REVIEW: Type O Negative, World Coming Down (Roadrunner)
- Andrew Duncan
Doom metal, sludge-core, molasses mosh -- however you want to describe this musical style, Type O Negative is the king of "it." But what is "it" you ask?
"It" refers to a style of music that is overpowered by sleepy guitar rock, slowed down to resemble dripping maple syrup. To better emphasize it, the music sounds like sewer sludge with the tempo creeping by at the pace of lava oozing down a Hawaiian volcano.
Type O Negative may not have started this musical generation that feeds off of gloom and doom, but they sure as hell have successfully captured the innovativeness of this comatose musical style.
World Coming Down is not creatively new for the band. In fact, you could mix together all of their songs throughout the years and not much would change. Since their 1991 debut, Slow, Deep and Hard, vocalist Peter Steele still punctuates every syllable with his basement croon. There are still the rock-God moments where Steele is wailing out doom poetry while he and other guitarist Kenny Hickey pound out power chords like asteroids pummeling the earth. There are the Vincent Price-haunting keyboards, thanks to Josh Silver, and Johnny Kelly's drums hit like a migraine headache.
The only difference this time is that World Coming Down is truly one of the greatest rock albums of the '90s, and Type O Negative's best recording effort to date. Every song soothingly clicks together flawlessly with intrigue.
Steele is an extremely intelligent individual, and is crafty at elegant use of restraint, a key concept to anything that is meant to be suspenseful or horrific.
"White Slavery" opens up the CD with lines of lyrics that generally add up to two or three words. When he sings "I rot away," or "Everyone I love is dead," from the song with the same name, you can feel it deep inside.
There is the sobering "Who Will Save the Sane," and the beautiful title track epic that is as much Black Sabbath as it is middle-ages tragedy.
In previous releases, the band has dimly covered songs like "Cinnamon Girl" and "Summer Breeze." This time it is The Beatles' "Day Tripper," and it surprisingly works within Type O Negative's master plan.
