Steerpike
08-19-2007, 08:21 PM
And we’re back.
http://www.sputnikmusic.com/forums/showthread.php?t=531576
Swans – A Study in Evolution
http://www.sputnikmusic.com/forums/showthread.php?t=532051
DJ Shadow – Hip-Hop of Tomorrow
http://www.sputnikmusic.com/forums/showthread.php?t=532894
Dungeon – Pure Aussie Metal
http://www.sputnikmusic.com/forums/showthread.php?t=533587
Ensiferum – Viking Heroes
We’re doing Type O Negative this week. Ironically enough, as I type this we’re experiencing very dreary weather here in Pittsburgh.
Biography
Gothic metal is a rather colorful genre. More diverse in some ways than its cousin Goth rock. Though I bet you’d thought you’d never hear Gothic and colorful in the same sentence. The genre is predominantly European as per the origins of the movement in the British post-punk scene, but there is a healthy American scene as well. Type O Negative are one of the more famous bands in this scene, though for an odd collection of reasons.
Type O Negative started out when two high school buddies, Peter Steele and Josh Silver, formed a garage band called Fallout. Not much, but it was a start. After a while, Josh left and formed Original Sin, which was essentially a hair metal band.
Peter went on to form Carnivore, a band that effectively made its mark out of being politically incorrect in the extreme. Peter honed his chops through heavy touring, but eventually decided to put the project on hiatus in 1987 and took up a job with the New York City Parks Department. No ****. It was steady work and offered more stability than playing with Carnivore did.
Two years later, Sal Abruscato approached Peter about playing in a band again. Didn’t take much convincing, apparently, as Peter signed up not long afterward and called Josh to join on keyboards. With Peter on bass and lead vocals, and Sal on drums, Josh brought over his friend Kenny Hickey as guitarist. They named this new project Sub-Zero, and tattooed the appropriate symbol on their arms. Unfortunately, not long after the scabs fell off they learned that Sub-Zero was already taken. After some thought, they took up the name Type O Negative to avoid making the tattoos utterly meaningless.
They tightened up their playing a little and went ahead with a demo. They immediately caught Roadrunner Records’ attention and were quickly scooped up for a 5 album contract. Emboldened by this turn of fortune, the band released a proper debut titled Slow, Deep and Hard.
Appropriate, because that’s exactly what the damn thing was! Equally influenced by the melodic punk of The Misfits, the dark atmospheres of The Sisters of Mercy, and the droning grind of Black Sabbath-esque doom metal, the whole thing was just plain dark. The ensuing tour brought a lot of controversy as people were not aware of the fact that the lyrics were tongue firmly in cheek. They typically responded to accusations of being Nazi sympathizers by pointing out, “Hey, I don’t know if you knew this, but Josh is Jewish.”
At this point, Peter was already a functioning alcoholic and the rest of the band wasn’t far behind. Roadrunner wanted them to record a live album, but the band (in what was to become one of many, many similar pranks) instead took the check from the label, spent it on the cheapest vodka they could get their hands on, and re-recorded the debut with a fake set of live sounding noises and cheers in the background. The end result was The Origin of the Feces featuring a cover with Peter spreading his cheeks for the camera. This actually got released, believe it or not.
The true sophomore album was the immensely popular Blood Kisses released in 1993. It was the first record on Roadrunner to reach first gold and then platinum status. The band gave up some of the harsher, Industrial and thrash influences of their debut for a more atmospheric and experimental approach. Their singles Christian Woman and Black No. 1 (both edited heavily for the radio) became flagship tunes. The moody sonic textures, distinctive guitar and bass tone, and Peter’s deadpan bass voice presented a strong break from the norm and even drew attention from MTV. Keep in mind this is before MTV became a slightly musically inclined reality TV network.
The following 2-year-long tour proved to be grueling and Sal decided to depart from the band on amicable terms to pursue work with Life of Agony. Johnny Kelly, who had been the drum tech on tour, was signed on as a full-time member and the band once again was ready to go back into the studio.
It’s interesting to note that in ’95 Peter was asked to pose nude for Playgirl magazine, an offer that he gladly accepted. He was then told that only about a quarter of the magazine’s readership were women. At first, he regretted that little decision, but eventually if it makes gay dudes buy the albums and come to the concerts, their money spends as good as anybody else’s.
The trouble when going back to the studio was that Type-O had a strong ethic for producing their own albums, and Roadrunner wanted more radio-friendly material to capitalize on the incredible success of Bloody Kisses. The band were wary of this one and really didn’t want to approach territory that could be considered selling out. They struck up a balance eventually with October Rust in 1996.
Further pursuing the themes in Bloody Kisses, especially in terms of sexuality, they covered everything from the humorous (My Girlfriend’s Girlfriend), to the bleak and morbid (Love You to Death), and even stuff that was nut-****ing bizarre (Wolf Moon). It debuted at number 42 on the Billboard charts and reached gold status at its peak.
