ChaosAngel On this, the third studio album from the Brooklyn-based Type O Negative, the Drab Four put the gothic in "gothic metal" in a big way, layering a lot more symphonic/melodic keyboards on top of their gloomy-doomy metal. In so doing, they put out their most successful, and arguably best, album.

(Warning, we are now entering minor spoiler territory.)

Once you get past the band's "little joke" (the first track, called "Bad Ground" is nothing but a low-level buzz, and actually begin listening to the music (which begins with the epic intro to "Love You to Death"), you are in for a delightfully cheesy slice of gothic metal from the guys who started it all.

I'm writing this review in December, so I feel the need to mention the album's festive (heh heh) song, "Red Water (Christmas Mourning)", which always seems to find its way onto every Yuletide playlist I ever make.

This is one of two albums I would recommend to a new listener (the other being the previous album, Bloody Kisses). Really, I would recommend this minor masterpiece to anyone at all.

UMUR "World Coming Down" is the 4th full-length studio album by US doom metal act Type O Negative. The album was released in September 1999 by Roadrunner Records.

After releasing their arguably most commercial sounding album in "October Rust (1996)", Type O Negative returned with a heavier and lyrically more cynical and dark album in "World Coming Down". The relatively more polished production on the predecessor is replaced by a brick heavy and larger than life sound production.

"World Coming Down" is as unmistakably the sound of Type O Negative as any other album by the band. Type O Negative is one of the most distinct sounding acts in metal which is in large part due to the characteristic deep register voice of Peter Steele. Other trademarks include heavily distorted bass, which sometimes works more like a guitar than the guitar does, Beatlesque pop psychadelia, atmospheric synths, heavy Black Sabbath influenced doom metal riffing and a dark goth touch. The band´s lyrics have always been of the dark, depressive and reflective kind albeit with a sarcastic humour, that has ensured that the grave lyrical themes never become too pathetic. The lyrics on "World Coming Down" are no different. I´d actually say they rank among the band´s darkest and most personal lyrics. Principal songwriter Peter Steele has often been cited for saying that the album was written in a very turbulent period of this life, which included several family deaths, alcohol/drug abuse and depression, and that the lyrics were almost too personal for him to commit to paper and release. Tracks like "Everyone I Love Is Dead", "Everything Dies" and especially the brick heavy title track are testaments to his torment. Especially the latter features some very personal lyrics that clearly shows the self-loathing Peter Steele felt in this period of his life. There´s no better example than the opening lines from the that song: "She thinks I'm iron man that I don't feel pain, I don't understand why joy must be feigned, I'm so fortunate yet filled with self-hate, That the mirror shows me an ingrate".

The quality of the tracks is high throughout and "World Coming Down" is a very entertainting release all the way through the 74:02 minutes that it lasts. Type O Negative are one of very few select artists who can successfully release albums that long. Highlights include the title track, "White Slavery", "All Hallows Eve", "Creepy Green Light", "Everyone I Love Is Dead" (love the sarcastic "ha ha" during the chorus) and the quirky "Who Will Save the Sane?". Even the Beatles medley that ends the album came out pretty great.

"World Coming Down" is an excellent release by Type O Negative and I have very few issues with the album. The musicianship is solid, the production is powerful and the songwriting is clever and full of emotional impact. My only issue is that it´s like the band have stopped developing their sound and style at this point. All three predecessors had a unique sound and you could easily detect a development in sound and style from one album to the next. On "World Coming Down" it´s like the search for an ultimate sound has stopped. Maybe Type O Negative simply felt that they had found the definitive formula at this point? Whatever the reason "World Coming Down" isn´t quite as adventurous or groundbreaking as the predecessors but it´s a damn solid, crushingly heavy and very well written doom metal album fully deserving a 4.5 star rating.

UMUR Dead Again is the 6th full-length studio album by American metal act Type O Negative and it´s probably bound to be their last, as main composer, bassist and lead vocalist Peter Steele passed away due to heart failure earlier this year ( 14th of April, 2010). Peter Steele had led a hard life with reported alcohol and cocaine abuse but according to the statement the band sent out regarding the death of their frontman, Peter Steele had been enjoying a long period of sobriety and improved health and was imminently due to begin writing and recording new music for the follow up to Dead Again. Dead Again was released in March 2007 by Steamhammer/ SPV.

The music on the album is in the trademark Type O Negative sound. The combination of brick heavy doom metal, goth rock/ metal, Beatlesque psychadelia and hardcore punk/ crossover is as usual very unique. Let´s just say it out loud. No one sounds like Type O Negative but Type O Negative. Peter Steele´s deep and emotional vocal delivery is as always the focal point in the music. The lyrics are the usual cynical pain and suffering stuff but as always there´s the tongue in cheek dark humour present too. Type O Negative were always the masters of balancing between the two. This is a delicate art that wouldn´t work for most acts.

