Kev Rowland I am not sure how I first came across Type O Negative, but given I was involved with Roadrunner Records back in the Nineties I guess it was probably through them. Their infamous “live” album, ‘The Origin of the Feces’, struck a real chord with me and I can remember playing it to anyone who was daft enough to get in my car (generally to massive dislike, tough, it was my car). ‘Bloody Kisses’ brought them to much wider attention, which was continued in ‘October Rust’, and when this was released in 2007 it was very well-liked and was their highest chart debut in the Billboard charts at #27. Things appeared to be going well for the band, but then on April 14th, 2010, it was announced that Pete Steele had died, and without Steele there was no band who promptly broke up. The album was swallowed up in many issues, so much so that it has been difficult to find it in recent years. As guitarist Kenny Hickey explains, “The first casualty of this album was the record company - which promptly went under after its release. Soon after, Peter passed, and then even the rehearsal studio it was written and developed in was burnt to the ground by Hurricane Sandy. As the black cloud continued its relentless path over TYPE O, ‘Dead Again’ appeared and disappeared from the streaming platforms for years.”

Now it is back, containing not only the original 10 songs and the original bonus numbers (which includes the wonderful “My Girlfriend’s Girlfriend”), but four more from their set at Wacken Open Air in 2007. This reissue has been widely awaited, and hearing it again after all these years is great as this actually is an album worth hearing as opposed to something which people will flock to as it was the last one he recorded. Instead of using programmed drums they actually let Johnny Kelly play this time around, which means this is the only album he played on even though he was credited on the previous three. Combined with a somewhat happier approach from Steele, there is a lot of space within the album, and while they continue in their gothic theme and heaviness there is far more variety without losing any of their passion. This is not all doom and gloom, and consequently is one of the easiest albums for a newcomer to the band to discover, even if we do get numbers like “These Three Things” which are classic ToN, slowed down, gothic doom with passion and those deep baritone stylings of Steele on a track which keeps developing throughout its 14-minute length. As for the bonus cuts, the sound may not be perfect but it certainly captures the power of the band in the live environment, and takes me back to the early days.

A nice example of how to reissue a classic album, this is not only one for the fans but for people who may have wondered just what this Brooklyn band were all about.

SilentScream213 My relationship with Type O Negative has always been troubled. Doom and Gothic Metal are some of my favorite genres, and Type O Negative practically invented the later (despite what people say, I am firmly of the opinion they have NEVER played the former). The thing about these genres is that they are known for being moody, melancholic, sombre, etc. Type O Negative, rather than representing these traits, are more so a parody of them.

Most of their songs are filled with tongue in cheek humor, sarcasm, overly vulgar sexuality, and Peter Steele’s ever so annoying “sensual tough guy” persona. It’s like if gym jocks tried making Gothic Metal. The joke interludes found on many of their albums send a pretty clear message they don’t really take anything too seriously.

Anyway, as for this album… Most of the music is pretty good. Red Water is great, even, with some actually melancholic and doomy atmosphere. Far too often, these songs are overlong and filled with all the annoying tropes of the band I mentioned before. The gothic guitar melodies and echo effects are usually quite nice, and Peter sounds good for the most part, but he still falls into parody territory too often.

It’s just a band that doesn’t sit well with me.

UMUR "The Origin of the Feces" is a live album release by US, New York based heavy/doom/goth metal act Type O Negative. The album was released through Roadrunner Records in May 1992. It bridges the gap between the band´s debut full-length studio album "Slow, Deep and Hard" from 1991 and their sophomore full-length studio album "Bloody Kisses" from 1993. It´s a bit unusual (although it´s been done before by other artists), to release a live album, when you only have one studio album out, but Type O Negative were never the band to do things in a conventional way. Although "The Origin of the Feces" is credited as a live release, it´s actually a live in the studio recording with added crowd noises. In typical sarcastic fashion, frontman Peter Steele even has arguments with the fake audience (who screams back at him "You Suck") and suddenly the concert stops in the middle of the album because a bomb threat is called in. All manufactured for the entertainment of the listener, and it works.

The original version of "The Origin of the Feces" (which featured a cover artwork with a picture of Steele´s anus) predominantly features re-arranged versions of tracks from "Slow, Deep and Hard (1991)", where the titles of the tracks have been altered. In addition to those tracks the album also features a cover of Billy Roberts' "Hey Joe" (titled "Hey Pete" here) and the Type O Negative original "Are You Afraid", which is exclusive to "The Origin of the Feces" (the song never saw a regular studio version release). Reissues of "The Origin of the Feces" feature a different cover artwork (a black and green portrait of 1493 painting "The Dance of Death" by Michael Wolgemut) and a cover of "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath in a regular studio recording. Type O Negative put their own spin on "Paranoid" and make the song their own. The pace is much slower than the original, and they incorporate the main riff from "Iron Man" too. So while it´s still obvious that it´s "Paranoid" being covered, Type O Negative succeed in doing what any artist who covers another should aspire to, which is making another artist´s song their own.

