There is nothing more profound to a true Type O Negative fan than hearing the very first deep, dark, and brooding strains of a new song created by this band. Type O Negative’s long-awaited release, WORLD COMING DOWN (Roadrunner Records) is going to grab their diehard fans by the short hairs and pull them out by the roots. The Drab Four are back in a way that is sure to please not only their fans, but themselves.
It would be a sacrilege to even bother to play this cd before dusk, first of all. And if you haven’t got at least one candle lit, a glass of Merlot in one hand and a cigarette in the other, and some incense burning in a far corner – you’re doing yourself a disservice. Listening to songs like “Creepy Green Light” and “White Slavery” without the type of atmosphere they require is just, well, wrong!
In the past, each collection of songs has always told its own story; a heavy metal chronology that openly portrays the experiences of the band members and how they feel about what is happening to them. SLOW, DEEP and HARD, as well as ORIGIN OF THE FECES were indeed the angry, unpolished, and heavy melodic volumes of the Type O Negative library. BLOODY KISSES dabbled with the occult, sex, and death in a way that only Type O can do, and OCTOBER RUST showed us the even more sexual, yet softer side of Steele.
WORLD COMING DOWN tells this bedtime story with old school, Sabbath-influenced moodiness bleeding onto each page. It’s evident what you are about to experience from the first few notes of the title track. Be prepared to hear the ever-present black humor and gothadelic crackle in tracks like “Skip It” and “All Hallow’s Eve” just the way you did when you used to listen BLOODY KISSES. You’ll also hear the familiar demanding snap of a woman’s whip, as you did on OCTOBER RUST, in “Pyretta Blaze” and the slow and dirge-like rendition of the Beatles’ “DayTripper/She’s So Heavy” medley.
But before you even have the chance to wax poetic about the old days and smile wistfully, Peter Steele’s deep-as-the-ocean bass and vocals will swallow you whole and Josh Silver’s keyboards will spit you back out. Drummer John Kelly is the demure and solid anchor while guitar and vocals from Kenny Hickey are the constant thrashing of the waves.
This collection of songs is telling us the story of what loss is. WORLD COMING DOWN reminds us that no matter how much we love, “Everything Dies.” And with the single, “Everyone I Love is Dead, ” the plot thickens with each time one of Steele’s family members joins the land of the dead. It explains the way you begin to decay along with your surroundings as you age and how everyone else goes with you.
Pick up a copy of WORLD COMING DOWN and listen to it while you still have the life and the presence of mind in you to fully appreciate it.
Lesa Pence
(Lesa Pence spends her free time dreaming horribly gory and twisted nightmares and trying to figure out how to get them up on movie screens for the rest of the world to be horrified by.)
