Why are they unable to empathize? It's sort of a metaphor - there's something missing, a black hole, a cancer in their soul. It's an absence in the soul."
- A standout from In Absentia is "The Creator Has a Mastertape." The lyrics are absolutely terrifying and those wailing drones in Wilson's guitar makes in the chorus do not help.
- From the same album, the music video for Strip the Soul
. Oh my god. The lyrics reference the West murders.
- "The Creator Has a Mastertape" isn't his only song about children murdering each other, either. Porcupine Tree's "This Is No Rehearsal" was inspired by a real life example, specifically the murder of James Bulger. Just a bit of Fridge Horror for you, considering the song itself sounds pretty happy.
- Fear of a Blank Planet in general. The music video for the title track takes this up to eleven.
- Sleep Together, mainly due the Downer Ending aspects of the assumed conclusion and the infamous Last Note Nightmare.
- The album cover◊. Brr.
- Some of their older stuff can be Nightmare Fuel also. Try listening to "Up the Downstair", "What You Are Listening To", "Voyage 34 Phase IV", and "Bornlivedie" alone in the dark.
- "The Sky Moves Sideways (Phase One)" has one incredibly palpable sense of doom to it. Thank god for the acoustic coda in the last few minutes.
- "Bonnie the Cat". Holy shit, "Bonnie the Cat". The music itself is creepy on its own, but it becomes creepier when you look to some of the interpretations of the lyrics. Some say that it's about a breakup. Others, however have deduced that the song talks about rape and subsequent pregnancy FROM THE RAPIST'S POINT OF VIEW. Well, Steven Wilson did say he likes to write about things that are scary to him...
- "I know. What. Will be."
- "Radioactive Toy" deserves a special mention, since it was inspired by the movie Threads.
- Not a song, really, but "Space Transmission" from On the Sunday of Life is terrifying, from the angry whispered delivery to the disturbing images contained within. Protip: Do not listen with headphones at night.
- The Incident seems to have several songs that are pretty unnerving, such as "Circle of Manias", "The Blind House", "Octane Twisted", and "The Incident".
- I want to be loved. I want to be loved.
- There's also the album booklet, which contains eerie, sepia toned photos from Lasse Hoile depicting the stories in the songs, including a religious cult that is implied to sexually abuse its members and a seance. Many of them verge into Nothing Is Scarier territory.
- "Last Chance to Evacuate Planet Earth Before It Is Recycled" samples a speech given by the Heaven's Gate religious cult leader from shortly before they committed ritual suicide.
- The strange demonic voice in "Shallow"... What is it saying, and why is it moaning like that...?!
- Much of Lasse Hoile's album art, especially the distorted faces from his In Absentia work.
