Type O Negative - World Coming Down

Three full years after their last album, Type O Negative finally returned with World Coming Down, a record that might alienate some fans brought on board with October Rust but which actually stands with the best of their work. Many of the songs most closely resemble the dirgier parts of Bloody Kisses; still melodic, but not as immediately accessible, and taken at crawling tempos that would give Black Sabbath on downers a run for their money. So even if the songs do catch on after a couple of listens, they aren't as bright (relatively speaking, of course) as a great deal of October Rust, in terms of both music and subject matter. That's fine, because World Coming Down seems like more natural territory; even in spite of its many fine moments, October Rust felt like a move toward accessibility that worked in fits but didn't quite achieve everything it wanted to. World Coming Down features most of the Type O Negative staples: sly goth send-ups in "Creepy Green Light" and "All Hallows Eve," which happily wallow in their vampire-movie imagery; another catchy, darkly erotic goth-girl fantasy, "Pyretta Blaze," about the blurry lines between sexual submission and self-obliterating obsession; and, of course, a continuation of the odd-cover-choice gimmick with what's actually a pretty appropriate Beatles medley ("Day Tripper," "If I Needed Someone," and "I Want You [She's So Heavy]"). But there are some real surprises on the record, songs when Steele drops his usual knowing wink and expresses real pain and suffering; still veiled in sarcasm and melodrama, to be sure, but it's obvious that "Everyone I Love Is Dead," "World Coming Down," and "Everything Dies" were written with first-hand knowledge of their subjects, not as ironic goofs. Sincere or not, Steele's work has always addressed grief, depression, and loneliness beneath his habitual ironic posturing, glum apathy, and general misanthropy; this feels like his most genuine attempt yet to cope with it all, a realization that he can drop the mask if necessary and inject a little more real-life experience into the conventions he simultaneously embraces and mocks. That's what ultimately makes World Coming Down a more affecting record than October Rust, and further proof that there's more going on beneath Type O Negative's surface than most give them credit for.

Type O Negative - Slow, Deep And Hard

Ohhh Fuuuuuck!! This is a turn up for the books, who would have thought? Type O Negative finally make their debut appearance on `Themes’ and what a way to kick off the weekend on a Thursday Evening!! We should all be grateful that I don’t own any Carnivore (well, maybe except this) because I don’t wish to melt any of your delicate computer speakers (well, maybe not today…tomorrow is Friday after all) before Foetus Fridays’ offering. What more could you wish for?

Slow, Deep and Hard could be considered somewhat of an autobiographical concept album. It chronicles vocalist/bassist/songwriter/gargantuan front-man Peter Steele's corroded state of mind after a past girlfriend cheated on him, resulting in a nasty breakup and later a suicide attempt. Lucky for us, after this failed attempt of taking his life, Pete was a new man, yet his anger lingered. Rather than trying to end his life again, he channelled his anger into musical form. Carnivore was done and now he had something to really be mad about, rather than the silly politically incorrect rage found on his Carnivore offerings. This album, song-by-song, further delves into the inner machinations of a broken man and his deep dark desires after the traumatic event of a partner's infidelity. Album opener "Unsuccessfully Coping with the Natural Beauty of Infidelity" details the first chapter of this dive into depravity as the lyrics describe Pete catching his girlfriend cheating and his racing mind as he berates her for being such a whore and detailing his shattered trust. This may sound dark, and it is, but it is not without Pete's (and the rest of the Drab Four) classic dark humour, as these seething verses are interrupted by a minute-long moaning sample, finally brought to an end by Pete's woeful scream. Even the chorus itself is amusing, with a repeated chant of "I know you're fucking someone else" followed each and every time by a background chant, affirming this revelation. "Unsuccessfully Coping..." is the longest song on the album and it does a perfect job of introducing the general tone for the album - the darkest possible real-world subject matter brought to you in the form of silly lyrics and over-the-top graphic depictions of these events occurring.

All in all, this album is a fantastic start for one of the best and most unique bands to ever grace the metal genre, yet it simply does not showcase the band's signature and classic sound. This "false start" as well as the fact that there are only five actual songs on the album (not counting the two noise interludes and the bonus cover) is what makes me drop this masterpiece down a mere 20 points from a perfect score. While this album, stylistically speaking, is much gnarlier and heavier than what the band would later achieve mainstream success with (Bloody Kisses and October Rust, namely) it shows true potential for uniqueness, a potential that was met with ease and stride.

