In 1990, drummer Sal Abruscato, looking to form a new band, approached NYC park groundskeeper and former band mate of thrash core ensemble Carnivore, vocalist/bassist/songwriter Peter Steele. Between Abruscato and Steele, they enlist guitarist Ken Hickey, keyboardist Josh Silver and later, drummer Johnny Kelly.

1991 sees the release of the bands’ debut album, Slow, Deep and Hard. Of particular note is the track “Unsuccessfully Coping With the Natural Beauty of Infidelity” aka “I Know You’re Fucking Someone Else”. The song, amongst others that displayed such intensity of anger lead to several critics branding Steele both a nazi and misogynist, rightly or wrongly. The band released a fake live album the following year in response to and in an attempt to ride the wave of bad publicity, The Origin of the Feces. On its cover art, a pair of spread buttocks (later reissued featuring artwork less graphic and without Steele’s lesser known centrefold display).

Bloody Kisses released in 1993 sported a more melodic feel, along with gothic anthems “Black No. 1” and “Christian Woman” becoming instant dancefloor hits in goth venues worldwide. Around this time, Abruscato decided to leave the band to join the hardcore band Life of Agony, following frustrations with Steele, who wanted to tour Bloody Kisses. Type O recruited John Kelly, their drum tech and van driver and the band went on tour. The tour lasted around two years and saw Type O share stage with many wellknowns, including Pantera, Nine Inch Nails and Godflesh. An invitation from Ozzy Osbourne for Type O to appear on Nativity in Black, Black Sabbath’s tribute album led three years later to the band appearing onstage with Osbourne at Ozzfest. This in turn led to Steele remixing and overseeing artwork for a digipack edition of the album at Roadrunner Records’ request. Sonic changes made by Steele, replacing “Kill All the White People” and “We Hate Everyone” with “Suspended in Dusk”, led to a payoff for Type O Negative: Bloody Kisses became their first gold album.

Steele capitalises on his good looks which had not gone unnoticed by his fans, taking up the offer of a photoshoot for Playgirl magazine in 1995. During this year, Type O Negative also rework “Blood and Fire” for the soundtrack of TVT’s Mortal Kombat. In 1996, October Rust is released, launched with the single, “My Girlfriend’s Girlfriend”, and subsequent provocative video by notorious NYC filmaker Richard Kern. The album features songs, many of distinct pagan turn, of sex and ghosts and love lost, such titles as “Green Man”, “In Praise of Bacchus” and “Wolf Moon”. Touring continued, dates with Ozzy and Sepultura included, with Marilyn Manson in the audience at a Cleveland show admiring and later spending thousands emulating Type O Negative’s use of onstage snow, much to the amusement of Type O Negative, who’d made Josh Silver paint individual cornflakes from expired boxes with typewriter correction fluid.

Kat Bjelland, Babes in Toyland founder enlists Steele in 1998 as Ian Nottingham from Top Cow comic series Witchblade, impressing even a few of Type O Negative’s long time detractors. One year later World Coming Down arrived, darker than its predecessor, largely written during a troubled period of introversion for Steele, for which he later seemed apologetic when describing the album during interviews. In the follow up to World Coming Down, Type O contribute songs to various film soundtracks. “Haunted” is used in The Blair Witch Project, “Love You to Death” for Bride of Chucky and “Die With Me” for Carrie 2: The Rage.

In 2000, between World Coming Down and Life is Killing Me, The Least Worst of Type O Negative is compiled by Roadrunner. The album contains a variety of European single edits and mixes of the band’s most popular tracks along with a number of unreleased songs. All of the bands’ albums were produced at Systems Two in Brooklyn, largely in the interests of keeping outside interference with production minimal, with LIfe Is Killing Me showing a return to Bloody Kisses/October Rust roots. Steele reported the usual issues of “self pity”, “hatred”, “drugs” and “death” as predominant themes once more but this album proved less depressing than World Coming Down. “A Dish Best Served Cold”, a song of revenge, “Nettle” written about Steele’s mother and “Above All Things” about his father are a few of the more personal tracks on the album. During this year October Rust reaches gold status. Drummer Kelly smashes his copy from its framework to play only to find that the album is a spray painted copy of 80’s act Sly Fox’s album Let’s Go All The Way.

With influences ranging from the likes of Sisters of Mercy and Bauhaus to the Beatles, Type O Negative’s goth tainted metal retains its reputation as a bodice ripper of a band with its dark melodies, Steeles vampiric vocals and at times, hammer horror humour.

Website: www.typeonegative.net