"Are You Afraid" is a short, dark, and goth tinged track, which points forward to the sound Type O Negative would bring to the table on "Bloody Kisses (1993)", while the material off "Slow, Deep and Hard (1991)" are unconventional doom/hardcore tracks. They have been re-arranged here, and some of them are considerably shorter than the originals. Other than that the biggest changes involve changing some words, choir arrangements, and at one point singing in a British accent. "The Origin of the Feces" features a decent quality sound production, and while it´s not the most interesting release by Type O Negative, it´s still a quality release which is a greatly entertaining listen. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

SilentScream213 I’ll have to admit right off the bat, as someone who loves Gothic Metal, Type O Negative are pretty much antithesis to what I like to see in the genre. Full of humor and groove, the album is about as far removed from Doom as Gothic can get, and spits in the face of any melancholy normally associated with Gothic Metal. Most of the time, the band is just having fun, and as a result there is a lack of any genuine emotion to it.

There are at least plenty of moments of decent musical composition. The Title track stands out as quite a good song, their closest to Doom here, and a few other tracks make great use of keys and other sound effects to layer the music. Unfortunately, Peter is always throwing ridiculously stupid lyrics over the music, which ruins a good amount of it for me. His delivery in general is hammy in a bad way, like he’s always trying to parody something.

Impressive musically, disappointing altogether.

UMUR "Life Is Killing Me" is the 5th full-length studio album by US, New York based doom/goth metal act Type O Negative. The album was released through Roadrunner Records in June 2003. It was their last album released through Roadrunner Records as their long running relationship came to an end. Their next album "Dead Again (2007)" was released through SPV/Steamhammer Records.

While the music on "Life Is Killing Me" is unmistakably the sound of Type O Negative it´s still quite a different sounding release to it´s predecessor "World Coming Down (1999)". "World Coming Down (1999)" is probably the most bleak and heavy album in Type O Negative´s discography, and while "Life Is Killing Me" certainly isn´t a happy album, the trademark sarcastic humour from the early releases is more present on "Life Is Killing Me" than it has been on the last couple of releases. I also sense a tiny light at the end of the tunnel on some tracks.

The most notable difference though is the return of more hardcore sounding tracks. "I Don't Wanna Be Me", "I Like Goils", and especially "Angry Inch" are all, at least to some degree, in hardcore territory. "I Like Goils" actually created quite a stir, with lead vocalist Peter Steele being accused of homophobia. While it´s easy to interpret the lyrics like that, and there certainly is a very strong homophobic element to be found there (I guess lyric lines like "To make it clear that you can't bone me, My tattooed ass reads exit only" and "Now I don't know whose ass you've licked, No shit-tongued boy will ever taste my dick" really can´t be misunderstood), the story behind the track is actually a bit entertaining. Apparently Peter Steele´s decision to pose nude for the August 1995 edition of Playgirl Magazine backfired, as he began to receive more and more sexual offers from men, and rumour has it that some of them were very persistent. So to set the record straight, Peter Steele came up with the lyrics for "I Like Goils".

The music on "Life Is Killing Me" is not only aggressive hardcore though, and we´re predominantly treated to the doomy/gothic Black Sabbath influenced metal with psychadelic Beatlesque leanings, that Type O Negative are mostly known and loved for. Very well constructed vocal melodies (sung with a burning passion by Peter Steele) and choirs, heavy distorted bass and guitars, and atmospheric keyboards. It´s not all material on the album that are equally interesting and "Life Is Killing Me" is to my ears the first Type O Negative to feature filler material. Nothing is of bad quality or anything like that, but there are a couple of unremarkable tracks on the album, that I still to this day, can´t remember how sound, when I pick up the album for a listening session. On any of their previous releases I know exactly how each track sound just by reading the songtitle. At 74:32 minutes the album is also a bit too long for it´s own good, when not all material are equally entertaining. On the other hand there are also very strong tracks on the album like the above mentioned hardcore tinged tracks, "Nettie" (beautiful track that one), "Life Is Killing Me", and the quite odd and different sounding "How Could She?".

Upon conclusion "Life Is Killing Me" isn´t an album that developed the band´s sound much. It´s as if at this point, their unique sound was fully established and they had little desire to explore new ground ("How Could She?" is probably the only track on the album that surprised me), and it more or less sounds like they just picked what they felt were the best elements from their previous releases and combined them here. When you´ve developed a sound as unique as the sound of Type O Negative, it´s not "do or die" though and "Life Is Killing Me" is still a high quality release deserving a 4 star (80%) rating.