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Peter Steel is a misanthrope, Peter Steel is well-endowed (see to believe his Playgirl spread that led numerous American girls to "kill themselves with pleasure"), Peter Steel is a charmer, Peter Steel is a damn New Yorker, Peter Steel is a bit dark, Peter Steel is an excellent musician and composer. The Type O Negative have achieved success and appreciation precisely thanks to their leader Peter Steel, not only because of the music offered, but also for the image and cultural content he brought with him. Peter is indeed the mind and soul of Type; the other band members serve only as a backdrop! Type O Negative is a group that achieved great success in the first half of the '90s, especially with albums like "Bloody Kisses" and "October Rust," works that have spawned a myriad of imitators and set the trend for the dark and brooding persona. These works have also brought many chicks closer to more extreme music like metal, gothic, and similar genres!
A group like Type has always had an important characteristic, which is the great irony of the lyrics, their way of addressing painful themes from an ironic standpoint and a poking fun perspective, from a misanthropic but not detached standpoint! Because, excuse me, a group that releases songs with a title like "Unsuccessfully Coping with the Natural Beauty of Infidelity" or releases a "live" record with only one album to their credit—even though it’s not a live album, it's a studio work that uses the same tracks as the debut, adds screams and crowd noises, and titles the whole thing "The Origin of the Feces"—well, can you take a group like this seriously? Not to mention the lyrics of "Christian Woman," absolutely irreverent towards Christian morality with lyrics like "Do you want to suffer eternally or internally? (with 'internally' there is a sexual reference)" where Christ becomes a body that the Christian woman carnally desires, and the "body of Christ" represented by the host becomes the object of sexual desire of the Christian woman "feel her god, inside of her." I talked about these lyrics just to demonstrate their irreverent and ironic spirit, which few bands can truly claim to possess.
But with the CD I'm reviewing, their fourth album "World Coming Down," something changes! Peter Steel's lyrics are no longer ironic but truly filled with suffering and depression, and the music reflects all of that. This situation is justified by everything that happened in Peter's real life in the meantime. As indicated by the cover title, "the world is coming down," but this world is the singer's personal world, as he experienced numerous family losses during that period! Type O Negative has been a band that (as Steel himself has always stated) mixed Beatles and Black Sabbath in cheerful heresy, all tamed by quasi-gothic sounds. Now there are no more traces of the Beatles' sunny melodies, and the album is mostly Sabbath-like, almost doom in conception, with non-musical interludes where you hear a guy snorting cocaine, one committing suicide, etc. (missing those typically comedic interludes, like in the album "October Rust," where they declared the liberation of a mythical Republic of Vinnland). The lyrics talk about death and despair, and it couldn't be otherwise! In the first track of the album titled "White Slavery," Steel declares: "I've lost myself again, it's a nightmare, but it's clear. It will end, but when?"
From this perspective, it's useless to do a track by track. Type uses the usual guitars now known as "buzz-saw," but everything in a context where the songs slow down. You could almost talk about a single track!!! There are more carefree episodes like "Who Will Save the Same," where irony and the old Type sound return at times, or "Day Tripper," which is a medley of various Beatles tracks. Also noteworthy is the title track, perhaps the best track on the album, where keyboards play an important role, giving atmosphere and depth to the piece, constructing haunting and desperate melodies, all with a background of Gregorian chants! So, I recommend this record; for me, it’s a small masterpiece, probably the most sincere and least self-celebratory work of Type, although for those who want to get to know this group, I would suggest starting with the less despairing and more ironic "Bloody Kisses."
