Lots of the current downtuney metal bands use Phrygian a lot, it's really quite dark-sounding.
However, if you analyze some "heavy" songs, you'll notice that the interval/step that is used most often to create dissonant/dark sounding riffs is the b9/b2 -- which is also contained in the Phrygian scale, of course. What some bands do is add the b9/b2 to other scales (like the blues scale, for example) which usually sends music theory buffs into a fit of rage but you can't argue with the results.
However, if you analyze some "heavy" songs, you'll notice that the interval/step that is used most often to create dissonant/dark sounding riffs is the b9/b2 -- which is also contained in the Phrygian scale, of course. What some bands do is add the b9/b2 to other scales (like the blues scale, for example) which usually sends music theory buffs into a fit of rage but you can't argue with the results.