The world tour supporting October Rust was a resounding success and the band was already working on new material when Peter received the dark news of several deaths in his immediate family. It all came so quickly and hit him so hard that he turned to what everyone of Eastern European stock eventually does at one point or another in their life: alcohol. Substance abuse was always something of an issue with these guys, but… well there is a point where it starts to actually become a very noticeable problem.
The writing and recording sessions yielded 1999’s World Coming Down. The doom metal influences were back in full force and the Gothic Romanticism of previous albums were abandoned in favor of Peter’s introspections on the darker side of life in general. For many listeners, it actually struck a chord, though whether out of sympathy of catharsis tend to vary from person to person. Despite the heavier music and more depressing lyrical content, the album actually debuted at number 39 on Billboard.
After the release, Type-O fulfilled the requirement in their contract for a compilation with The Least Worst Of Type O Negative. It included a number of remixes and B-sides including a very spooky cover of Black Sabbath.
Life is Killing Me was released four years later and showed a return to the melodic Goth metal of past releases along with their distinctively black sense of humor.
On the 13th of May, 2005, Type O Negative posted a photo on their site announcing the death of Peter Steele… Sort of. A leaf covering the tombstone made it look like Eter Steele. This was Friday the 13th by the way. The next day, the band revealed it all to be a huge practical joke. Oddly enough, though… Peter wasn’t exactly available for contact.
In 2006, the band split from Roadrunner for SPV Records, supposedly after the label released another compilation without notifying them. Still no word from Peter. That is until the release of Symphony for the Devil, the group’s second DVD. It was finally revealed that the singer’s long departure was due to a prison term complete with psych evaluation and rehab he got 302’d for due to his out of control substance abuse.
Peter later revealed anger with himself for losing control, but also with his family for committing him. Still, it didn’t stop the band from returning to the studio for another album. Dead Again, released in 2007, debuted at number 27 on the Billboard 200 and was hailed a phenomenal comeback album. They’re currently on tour and even secured spots at Rock am Ring and Wacken.
It’s been a long, rough road for Type O Negative thus far. They still maintain a reputation as a powerful live act and very original group in general. They’re coming on strong with this new comeback, but time will tell if they’re prepared to follow up on it.
http://www.typeonegative.net/index.php
Official Web Site
http://www.sputnikmusic.com/forums/showthread.php?t=531576
Swans – A Study in Evolution
http://www.sputnikmusic.com/forums/showthread.php?t=532051
DJ Shadow – Hip-Hop of Tomorrow
http://www.sputnikmusic.com/forums/showthread.php?t=532894
Dungeon – Pure Aussie Metal
http://www.sputnikmusic.com/forums/showthread.php?t=533587
Ensiferum – Viking Heroes
We’re doing Type O Negative this week. Ironically enough, as I type this we’re experiencing very dreary weather here in Pittsburgh.
Biography
Gothic metal is a rather colorful genre. More diverse in some ways than its cousin Goth rock. Though I bet you’d thought you’d never hear Gothic and colorful in the same sentence. The genre is predominantly European as per the origins of the movement in the British post-punk scene, but there is a healthy American scene as well. Type O Negative are one of the more famous bands in this scene, though for an odd collection of reasons.
Type O Negative started out when two high school buddies, Peter Steele and Josh Silver, formed a garage band called Fallout. Not much, but it was a start. After a while, Josh left and formed Original Sin, which was essentially a hair metal band.
Peter went on to form Carnivore, a band that effectively made its mark out of being politically incorrect in the extreme. Peter honed his chops through heavy touring, but eventually decided to put the project on hiatus in 1987 and took up a job with the New York City Parks Department. No ****. It was steady work and offered more stability than playing with Carnivore did.
Two years later, Sal Abruscato approached Peter about playing in a band again. Didn’t take much convincing, apparently, as Peter signed up not long afterward and called Josh to join on keyboards. With Peter on bass and lead vocals, and Sal on drums, Josh brought over his friend Kenny Hickey as guitarist. They named this new project Sub-Zero, and tattooed the appropriate symbol on their arms. Unfortunately, not long after the scabs fell off they learned that Sub-Zero was already taken. After some thought, they took up the name Type O Negative to avoid making the tattoos utterly meaningless.
They tightened up their playing a little and went ahead with a demo. They immediately caught Roadrunner Records’ attention and were quickly scooped up for a 5 album contract. Emboldened by this turn of fortune, the band released a proper debut titled Slow, Deep and Hard.