Type O Negative - Bloody Kisses

When New York crossover band Carnivore broke up in 1987, vocalist-bassist Peter Steele joined forces with childhood friend and keyboardist Josh Silver and formed the short-lived Fallout, then with the addition of guitarist Kenny Hickey and drummer Sal Abruscato, Repulsion, which changed their name to Type O Negative. The band's first album, 1991's Slow, Deep and Hard, in many ways picked up where Carnivore had left off — indeed, most of the songs on the record were leftovers from Steele's previous group. Type O followed a year later with the fake live album The Origin of the Feces (Not Live at Brighton Beach), which featured renamed and rearranged cuts from the debut. Many fans were expecting more abrasive punk-based songs when Type O Negative released what would prove to be their breakthrough album in 1993, Bloody Kisses. What they got was practically a different group.
While Bloody Kisses contained vestiges of the band's past in the punky "Kill All the White People" and "We Hate Everyone," most of the album features a strikingly innovative hybrid of Black Sabbath-style doom, early Sisters of Mercy-esque goth, hooky Beatles-inspired pop and experimental psychedelic rock across its bracing, gloomy epics. Steele seductively crooned about sex, heartbreak and death in a deep, baritone voice, Hickey complemented the vocals with slow, chugging riffs, clean, oblong licks, crystalline arpeggios and melodic solos. Silver crafted four instrumental interludes, which gave the album a weird, unhinged vibe. While the songs were catchy, they were also elliptical and multifaceted. Four were over seven minutes long, including the single "Christian Woman," which was originally 8:58 before being edited down to a four-and-a-half–minute radio single.
Striking a chord with fans of various genres, and assisted by the endorsement of strangely influential Nineties and early Naughties cartoon head-bangers Beavis and Butt-Head, Bloody Kisses was the first Roadrunner album to go gold and platinum.

Type O Negative - October Rust

October Rust is the quintessential Halloween album. It’s cheap to dismiss all gothic/horror/dark whatever rock and metal as some kind of seasonal novelty, but Type O Negative are (or at least were, before frontman Peter Steele’s death in 2010) in on the fun. Jokes and gags and overall amusement was always their shtick anyway…
Opener ‘Bad Ground’ is literally just vibrating feedback intended to make the listener believe their copy of the record is broken. Of course, they couldn’t do it subtly; the following track has the New York boys laughing, “We hope you enjoyed our little joke there,” and introducing themselves before the album begins. It’s charming when a band doesn’t take themselves too seriously and Type O Negative remain perhaps the most shining example of a balance; one of making a hell of a gorgeous racket with tongues firmly in cheeks all the while.
October Rust is no departure from their signature sound. It has the epic ballads and the lyrics drenched in sex and debauchery. Where their previous effort, Bloody Kisses, has ‘Christian Woman’ and ‘Black No.1’, they reply with ‘In Praise Of Bacchus’ and ‘Haunted’. And, just like their other releases, there’s an endearing, almost humorous cover of a usually prim-and-proper track, in this case, Neil Young’s ‘Cinnamon Girl’, which follows the same trend set by versions of Seals & Croft’s ‘Summer Breeze’ and ‘Hey Pete’, a spin on legendary blues number ‘Hey Joe’.
Despite the abundance of fantastic material the Brooklynites put out, this is the record that gives them their identity. Under spine-shattering riffs, Type O Negative’s heavy persona is hoisted into view, a take-it-or-leave it notion not matched by any other of their ‘gothic’ contemporaries. It’s ballsy and audacious and utterly brilliant.
October Rust evokes imagery like no other album. Think Sid’s bedroom in Toy Story, with its dark-panelled walls and its neon shades complemented by lava lamps and all sorts of neo-psychedelic 90s posters and memorabilia. Now imagine a drunken stupor fuelled on Buckfast and delinquency taking place entirely in that room, where everything outside of the four walls (except the thunderous rain outside) ceases to exist. And on the wall is the sleeve of October Rust, beneath it the record spinning. And there are no sounds except its intoxicating, atmospheric tones.
Even through all that, it’s difficult to pinpoint Type O Negative and even harder to put a finger on their sound. Futile as it may seem, somewhere between The Sisters Of Mercy and Pantera appears a safe bet. But, regarding October Rust, it’s really Nosferatu's angsty, horny teenage son's favourite record.

Type O Negative - My Girlfriend's Girlfriend

On August 20, 1996, Type O Negative released their fourth studio album, October Rust, which featured the organ-heavy ode to polyamorous relationships, "My Girlfriend's Girlfriend." The album came three years after the band's platinum-selling Bloody Kisses and carried similar themes regarding sexuality, addressed with singer Peter Steele's signature tawdry sense of humour and dark sensuality. Shortly after the release of October Rust, the group performed the song for MTV's long-running heavy-metal show Headbangers Ball. While the single failed to chart in the U.S (it reached a peak position of #15 on the Official Finish Charts) it remains a fan favourite to this day. Ever the image-conscious frontman, the live performance shows the late singer crooning seductively into the microphone with his face obscured by long black hair, his dramatic tongue-rolls with every "r" played up even further in the live setting. The frenzied light show and spirited grooving of the band accentuates the Sixties psychedelic feel of the track while the enigmatic Steele and his low-slung bass hold steady front and centre.

Type O Negative - Christian Woman

Does anyone really buy CD singles today, even the odd collectable ones? I don't usually do that, but there are always exceptions. However this wouldn’t be one of them. Used (on Amazon US) from $25 and new from $105.70?? Fuck that!

Yes, yes another post of a single or EP that is hogging a corner on my desktop (there’s quite a few still to come) that I know you’re gonna enjoy (well, except this one because it’s…shit to be honest).

Here’s a perfectly acceptable download of a single that butchers one of Bloody Kisses best tracks. The album version lasts almost nine minutes, the two single versions only four and a half. Admittedly the two edits are unimproved and sell-out versions, but still?!! The potential incentive to buy the single is the third track “Suspended In Dusk”, but as it is now available on the expanded versions of Bloody Kisses…