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Tracts
and Fingers
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The world we live in is
marked by disorder and chaos. Few things, if any, are
certain. But then there is Type O Negative, the Brooklyn
band whose been making a glorious, doom-caked racket for
over a decade. With a sense of humor blacker than the
clothing that the individual band members wear and a profound
distaste and disgust for both humanity and political correctness,
Type O Negative never changes with the times the times
change with them. Marked by sharp wit and bouts of gloom
'n depression, Type O Negative continues to reward its
listeners with what they have come to love and what they
have to expect from the Brooklyn doom squad: a nihilistic
world view, anthems of sex and death, and a blinding torch
of well-placed hate.
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It is Type O Negative's gothically tinged metal, reared on a
steady diet of Bauhaus and Sisters Of Mercy, which never takes
itself too seriously, that has garnered them critical and commercial
success. 1993's Bloody Kisses was the first
album to achieve Gold and Platinum status in the Roadrunner
Records catalog. It's successor, 1996's October Rust,
also went Gold, thus solidifying Type O's roots in the sediment
of metal. Through it all, bassist/frontman Peter Steele still
reminisces about his days as an employee of the NYC Parks Department,
still lives in the same basement apartment in Brooklyn, still
drives the same car, and still wolfs down TV dinners. And he
and his cohorts still make bittersweet, head down hard rock.
Life Is Killing Me is Type O's fifth full-length
record, and its first batch of new material since 1999's World
Coming Down. In between this opus and World
Coming Down, Type O released The Least Worst Of compilation,
to tide over fans over! Steele is a towering hulk of a man his
biceps could crush your skull like a walnut and he is someone
whose fist you would not want to meet the business end of. But
when he speaks in that trademark, so-deadpan-he-must-sleep-in-a-coffin
delivery, through a thick New York accent, it's like a pearl
of wisdom handed down from a man who has lived through it all,
seen the seediest underbelly of the human psyche, and survived.
Regarding the new album, the aptly named Steele remarks, "When
we were writing Life Is Killing Me, I knew
I didn't want it to sound like World Coming Down,
because I was having quite a few personal problems at the time
that album was being recorded and mixed. Because I had distanced
myself from the process, too many cooks spoiled the broth. No
one was happy and I am the least happy of all. However, failure
is not failure if you learn from it and I took an active part
in this album. I hope it turns out to be somewhere between Bloody
Kisses and October Rust. Because I
was wrapped up in my old bullshit during the execution of World
Coming Down, I feel that I owe, not just the band,
but our fans, some sort of an apology. I am working on trying
not to be so selfish, and I am doing the best I can." Since
Bloody Kisses and October Rust
are true fan favorites, Steele's hope that Life Is Killing
Me will redeem him in fan's eyes should become a reality.
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Steele
admits he did not set out to write out an album that replicated
Type O's past works. "That style of songwriting is
still in me and I like the songs from those albums, whereas
I am less fond of World Coming Down,
since it reminds me of things I was involved in at the
time." Steele further reveals that staple Type O
issues of "self pity," "hatred," "drugs
and death," "religion," and "the usual"
are all a part of the lyrical tapestry of Life
Is Killing Me. He contends that the album is
less depressing than its predecessor, with less dirges
and different songwriting styles. He elaborates, "There
are three types of songwriting: one is hardcore/punk,
almost like party punk. The other is the older style of
goth-metal that we have always done. The third is a combo
of '60s and '80s type of songwriting." He concludes,
with tongue planted firmly in cheek, that "Life
Is Killing Me is a sonic legacy of past mistakes." |
Self-deprecation aside, Steele is forthright and open when discussing
his latest creations (or mistakes, depending on who you ask
in the band!) Regarding specific songs on the album, Type O
chose to cover a song from Hedwig And The Angry Inch musical,
to illustrate its infamous sense of humor. "It's about
a transvestite who goes in for sex change and the doctors fuck
it up. I thought it would be fun to play it live, because we
sped it up a little to make more punky." The song "I
Like Girls" is Steele's response to homosexuals who try
to pick him up. "Whether a man or woman finds me attractive,
I take it as a compliment, although I am more flattered when
it's a woman. Thanks for the invite, but I like girls.' The
song is punky and I am sure that it's going to be misconstrued,
so we're going to be prepared." It's apparent that Type
O likes to stir up a little shit, and is always ready for the
backlash, and equipped with more ammunition than its opponents.
Remember, this is the band who, back in the day, answered a
crowd's taunts of "You suck!" with "You paid
15 American dollars to get in. Who's the real asshole here?"
Indeed, it's wit is Type O's strongest suit of armor.
"Nettie" centers around Steele's mother, while "Above
All Things" is about his father. "How Could She?'
finds Steele asking all of his favorite female TV characters,
cartoon or human, a question. "I mention every single one
from Edith Bunker to Judy Jetson, all who I encountered when
sitting in front of the TV, eating a TV dinner." 'A Dish
Best Served Cold' is self-described revenge anthem.
Type O continues the time honored tradition of producing its
own albums at Systems Two in its homestead of Brooklyn, in the
interest of avoiding "outside tentacles." Both Steele
and keyboardist Josh Silver helmed Life Is Killing Me..
"I want to hear what is going on in my ears, what I hear
in my head," says Steele. "I am not talking about
the 'voices' I hear. I am talking about getting as close to
my goal as possible. Within this band, the four guys are married
to each other and the cap is always left off the toothpaste.
We don't need a fifth clown coming in. At 41 years old, having
been in bands for 30 years right now, I know how to get what
I want, musically. Lastly and leastly, there is financial incentive
for producing my flesh ourselves, and not just because we can
walk away with chump change, but because anyone we'd like to
hire would cost half a million dollars. There goes all my drug
money for the year. That can't happen."
Steele doesn't cite any new influences on Life Is Killing
Me. Other than calling himself an audio plagiarist,
Steele admits he still listens to the same music that he always
has, such as "early '70s metal, psychadelic '60s, '90s
trans-dance shoegazer stuff. It's the basic inspiration comes
from my feelings. I'm on a constant search for new and interesting
ideas, which I am not usually successful at." When you've
got the word "negative" in your band name, it's not
surprising that such an attitude pervades Type O.
Life Is Killing Me is more grist for the Type
O Negative mill, further championing the band's lifelong subscription
to the attitude that the glass is not only half empty, but broken
and laced with cyanide. Life Is Killing Me's
alchemy of sludge metal and chilling gothic imagery and conventions
is just what fans and critics have come to expect and to rely
on in this chaotic, undefined world. Life may be killing Type
O slowly, but the band is alive and kicking with new material
for the time being. Thankfully. |
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| The
Unusual Suspects: |
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