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Type O Negative: October rust
09/04/10 || Smalley
While I greatly enjoy most of what Type O Negative has released up ‘til now, “October rust” in particular simply TOWERS over everything else they’ve done. Not only did TON rid themselves of the more abrasive, discordant elements from their previous records, but their brand of goth metal became much more thoughtful, atmospheric, and well… just intoxicating here, not only resulting in their very best record, but also one of the best metal albums period , in my not-so-humble opinion. “Romantic-ish heavy metal” might not sound like it’d be very metal, but if it’s as good as it is here, then fuck it, call me a believer!!!
Joke tracks “Bad ground” & “Intro” open us up with thirty-eight seconds of speaker static, then the band comes in for a bit to acknowledge their prank, and generally fuck around. The meat of the album really starts on “Love you to death”, which establishes the deeper, darker, more restrained sound of “rust”, with an easy-going tempo, richly atmospheric production, and bitterly-romantic (if that’s possible) lyrics, perfectly delivered in Peter Steele’s dour baritone: “In her place, one hundred candles burnin’/A salty sweat drips from her breast/Her hips move, and I can feel what they’re saying, swaying/They say ‘The beast inside of me is gonna get ya, get ya, get…’”.
It all makes for an extremely enveloping experience overall, and “Be my druidess” is an excellent point of diversion from there, with its quicker tempo, beautifully melodic guitar work, and passionate, erotic tone. Seriously, I think even I got seduced by those intense, slower sections where Peter talks about doing anything to make his druidess climax.
“Green man” further lightens up the album with its peaceful keyboarding and overall positive mood, but before things can get too sunshine ‘n rainbows here, “Red water (Christmas mourning)” provides the perfect buzzkill, by being the best Christmas song ever about having less and less living relatives with each passing year. Yeah, it’s pretty macabre stuff, but “water” remains very well-done in its own morbid right.
Unfortunately, “My girlfriend’s girlfriend” then comes as the only disappointing song here, with a dull chorus, dumb, obnoxious vocal affections from Steele, and gratingly high-pitched flower power keyboarding; seriously, you guys got that down perfect on “Set me on fire”, so what the hell’s with this shit!? Good thing that following tracks “Die with me”, “Burnt flowers fallen”, and “In praise of Bacchus” take us back to the land of good Type O, with relatively soothing, uplifting music, but bittersweet lyrics about love lost, giving it all a nice little twist.
“Cinnamon girl” is the cover song here, taking the twangy down-homeness of the Neil Young original and replacing it with dirty, ultra-deep metal riffage, resulting in one of the most miraculous transformations ever from original to cover. From there, “The glorious liberation of the people’s technocratic republic of vinnland by the combined forces of the united territories of Europa” ( whew! ) leads into what is basically the final section of “rust”, and is pretty much just another joke track (though an enjoyable one), with a clusterfuck of militaristic sound effects, and an incomprehensible refrain echoed over and over by the band, as Kenny Hickey lays down a simple riff in the background.
“Wolf moon” gets us back to the actual songs, and is probably the most memorable thing Type O’s recorded to date, with an incredibly thick, creepy atmosphere, and twisted lyrics about… well, I’ll let you find out for yourself. Then “Haunted” is the final song here, and is also one of the weaker ones, with a realllllllllllllllly slow tempo and a really long running time, but whatever, TON never was a metal band to bang your head off to, and “Haunted” still has a cool, haunted (naturally) feel to it, so I still like it.
But honestly, dividing these songs up and discussing them individually really is inadequate to convey how amazing “October rust” is; I can’t tell you how many times I’ve popped this in my car’s CD player, cranked up the volume, and allowed it to just ENGULF me. Yeah, I know, that sounds lame and wishy-washy and un-metal and all, but that’s exactly what it does to me. This is damn beautiful music, and while it isn’t that mean or that heavy or that fast, it is , without a shadow of a doubt, fucken great.
- Information
- Released: 1996
- Label: Roadrunner
- Website: www.typeonegative.net
- Band
- Peter Steele: vocals, bass
- Kenny Hickey: guitar
- Josh Silver: keyboards
- Johnny Kelly: drums
- Tracklist
- 01. Bad Ground
- 02. Intro
- 03. Love You To Death
- 04. Be My Druidess
- 05. Green Man
- 06. Red Water (Christmas Mourning)
- 07. My Girlfriend’s Girlfriend
- 08. Die With Me
- 09. Burnt Flowers Fallen
- 10. In Praise Of Bacchus
- 11. Cinnamon Girl
- 12. The Glorious Liberation Of The People’s Technocratic Republic Of Vinnland By The Combined Forces Of The United Territories Of Europa
- 13. Wolf Moon (Including Zoanthropic Paranoia)
- 14. Haunted
- 15. Outro
