After another long hiatus I have come back to write more about my favorite genre, metal. I figured I would start with a thought piece on one of my all time favorite bands Type O Negative. If you have not heard of them before you will learn a lot in this article. If you are as big a fan as I am then I hope you can relate to my thoughts about this once in a generation band.
When you hear of the band Type O Negative so many things come to mind, some of them being nostalgia, Halloween, sex, black humor and Peter Steele. I have been listening to this band for a couple years now, but knew nothing about them before stumbling across “October Rust” years back. When I heard this album the catchiness, darkness and brilliant lyrics really sucked me in. I still feel to this day that Peter Steele is one of the best vocalist I have heard in the heavy music medium. The different ranges and registers he sings in is so versatile and really give each Type O Negative album it’s own unique personality.
The more I delved into the Type O Negative rabbit hole the more I was impressed with how diverse and epic their songs are. They have some crushing numbers that echo doom, goth, death and even some industrial metal. Then they have sounds that are almost darkly pop in nature with some punk sprinkled in for good measure. This vast, and various painters pallet of music Type O Negative created has heavily influenced so many bands over the years. Any metalhead you talk to has some respect or admiration for Peter Steele and company. One of the things that stands out most to me is how honest/relatable Steele’s lyrics are. I think we have all had moments in life when the crisp air and bonfires of Fall remind us of a Type O Negative song. The gothic subculture was also given an identity when Type O Negative hit the radio waves. To me I always felt the gothic culture thrived even back during the days of Sisters of Mercy and The Cure. But somehow Type O Negative gave the goth culture a whole new, and darkly romantic bent to society. When I talk to metal fans regularly all I hear is how awesome and relevant Type O Negative is even now. To leave such a legacy to newer generations is something to be excited about for the future of goth music/metal.
Some of my favorite albums by Type O Negative was “October Rust”, and “World Coming Down”. Both these albums got a ton of listens over the years. I think “Word Coming Down” is one of those albums that really hits home in a wide variety of ways. This album really reflected the internal torment and misery Peter Steele was going through. I also think a lot of doom metal acts were heavily influenced by this album for both its immense darkness/oppression and vulnerability. While “World Coming Down” was the bleaker darker aspect of Type O Negative “October Rust” was the album that showed great humor, a sense of fun and gothic-tinged romance. When I hear this album I always listen to it around Autumn time it is just so relevant to that time of year in New Hampshire. When I see Halloween decorations, pumpkins, fallen leaves, feeling the crisp air and smells of bonfires/chimney smoke “October Rust” ends up being my living soundtrack. I think most metal fans have “October Rust” in their playlists when Fall arrives. When an album that has that much renown and replayability shows once again how Peter Steele and his bandmates have played a supremely important part to the heavy music timeline.
If you have stumbled upon this article and this is your first time ever hearing about Type O Negative I highly suggest you take the time as well as your hard earned dollars to pick up some of their albums. The music is excellent, the themes are memorable and the images that come to mind when you hear them will be immediate and even relatable in a way. Hail Type O Negative!
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The Dreaming Metal Muse 