For many it feels like today’s date is March 44th based on the current state of affairs in the world with the devastating effects of this Coronavirus Pandemic. It’s actually April 10th and it’s a day that marks a very sad anniversary in the minds of so many Metal fans as that was the day that the inimitable Peter Steele, founder of the Brooklyn-based Heavy Metal group Type O Negative passed away. I remember hearing rumbling of the news not long after he had apparently passed and initially a part of me had to laugh at the notion that Peter had fooled us all once again with the same trick that he did some years before. Sadly, when I took notice of people who would be “in the know” about the band making posts to their socials about getting some terrible news that they were hoping against hope would be untrue a chill ran through my bones. It was true. He was gone. The world at large had lost the Green Man, Peter Steele was dead and he was only 48 years old.
It’s been a year since the sad news about Peter Steele’s passing hit the Metal Republic and I have to say that it seemed to be the kick off to a number of other bad turns of events. While none of the musical deaths that preceded Peter’s were any less important, his own passing set off a shock wave in the underground Metal scene where Type O Negative were kings and really left a lot of fans shocked and dismayed. The band was obviously over and done with now that the principal song writer was dead and while members Hickey and Kelly would continue on with their side project Seventh Void, the chapter on Type O Negative was one that had apparently closed in the book of Metal music history. Research had found that no unreleased music was left lying around, but perhaps some historically relevant video would surface for the fans to enjoy.
The Man Of Steele: Click Photo For Original Memorial Thoughts
A little over a month after Peter had passed away the world would lose the mighty Ronnie James Dio but thoughts about his passing are better discussed in the narrative that is dedicated to his illustrious career. When Peter was gone and the word was confirmed as truth instead of another cruel jest; a memorial posting was made in the Official PiercingMetal.com blog. With the First Anniversary of his passing being today I wanted to revisit those thoughts which can be read by clicking the photo above. Comments about The Man are continually welcome by those who enjoyed his music as much as we did but we ask that you please leave them on the original memorial posting as opposed to here for greater impact. We miss ya Peter and hope you are rocking with the likes of Hendrix, Bonham and many, many more.
Peter Steele’s Bass at Hard Rock Cafe Times Square
Peter’s Alembic bass guitar is now a part of Hard Rock Cafe historic pieces and at the time of this first anniversary could be viewed in one of the establishments windows. When I learned that it was at this location I made sure to snap a couple of photos for proper use in these thoughts.
Peter Steele’s Hard Rock Cafe Placard
The words they showcased seemed to hit the nail on the head for me, so I was happy with how they were presented. Don’t mind any spots on the image as there was a torrential rainstorm happening around me when I did this.
Peter Steele’s Thundering Bass Guitar Of Gloom
Kudos to the Hard Rock Cafe brand for realizing that Peter Steele and Type O Negative are worthy of inclusion among your legendary ranks of artifacts. While the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will likely remain forever clueless and leave a band like this one out of its “honors”, its great to see that some others actually understand and appreciate such a vital musician. I thank you as a decades deep fan of Steele’s music.
Note: Please know that the means to comment on this post have been turned off and we ask that any reflection thoughts or toasts about Peter Steele that you wish to share be left on our first Memorial posting that can be found HERE. Thank you.
It is with incredible sadness that I try to wrap my head around the loss of Type O Negative’s Peter Steele who passed away last night 4/14/2010 at around 6pm. The news broke rather quickly thanks to the likes of Twitter, Facebook & MySpace, but in the early stages of the information there was a strong belief that the rumors of his death were highly exaggerated. This mindset was initially in place based on the fact that the singer had been reported dead back in 2005 but after a few days the world realized that they had been punked. Sadly there would be no sigh of relief this time around and when very reliable sources in his camp confirmed it all to be true we would learn the brutal fact that in the end it was heart failure that took this giant of the Metal scene away from us. He was 48 years old.
