From The Metal Archives ... He's Dead Again ...
I hope no one minds, but I saw this review of "Dead Again" on a site called, metal-archives.com. The writer, Kyle really did a great job of reviewing this cd, while honoring Pete's legacy. Enjoy and go to the site to see other reviews written by Kyle. And thank you Kyle for the repost
- DrummingEdge133, April 15th, 2011 http://www.metal-archives.com/reviews/Type_O_Negative/Dead_Again/141273/
Here is a memorial photo I totally love.
If anyone knows who did this piece of art,
I'd love to tell them how gorgeous it is !
Encyclopaedia Metallum
... The Metal Archives ...
Dead Again
Type O Negative
A Glimpse of What Could Have Been… - 96%
It’s been a year since the passing of Peter Steele and I had decided some time ago I would get to writing my second Type O Negative review when said day had finally arrived. Well, here it is and Dead Again, in my humble opinion, is Type O Negative’s second greatest achievement. Yeah, I know what you are going to say… how can that be? Dead Again doesn’t possess classics like “Christian Woman” or “Love You To Death.” Granted, that point is well taken, and those two songs are legendary, but the strength of Dead Again doesn’t lie in a single song or a collection of a few songs, but the entire journey from start to finish. Let me hit you with one fact, Dead Again is the longest album Type O Negative has ever put out (and ever will sadly) and that is long indeed, about as long as can be possible on a single CD. Sure, it’s only longer by a minute or two, but consider that all other albums had filler of some kind; even the legendary World Coming Down had three ambient soundscapes, which could be considered filler. Dead Again, on the other hand, has no filler tracks, no joke songs or anything of the sort. Dead Again is a serious and relentless dirge-y doom masterpiece from start to finish -- all one hour and 17 minutes of it.
During the writing of Dead Again, Peter Steele had a change of view on a very important topic; religion. Unfortunately (from my perspective), he fell back into his Roman Catholic childhood beliefs after decades of atheism. This change is reflected in a few songs on Dead Again, most notably on the songs “Profits of Doom” and “These Three Things.” And even if I don’t agree with the lyrical content of these songs (or his conversion), which I don’t, I can’t deny the sheer brilliance of the arrangements and riffs present in these songs. The intros of these two songs are crushingly heavy and devastating, perhaps the heaviest minutes to be found on any Type O Negative record. And besides, I’d rather Peter Steele express himself honestly and have a damn opinion rather than write vapid lyrics about nothings, like seems so common these days.
There was a noteworthy change in the production and recording process of Dead Again involving the drums, which altered the overall sound and experience of the album. After the recording of Bloody Kisses, the departure of Sal Abruscato and the joining of Johnny Kelly, nearly everything that Type O Negative recorded had programmed drums (at least the studio full-length material). The reasons for this are understandable, as the band wanted a dark, slow and brooding drum style and the best way to achieve this was using programmed drums, I suppose. All that changed on Dead Again though, as Johnny Kelly was allowed to take up the kit finally in the studio and have more control of the drum arrangements, and what resulted was a faster more upbeat nature to the drums. The drumming tends to be more traditionally structured with straight forward heavy rock beats rather than the slow, plodding, restrained and oftentimes obscure beats found on World Coming Down. In a way, it seems to fit the album despite the fact that Type O Negative hadn’t gotten any more cheerful or happy (quite the opposite in fact). The drumming style of Dead Again seems to drive the songs forward more so than other albums and tends to contrast well with the riffing.
Each of the songs are packed full of quality riffs, frequently being catchy without sacrificing a bit of the doom-y heaviness of previous albums. In fact, I’d argue that Dead Again is Type O Negative’s heaviest album, solely because of the style and nature of the riffs. While the riffs aren’t the nightmarish, murky and hazy style of World Coming Down, they are more upfront conventional slabs of doom-y hard hitting riffs, giving them their heavier nature. I don’t want to give the impression that the whole album is like this though, as Dead Again still has the usual diversity expected on a Type O Negative album. If considering “September Sun” with its piano heavy intro, or the ultra dirge-y and doom-y intro and (later on) the somber and melancholic conclusion of “These Three Things” analogous to “World Coming Down,” Dead Again has it all. There are even throwback moments to the earliest Peter Steele material of Carnivore, when considering “Some Stupid Tomorrow” with its fast, blistering drumming and hardcore shouted sections. Despite the diversity, Dead Again feels like the most “together” and streamlined album Type O Negative put out. The album passes by like Iron Maiden’s The Final Frontier, quick and steady and when it’s all over you say to yourself; “Wait, that’s it?”