As with all Type O Negative albums, Dead Again is packed to the brim with music and it´s no surprise that the album is 77:34 minutes long. There are several very long tracks on the album, so the many minutes of playing time is actually only distributed over 10 tracks. I like the fact that the band have chosen to include more up-tempo hardcore sections in several of the songs because it provides good variation on the album. It´s a feature they´ve slowly returned to after having ditched the hardcore influence on a couple of albums. The melodies are generally strong and memorable, but I have to admit that Dead Again has taken a bit longer for me to absorb than the other albums by the band. Mainly because I feel the band have stopped developing their sound over the last couple of albums. It´s taken me almost 3 years to really gather up interest in giving the album some prober listens. After having given the album a lot of spins I´ve come to enjoy it a lot though, but if you ask me it´s the least important album released by the band. The overall quality of the album ( production, musicianship and compositional quality) is much higher than what you´ll get from most other acts though, so Dead Again is still a high quality album deserving a 3.5 - 4 star rating. I wish the album had been a bit more adventurous but songs like Tripping a Blind Man, The Profits of Doom, She Burned Me Down and Hail and Farewell to Britain still save the day.

topofsm Imagine a goth male whose balls are as as big as basketballs and has a voice to match. Picture him sex crazed and completely set out against against the world. But then give him a sense of humor and put him behind sensible pop keyboards and catchy, but slow, guitar riffs. This is what you get when you listen to Bloody Kisses by Type O Negative.

This is undoubtedly a highly influential album, especially within the context of gothic and doom metal. The songs are accessible and simple, yet carefully composed, develop well, and are dark and heavy. As far as musicianship goes, there is nothing impressive here. But the listen is great, and Peter Steele's deep bass voice combines with the haunting synth layers, the chugging guitars, the low bass, and the solid driving drums to create an excellent dark atmosphere.

Standout tracks include the highly praised "Christian Woman", the true opening song of the album. A lone organ line faintly starts in the background and Steele sings a solitary stanza, until everything pounds in and the 'The Bensonhoist Lesbian Choir' pours in flowing melodies. "Black No. 1", another single, is also a good listen, an ironically both an anthem for gothic popular music fans while simultaneously mocking them the whole time.

Not all the songs are dark and slow. Two hardcore styled songs feature on the album as well, "Kill all the White People", a humorous take on violent racism, and "We Hate Everyone" written in the same style.

"Summer Breeze" is an excellent cover of Seals and Crofts, turning an airy hippie ballad into a low creeping song full of dark distortion. It segues into the following song, "Set me on Fire" which turns into a Beatles style psychedelic catchy pop tune.

Interspersed through the album are a few ambient tracks that add more to the mood of the album, often sexually crazed or dark and haunting. They neither seem to add or detract from the quality of the record, but certainly help establish the tone of it.

All in all this is a milestone in metal, and it certainly deserves that credit. This oft-cited masterpiece is one that metal goth fans can listen to over and over again with enthusiasm, however disaffected that enthusiasm is with teenage angst and gothic distain.

Negoba The Beginning of Goth Metal...At Least for Me

I write this review only a few days after the announcement that Peter Steele is dead at age 48. R.I.P. Big guy. Loved the humor, loved the fun. Hope you have some burdens lifted.

From the first low crooning of "Unsuccessfully Coping" there was something about this band that was unlike any band I'd heard before. When Bloody Kisses came out, the band had clearly figured out where their appeal was going to be. Catering to the vampire / goth element, the album features the sex / morbid depression / and plenty of black (and green) imagery to the extreme. There was plenty to dig about the band, but what I dug was the low vocals (as a baritone myself, I certainly envied Steele's ability to hit the low notes.)

At one level, the lyrics and the whole schtick are incredibly bad. But what makes this work, is that Steele is the first one who'll tell you that they're bad. He clearly has said from the beginning that it's a stage act, but at another level, there are plenty of indications that some of the black feelings are real. The double edged emotional delivery allows for some tension and energy in a slow, plodding music.

The biggest songs of the band's career "Black No. 1" and "Christian Woman" are on this one. They're not their best songs, but "Black No. 1" is probably their catchiest, and "Christian Woman" combines all the images into one hilariously over the top whole. There are some other good moments on this album too, but there are some very overlong fuzz bass sections too.

Though this was the breakthrough album, the follow-up, October Rust, is a much better album. But like many innovations that are rough, the power here is that there was virtually nothing else like this out when it was released. The sound has long ago been assimilated into history and the general goth metal sound, but in 1993 this was really quite fresh.