Artist: Carnivore Title: “Carnivore” (remaster) (reissue) Label: Metal Mind Productions Release Date: 6/17/2008 Genre: Thrash Metal Rating: 4/5
Metal Mind Productions continues their re-issuing of classic Roadrunner Records albums with this limited edition version of Carnivore’s sophomore album – “Retaliation”. Like the others of its kind the release comes packaged in a beautiful digipak that features original album art and a booklet. Given we had reviewed the original release we are re-presenting our thoughts about it since they have remained the same since that writing.
“Carnivore” was the self-titled debut release by the band of the same name, and they were a group fronted by Peter Steele in the years before he formed Type-O-Negative. Their inception came shortly after the breakup of Steele’s previous band Fallout and the album was initially released on vinyl in 1986. This particular Thrash Metal band approached their audience garbed as barbarians from a Post-Apocalyptic world of the future that had been laid waste by the fires of nuclear conflict. Their lyrical content was quite scatological at times and even somewhat misogynistic with their overall subject matter dealing with the hunting and killing of the remaining humans or bringing death to those unworthy of existence in this new violent terrain. It’s pretty heavy stuff for the time but when you look at what they were doing in the genre as far as musical composition and the delivery of a memorable image they were very effective. Then referred to as Lord Petrus T. Steele, the imposing 6’6” stature of the singing bassist made those who witnessed the band in person cringe for fear of incurring his wrath. Guitars were deftly handled by Keith Alexander and drums were Louis Beateaux and if you had to think of the musical lines that they fell closely against I would say it was a blend of what Thrash was building up to be and some cool traditional stuff. The album begins with the track “Predator” but based on the way that the second track begins I felt it would have been the better album opener. Continue reading “Carnivore” (remaster) (reissue) by Carnivore→
Artist: Carnivore Title: “Retaliation” (remaster) (reissue) Label: Metal Mind Productions Release Date: 6/17/2008 Genre: Thrash Metal/Crossover Hardcore Rating: 3.5/5
Metal Mind Productions continues their re-issuing of classic Roadrunner Records albums with this limited edition version of Carnivore’s sophomore album – “Retaliation”. Like the others of its kind the release comes packaged in a beautiful digipak that features original album art and a booklet. Given we had reviewed the original release we are re-presenting our thoughts about it since they have remained the same since that writing.
“Brooklyn’s own Carnivore returned with their second album “Retaliation” in 1987 and while it once again found Peter Steele at the helm along with drummer Louis Beateaux, by this time guitarist Keith Alexander had moved on and been replaced by Marc Piovanetti (a musician who also had an association with Hardcore Metal band The Crumbsuckers). The change in guitarist was not the only change for the band at this time for instead of the more traditional based Heavy Metal sound, there was now a faster and more intense level of aggression that was more along the lines of Hardcore Punk mixed with Speed Metal. Steele is found to be as angry as Hell on a majority of the tracks on the album and perhaps the album’s opening sounds on “Jack Daniels and Pizza” was what set him off on his tirades. I could have done without the recording of the bassist vomiting but it certainly helps to demonstrate the dark level of humor and profanity the band was so good at. The tracks on “Retaliation” cover a wide variety of topics such as religious intolerance during “Angry Neurotic Catholics” and racial disharmony during “Race War”. One would think that the singer is acting out his own ignorance but when you read the scathing lyrical content it seems clear that he is speaking instead from the mindset of someone both racially and religiously closed as opposed to being open about his own views. The crossover continues into tales of the regions destruction during “Ground Zero Brooklyn” and in one of the bands best tunes we learn about the reincarnation gone wrong as Jesus Christ and Adolf Hitler return as one person for “Jesus Hitler”. This track along with “Technophobia” and “Five Million Dead” (an instrumental) work well along the lines of the Apocalyptic Barbarians that we met on the bands debut “Carnivore” but when it comes to “USA for USA” and “Sex and Violence” is more of the hardcore influx Metal that resounds on the release. Continue reading “Retaliation” (remaster) (reissue) by Carnivore→