With a heavy heart I have accepted that this is the very last Type O Negative material that will ever be seen or heard and it’s a terrible thought -- but that’s the reality. It just makes me continuously wonder, what could have been? Peter Steele died at the young age of 48 (perhaps old for him) and still had so much more to offer the music world. The timing of his demise was cruel, considering he had been clean from drugs and alcohol for many months, was in the best shape of his life in years and was to imminently begin writing new music (May 1st from an interview). Type O Negative had also signed to Napalm Records just before he died, a label that holds several quality bands on its roster, further enhancing the potential for more legendary Type O Negative material, but alas it was not meant to be. Instead, we fans will have to settle for the heavy epic swansong of Dead Again, a lengthy and expansive expression of a soulful man that had many demons and somehow overcame them to create some of the most acutely sorrowful music in history. After all, everything dies…
During the writing of Dead Again, Peter Steele had a change of view on a very important topic; religion. Unfortunately (from my perspective), he fell back into his Roman Catholic childhood beliefs after decades of atheism. This change is reflected in a few songs on Dead Again, most notably on the songs “Profits of Doom” and “These Three Things.” And even if I don’t agree with the lyrical content of these songs (or his conversion), which I don’t, I can’t deny the sheer brilliance of the arrangements and riffs present in these songs. The intros of these two songs are crushingly heavy and devastating, perhaps the heaviest minutes to be found on any Type O Negative record. And besides, I’d rather Peter Steele express himself honestly and have a damn opinion rather than write vapid lyrics about nothings, like seems so common these days.
There was a noteworthy change in the production and recording process of Dead Again involving the drums, which altered the overall sound and experience of the album. After the recording of Bloody Kisses, the departure of Sal Abruscato and the joining of Johnny Kelly, nearly everything that Type O Negative recorded had programmed drums (at least the studio full-length material). The reasons for this are understandable, as the band wanted a dark, slow and brooding drum style and the best way to achieve this was using programmed drums, I suppose. All that changed on Dead Again though, as Johnny Kelly was allowed to take up the kit finally in the studio and have more control of the drum arrangements, and what resulted was a faster more upbeat nature to the drums. The drumming tends to be more traditionally structured with straight forward heavy rock beats rather than the slow, plodding, restrained and oftentimes obscure beats found on World Coming Down. In a way, it seems to fit the album despite the fact that Type O Negative hadn’t gotten any more cheerful or happy (quite the opposite in fact). The drumming style of Dead Again seems to drive the songs forward more so than other albums and tends to contrast well with the riffing.
Each of the songs are packed full of quality riffs, frequently being catchy without sacrificing a bit of the doom-y heaviness of previous albums. In fact, I’d argue that Dead Again is Type O Negative’s heaviest album, solely because of the style and nature of the riffs. While the riffs aren’t the nightmarish, murky and hazy style of World Coming Down, they are more upfront conventional slabs of doom-y hard hitting riffs, giving them their heavier nature. I don’t want to give the impression that the whole album is like this though, as Dead Again still has the usual diversity expected on a Type O Negative album. If considering “September Sun” with its piano heavy intro, or the ultra dirge-y and doom-y intro and (later on) the somber and melancholic conclusion of “These Three Things” analogous to “World Coming Down,” Dead Again has it all. There are even throwback moments to the earliest Peter Steele material of Carnivore, when considering “Some Stupid Tomorrow” with its fast, blistering drumming and hardcore shouted sections. Despite the diversity, Dead Again feels like the most “together” and streamlined album Type O Negative put out. The album passes by like Iron Maiden’s The Final Frontier, quick and steady and when it’s all over you say to yourself; “Wait, that’s it?”
With a heavy heart I have accepted that this is the very last Type O Negative material that will ever be seen or heard and it’s a terrible thought -- but that’s the reality. It just makes me continuously wonder, what could have been? Peter Steele died at the young age of 48 (perhaps old for him) and still had so much more to offer the music world. The timing of his demise was cruel, considering he had been clean from drugs and alcohol for many months, was in the best shape of his life in years and was to imminently begin writing new music (May 1st from an interview). Type O Negative had also signed to Napalm Records just before he died, a label that holds several quality bands on its roster, further enhancing the potential for more legendary Type O Negative material, but alas it was not meant to be. Instead, we fans will have to settle for the heavy epic swansong of Dead Again, a lengthy and expansive expression of a soulful man that had many demons and somehow overcame them to create some of the most acutely sorrowful music in history. After all, everything dies…