 "Photo: Typeonegative.net")
Life isn't supposed to be easy if you want to make it in the music business. Why is rehab a staple on "Behind the Music?" Why are the blues called the blues, after all?
Brooklyn metal veterans Type O Negative have had a lot thrown at them throughout their long career. Their debut album, Slow Deep and Hard, was controversial enough in Europe to cause several tour cancellations, including being banned in Holland for being sexist. They played a pizzeria in Arkansas. And let's not forget the whole Playgirl thing. All of these trials and tribulations have worked in Type O's favor, though. Their blend of gothic and thrash metal continues to rock fans, and the repertoire of inspiration for bassist/vocalist Peter Steele's sarcastically sardonic lyrics only grows with every incident.
In March, the group released their first album in four years, Dead Again, and also their first since splitting with their previous label, Roadrunner. This album is thrashier than most of their work, almost harkening back to Steele's previous band, Carnivore, at times. Steele's wit is still in place with song titles like "The Profits of Doom" and "An Ode to Locksmiths." Dead Again has a darker tone, as much of the album deals with Steele's struggles over the past couple of years. He went to rehab for cocaine use and had a stint in Rikers Island.
"We were right there with him. We were on his stoop trying to talk him into going to rehab at three in the morning. Rikers was raw. It sucked. You depend on each other in a band," guitarist Kenny Hickey said.
Steele's agony provided the band with renewed creative energy, especially with other projects.
"It motivated us to do the whole Danzig thing and other side projects. We couldn't sit around and wait for him to come out of jail," he said.
This album also marks the return of Johnny Kelly's live drums. "It made the album a shortened process. I think it sounds better than ever," Hickey said.
In addition to the killer tunes, the cover of Dead Again sports a picture of Russian badass Grigori Rasputin. He was a better choice than somebody such as, say, Lenin.
"Pete gets lots of wine in him and gets thrown down a flight of stairs, and somehow he still gets up walking. He's totally Rasputin," Hickey said.
The group just wrapped up a tour with reunited legends Celtic Frost, who have influenced pretty much every extreme metal sub-genre since the release of their mid-'80s classic albums Morbid Tales and To Mega Therion. Frost did not co-headline the tour, to the surprise of many fans, but instead have played 45-minute sets that, according to their official Web site, presented "an additional opportunity to play for U.S. audiences again and expand on the foundation built in the course of last fall's successful 46-date tour of North America."
Type O and Frost's live vibes are almost polar opposites. Type O are more laid back, especially with Steele heckling the crowd and using a wine bottle as a slide. Frost is very dark and very serious, with their stage more like an ominous occult ritual.
Some hard-headed fans may question Frost's decision, but Hickey couldn't have been happier with his touring mates.
"It's awesome. I've been listening to them ever since I was a kid. Me and Johnny get up on stage and sing with them every night," Hickey said.
He didn't say if he would have any other senior metal acts opening for Type O in the future, however. Hickey said he would like to tour with Slayer, who is touring with Marilyn Manson this summer in what Hickey describes will be "a bunch of gothic kids getting beat up."
Hickey has some final and inspirational words: "Spend $15 on your favorite band's new album. Maybe they can make a living and maybe make another album." Go do it.
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