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
05 Who Will Save the Sane? (06:41)
Periodic tableware psychotropic science fare But who will - save the sane some beings - just can't change now - crawl on by - a fake - tear in your eye and think - isn't he strange Pseudogasmic chemistry necromorphic apathy But who will - save the sane some beings - just can't change now - crawl on by - a fake - tear in your eye and think - isn't he strange Physical laws unapplied - hamper my - quest unsurreal world of unfailed - HIV - tests der ubermensch warning of pi techno junkies - 3.141592653 come on boy - tell me - tell me Tentative ambulance date - bound for G - ward beartrap psychiatrist bait - chew my paw - off unmercilessly we will take you away to slumber but only if you can recite avogadro's number come on boy - tell me - tell me But who will - save the sane some beings - just can't change now - crawl on by - a fake - tear in your eye and think - isn't he strange Now - crawl on by - a fake tear in your eye and think - wasn't he strange
09 Everything Dies (07:43)
Well I loved my aunt
But she died
And my uncle Lou
Then he died
I'm searching for something which can't be found
But I'm hoping
I still dream of dad
Though he died
Everything dies
Everything dies
My ma's so sick she might die
Though my girl's quite fit she will die
Still looking for someone who was around
Barely coping
Now I hate myself
Wish I'd die
Everything dies
Everything dies
Everything dies
Everything
(No why)
Oh god I miss you
(No why)
Oh god I miss you
I really miss you
(no no no no)
Everything dies
Everything dies
Everything dies
Everything
11 Pyretta Blaze (06:57)
Beautiful yet dangerous
Thermogenic, luminous
Like a moth drawn to a flame
I'm the same
All cremated equally
As a spark still I knew
I'll be lured, be consumed
She a pyre incarnate, incinerate
An inferno turned to flesh
You are the first
Will be my last
Will be my final words
(said she)
Pyretta blaze
Say the words
I long to hear
Pinch, bite, kiss, suck, lick and sear
In a pyromantic way
I'm her slave
Living for her to ignite
12 All Hallows Eve (08:35)
Fall fires burn 'neath
Black twisted boughs
Sacrifice to above
Smoke swirling quickly
Towards misting clouds
Offering of this blood
Into the flames
And without shame
Consumed with howls
And screams
Pumpkins grin
In their despair
On all...Hallows Eve!
Cruel be the wind
As it quells my words
I shout out to the rain
Incantations I so hoped
You've heard
That you live again
From deep Earth
Brings forth rebirth
Witness but I shant believe
From below a chilling glow
On all...Hallows Eve!
Be spiderwebbed
And glazed in frost
She wears death beautifully
More stunning now
Than in her life
On a bed of Autumn leaves
Into her eyes
And quite surprised
I whispered
"Don't you leave"
Sing macabre songs
And we'll dance 'til dawn
On all...Hallow's Eve!
Saint Lucifer hear me
Praying to thee
On this eve of all saints
High be the price
But then nothing is free
My soul I'll gladly trade, all Hallow's Eve, all Hallow's Eve
Cold is the night
In so many ways
Luna round, full and bright
Deep be the mud
On the fresh dug graves
On yours I recite
An ancient spell
I know so well
Success is guaranteed
I'll bring you back
From where you've gone
On all...Hallow's Eve!
Saint Lucifer hear me
Praying to thee
On this eve of all saints
High be the price
But then nothing is free
My soul I'll gladly trade, all Hallows Eve, all Hallows Eve..
13 Day Tripper (medley) (07:02)
Originally performed by The Beatles
Got a good reason for taking the easy way out,
Got a good reason for taking the easy way out now,
She was a day tripper,
One way ticket, yeh!
It took me so long to find out,
And I found out.
She's a big teaser she took me half the way there,
She's a big teaser she took me half the way there now,
She was a day tripper,
One way ticket, yeh!
It took me so long to find out,
And I found out.
Tried to please her,
She only played one night stands tried to please her,
She only played one night stands now.
She was a day tripper,
Sunday driver, yeh!
It took me so long to find out,
And I found out,
Day tripper, yeh!
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Other reviews
By Vinsex
"From sincerely annihilated inspirations, the most fruitful pathos flourishes luxuriantly."
"Peter Steele, a shadowy and hieratic jester of the most depraved Brooklyn, poured into his creation all the enormity of his sulfurous Ego."