Appropriate, because that’s exactly what the damn thing was! Equally influenced by the melodic punk of The Misfits, the dark atmospheres of The Sisters of Mercy, and the droning grind of Black Sabbath-esque doom metal, the whole thing was just plain dark. The ensuing tour brought a lot of controversy as people were not aware of the fact that the lyrics were tongue firmly in cheek. They typically responded to accusations of being Nazi sympathizers by pointing out, “Hey, I don’t know if you knew this, but Josh is Jewish.”
At this point, Peter was already a functioning alcoholic and the rest of the band wasn’t far behind. Roadrunner wanted them to record a live album, but the band (in what was to become one of many, many similar pranks) instead took the check from the label, spent it on the cheapest vodka they could get their hands on, and re-recorded the debut with a fake set of live sounding noises and cheers in the background. The end result was The Origin of the Feces featuring a cover with Peter spreading his cheeks for the camera. This actually got released, believe it or not.
The true sophomore album was the immensely popular Blood Kisses released in 1993. It was the first record on Roadrunner to reach first gold and then platinum status. The band gave up some of the harsher, Industrial and thrash influences of their debut for a more atmospheric and experimental approach. Their singles Christian Woman and Black No. 1 (both edited heavily for the radio) became flagship tunes. The moody sonic textures, distinctive guitar and bass tone, and Peter’s deadpan bass voice presented a strong break from the norm and even drew attention from MTV. Keep in mind this is before MTV became a slightly musically inclined reality TV network.
The following 2-year-long tour proved to be grueling and Sal decided to depart from the band on amicable terms to pursue work with Life of Agony. Johnny Kelly, who had been the drum tech on tour, was signed on as a full-time member and the band once again was ready to go back into the studio.
It’s interesting to note that in ’95 Peter was asked to pose nude for Playgirl magazine, an offer that he gladly accepted. He was then told that only about a quarter of the magazine’s readership were women. At first, he regretted that little decision, but eventually if it makes gay dudes buy the albums and come to the concerts, their money spends as good as anybody else’s.
The trouble when going back to the studio was that Type-O had a strong ethic for producing their own albums, and Roadrunner wanted more radio-friendly material to capitalize on the incredible success of Bloody Kisses. The band were wary of this one and really didn’t want to approach territory that could be considered selling out. They struck up a balance eventually with October Rust in 1996.
Further pursuing the themes in Bloody Kisses, especially in terms of sexuality, they covered everything from the humorous (My Girlfriend’s Girlfriend), to the bleak and morbid (Love You to Death), and even stuff that was nut-****ing bizarre (Wolf Moon). It debuted at number 42 on the Billboard charts and reached gold status at its peak.
The world tour supporting October Rust was a resounding success and the band was already working on new material when Peter received the dark news of several deaths in his immediate family. It all came so quickly and hit him so hard that he turned to what everyone of Eastern European stock eventually does at one point or another in their life: alcohol. Substance abuse was always something of an issue with these guys, but… well there is a point where it starts to actually become a very noticeable problem.
The writing and recording sessions yielded 1999’s World Coming Down. The doom metal influences were back in full force and the Gothic Romanticism of previous albums were abandoned in favor of Peter’s introspections on the darker side of life in general. For many listeners, it actually struck a chord, though whether out of sympathy of catharsis tend to vary from person to person. Despite the heavier music and more depressing lyrical content, the album actually debuted at number 39 on Billboard.
After the release, Type-O fulfilled the requirement in their contract for a compilation with The Least Worst Of Type O Negative. It included a number of remixes and B-sides including a very spooky cover of Black Sabbath.
Life is Killing Me was released four years later and showed a return to the melodic Goth metal of past releases along with their distinctively black sense of humor.
On the 13th of May, 2005, Type O Negative posted a photo on their site announcing the death of Peter Steele… Sort of. A leaf covering the tombstone made it look like Eter Steele. This was Friday the 13th by the way. The next day, the band revealed it all to be a huge practical joke. Oddly enough, though… Peter wasn’t exactly available for contact.
In 2006, the band split from Roadrunner for SPV Records, supposedly after the label released another compilation without notifying them. Still no word from Peter. That is until the release of Symphony for the Devil, the group’s second DVD. It was finally revealed that the singer’s long departure was due to a prison term complete with psych evaluation and rehab he got 302’d for due to his out of control substance abuse.
Peter later revealed anger with himself for losing control, but also with his family for committing him. Still, it didn’t stop the band from returning to the studio for another album. Dead Again, released in 2007, debuted at number 27 on the Billboard 200 and was hailed a phenomenal comeback album. They’re currently on tour and even secured spots at Rock am Ring and Wacken.
It’s been a long, rough road for Type O Negative thus far. They still maintain a reputation as a powerful live act and very original group in general. They’re coming on strong with this new comeback, but time will tell if they’re prepared to follow up on it.
http://www.typeonegative.net/index.php
Official Web Site