Album Review: Type O Negative – World Coming Down

1999’s World Coming Down sees Peter Steele and co in more serious mode than usual ie., fewer annoying joke songs, though we do start with the sound of a skipping CD (Skip It) for 11 seconds before first track White Slavery opens with portentous organ before Kenny Hickey’s achingly slow Black Sabbathy riffs drag their way into the song, ushering in Steele’s doomy vocals.  In common with many other tracks here, it’s a slow, anthemic track, taking its time (eight minutes) to unfold.

There are three thematic short interludes here, Sinus, Liver and Lung, featuring heartbeats, heavy breathing, and agonized screams, designed to disturb.  Sticking to the ‘songs’, Everyone I Love Is Dead starts with semi-acoustic chords before Steele yells “goddammit”, ushering in the heavy, sludgy riffs over a delightfully dark melody.

It’s the melodies which are the key as to why this band works so well.  The moody Creepy Green Light is another fine example of this, yet again starting slowly, over a lone bassline this time before the sledgehammer metal riffs enter.  After an abrasive, growling opening, Everything Dies is almost goth power-ballad, while Pyretta Blaze has the poppiest chorus on the album.

A trademark of Type O Negative is the unexpected cover.  This time it’s the turn of the Beatles to get their unique treatment, and here they turn Day Tripper, If I Needed Someone and I Want You (She’s So Heavy) into their trademark black holes.  Day Tripper in particular works surprisingly well.

Type O Negative have slowed right down on this album, only the Beatles medley is beyond crawl pace.  Despite this, the album is saved from dullness by some fine melodies on another strong effort from this band.

Album Review: Type O Negative – October Rust

This was American Goths Type O Negative’s fourth album, released in 1996. Irritatingly, it’s bookended by some short skippable tracks, opening with static before a brief message thanking the listener for purchase, similarly at the end of the album. You won’t want to hear them again.

It’s not until track 3 that the band kicks properly into gear with Love You To Death, Josh Silver’s creepy keyboard intro darkening the atmosphere for Peter Steele’s sub-Eldritch doom-laden vocals before Kenny Hickey’s huge guitars kick in. This wide-screen, anthemic track sets the tone for the album, think Mission/Sisters of Mercy with slightly more metal guitars and a latent Gary Numan influence (melodically).

The tracks in general are slow, brooding epics, with catchy choruses, though many are quite lengthy such as the acoustic Die With Me and the keyboard-led Burnt Flowers Fallen. Steele's vocals are standard issue goth, though his lower register sounds unintentionally hilarious on Be My Druidess, singing “I’ll do anything to make you come” in a voice so deep and portentous it’s almost goth parody.

There are uptempo tracks also: My Girlfriend’s Girlfriend is a hammer-horror style rocker about a threesome with a driving beat, while they also do a pretty good version of Neil Young’s Cinnamon Girl, in a kind of a Bauhaus vein.

The album is possibly overlong making it difficult to sustain the ominous mood and atmosphere but most of the tracks work very well.