Type O Negative
World Coming Down
Roadrunner
I suppose this is Type O Negative’s third major market album, not counting Slow, Deep and Hard and The Origin of the Feces , two recordings of utter negative ugliness (that I relish) that clearly mark Type O I and Type O II. This is album 3 for Type O II.
Back in the winter of 1994-95, I used to “enjoy” a brisk 40-minute trek to work, walking down Broadway in New York City. I think for the entire month of February, I listened exclusively to Type O Negative’s Bloody Kisses album on my little Walkman. I look back and realize that was the beginning of a two-year fit of depressing insanity. But whenever I hear Type O’s “Christian Woman” and all the cascading keyboard jams, I get a feeling of the cold wind biting my face as I stroll down the cluttered streets of Manhattan, my mind wanders back to a time when… Ohh! Type O Negative: the York Peppermint Patty of rock.
Well, listening to “Everything Dies” enhances that flashback about a hundredfold. It’s righteously depressing, flushed with passionate despair, etc., etc. “Everyone I Love Is Dead” could be described similarly. As could “Who Will Save the Sane?” and the title track. Man, the world inside ubermensch Peter Steele is a consuming fire of green melancholy.
But that’s only half the album. Keyboardist Josh Silver must be given extra nods for going that extra mile and finding just the most depressing notes possible – even if it all is melodic!
The other half is an awesome psychedelic stoner groove, where all the R’s roll for an extra five seconds and where people jam to the “Creepy Green Light” or suffer the depravity of “White Slavery.” The latter, if you catch my drift, is Type O’s “Snowblind.” “Pyretta Blaze,” my personal favorite, takes the pop of their last hit “My Girlfriend’s Girlfriend” and mixes it with a bit of Modesty Blaise, a bit of Mysta Mystralis, and tons of Sabbath-flavored jams. “All Hallows Eve” (along with “Creepy Green Light”) is the band’s Halloween gift to all their fans who plan their costumes a year in advance. (Actually, all their songs are about sex…)
Songs to watch out for when plying the album: “Skip It,” “Sinus,” “Lung,” and “Liver.” They’re stereo-destroyers.
And now for those who aren’t Negative enough: there’s a Beatles’ medley of “Day Tripper,” “If I Needed Someone,” and “I Want You (She’s So Heavy).” “Day Tripper” as anthemic goth-metal? Believe it.
Roadrunner Records, 536 Broadway, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10012; http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com
