Type O Negative
Slow, Deep and Hard

Madness, sex, physical and psychological violence, fear, death, lack of will to live, the desire to end it all, infidelity, the hypocrisy of the human psyche, anguish, evil.
For months, I thought no metal album could bring me to my knees. But the ones who brought me to my knees, yet at the same time managed to move me, were the Type 0 Negative. Indeed, metal and I never had such an intense relationship. After months spent listening to the usual 3 or 4 bands of my first "training" (Megadeth, Death, and Judas Priest), I returned to rock music, also because a certain "Rock Bottom," essential album for my growth, convinced me to do so, allowing me to take up again a genre I was about to abandon out of disinterest.
Little by little, I almost completely stopped listening to metal, partly because I considered prog, songwriting, and rock in general as “superior” genres. I then decided to listen for the last time to an album I had never listened to, "Slow Deep And Hard," defined by that funny guy Piero Scaruffi as the best metal album ever (a debatable statement, given that there are many albums that could vie for such a title).
Needless to say, I immediately fell madly in love with it: I never thought I would love a metal record more than Rust In Peace (which until then was my favorite in the "macro"-genre). What makes this album absolute is undoubtedly the "gothic," dark, and ephemeral atmosphere proposed by Type O Negative, teetering between speed metal, doom, Steele's hardcore vocals, and so many other genres that it becomes almost impossible to classify the album. Besides Steele, the author of absolutely splendid lyrics, the organ's contribution should be remembered, capable of creating that horror film suspense every time it appears in the album. In some ways, for sounds and atmospheres, T0N always seemed to me to hover between the dark, deadly atmosphere of Suicide's debut and the gothic philosophy of Pawn Hearts by Van Der Graaf Generator.
"Unsuccessfully Coping With The Natural Beauty Of Infidelity," a true suite of 12 minutes, is probably the grandest, epochal, and moving metal track I have ever heard. In 12 minutes, Steele vents against his girlfriend, guilty of being unfaithful to him. “I Know You're Fucking Someone Else,” he screams desperately and angrily, while a chorus, a representation of his inner turmoil, feverishly repeats what he shouts. He knows he made mistakes trusting her, and he knows that "only fools make the same mistake twice." The extraordinary sounds of Type O Negative continually multiply in this song, amid continuous accelerations and decelerations, carried out with the same fluidity with which a brook flows impetuously, going from memorable acoustic phases accompanying the woman's infidelity to the protagonist, to the organ representing the protagonist's inner dilemma, and the final guitar solo marking the definitive end of their relationship, which is now nothing but a disgusting memory for the protagonist, more desperate and alone than ever...an applause from the audience concludes the track. In fact, at the end of the song, every single damn time, I stand up and applaud in tears...what an extraordinary track...
"Der Untermensch" heads towards more industrial routes, with continuous accelerations and decelerations in a speed metal key, without a moment's pause, with that extraordinary bass capable of demolishing every ephemeral value of a decadent society. This song cost Steele quite a few accusations of anti-Semitism and racism because of the lyrics, when in reality Steele interjects in a decadent context where no values exist, and death, hatred, and despair rule the world: a real nine-minute eulogy to human despair.
"Xero Tolerance" instead narrates the evil and ruthless deeds of a serial killer at the moment he is about to kill his unfortunate victim. The organ again makes the piece even more theatrical, exquisitely depicting the terrible moment about to occur. "AND NOW YOU DIE," the serial killer whispers before killing his victim. Iconic words that still resonate after 25 years. "Xero Tolerance" reminds in some ways of "Frankie Teardrop" for the dark theme of murder, with the only difference being that the Suicide song depicts a worker's moment of madness who, due to the alienation from his work, kills his family and himself, while the T0N song excellently describes the death of a poor unfortunate person at the hands of a psychopathic serial killer. "I'll Kill You Tonight," even now I get chills hearing these final verses...
The track ends with an acoustic guitar straight out of a horror movie, while picks are heard, due to the fact that the serial killer is digging the grave for his victim.
"Prelude To Agony" can appear, like the other songs, as a real nightmare, given that it describes with a gruesome atmosphere the moment when the protagonist decides to commit a terrible act of sexual violence with a pneumatic hammer to satisfy his almost bestial instincts. The guitar distortions in the initial riff, with the sounds of a pneumatic hammer, are of a masterful effectiveness, "There is no pain like that of desire, Is there no difference between women and fire?" Steele shouts again. The woman is now seen as a "fire," an object of desire that drives the man to commit insane acts. A real praise of the nefarious acts we commit. A combination of heartbreaking screams that risk pushing the listener to suicide.
"Glass Walls Of Limbo" is instead a nearly infernal tribal march of 6 minutes and 45 seconds, with animal howls and choirs almost tending towards esoteric myths. A real hell materializes in music; it feels like listening to a hopeless funeral rite for the deceased to be remembered by future generations, despite the religious rites that attempt to keep memories alive.
After a minute of silence, there is “Gravitational Constant,” a genuine masterpiece, the last words of a man resigned to his fate, the world is lacking solid values, there is only violence, desolation, death, solitude, sex, hate. The only solution is suicide. "one, two, three four, I DON'T WANNA LIVE NO MORE" Steele shouts resigned. The song itself is one of the most powerful metal tracks ever, with those gorgeous guitar riffs, accelerations, and decelerations as only they can do, with that final chorus concluding in the most barbaric way possible the greatest metal album of all time, destined to be remembered by me until the end of my days, when I will die and then be forgotten, becoming dust swept away by the wind...