Home Read Classic Album Review: Type O Negative | Life is Killing Me

Classic Album Review: Type O Negative | Life is Killing Me

The drab four's sixth studio album doesn’t have the delicious, dark bite of old.

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This came out in 2003 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):

 


Pity the modern urban vampire that is Type O Negative’s Peter Steele.

Centuries ago, he dwelt in a castle, roamed the country by night and feasted upon terrified peasants to slake his bloody thirst. Now, he probably shares a fifth-floor walkup, spends his nights in dingy basement clubs and has to get tanked on red wine to put up with the drunken yahoos screaming for Cinnamon Girl. No wonder his first words on Type O’s sixth CD — the tellingly titled Life Is Killing Me — are “I don’t wanna be me anymore.” I can dig it. But strangely enough, for a guy so unhappy in his undead skin, Steele doesn’t seem to make much effort in the direction of progress. This 15-cut horrorshow has the same thrills and chills you always get from the Drab Four: Sluggish goth dirges, grand melodramatic rockers and the odd oddly poppy tune, all starring Count Pete’s languid deep-throat croon and deliberately un-PC lyrics. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it sucks — but it sure doesn’t have the delicious, dark bite of old Type O.

 

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