Here’s a totally accurate chronology of my Lacuna Coil fandom: I heard a killer LC jam on the radio and was awed by singer Cristina Scabbia. Then I saw a band photo and got awestruck this time by Scabbia the woman. Then once fourth album Karmacode came out in 2007, my awe umbrella’ed out to include the songwriters of Lacuna Coil and, upon 2009’s Shallow Life, also their producer Don Gilmore.

But here’s where I’ll get all Oprah: Though a huge fan of Scabbia’s voice and a forged-by-nature respondent to her wealth of physical charms, I find the most awesome Scabbia is not the singer or the super-fox; she’s most awesome at being a bud, an honest dude, and a great chat. When we connected last week to talk about Dark Adrenaline, the once-delayed sixth Lacuna Coil album (out tomorrow), she effortlessly plowed through abstract questions and hasty analogies, and totally got the vibe of my persistent nagging about sales, producers, and artistic integrity. It was awesome!

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For fans of late Type O Negative frontman Peter Steele, there’s a minefield of sad reminders to negotiate. For example, last April was the first anniversary of his death and about the time that a seventh Type O record would’ve been released. And of course, our stereos’ cruel shuffle modes conspire to spring sentimental Peter music on us when we’re least prepared for an emotional jolt. Plus, I can’t encounter any reference to Jerry Springer, Rikki Lake, or Playgirl without chuckling and sighing about Peter the Amorist.

Well, today is another of those bummers cuz it would’ve marked Steele’s 50th birthday. Damn. Just think of it: He would’ve woken up and looked out his window to see me in a long coat blasting “(We Were) Electrocute” on a boom box held over my head (a la Say Anything) and surrounded by fifty writhing 50-year old strippers. The strippers would’ve been choreographed to spell out “Peter” and would reposition into shapes like a bass guitar, the Type O logo, and an undulating wang. And most would be female but I think that goes without saying.

–ADF

That’s obviously a lie, but it’d be hard to blame someone for thinking as much after listening to David Gold’s Steele-esque bellowed croon on the new Woods of Ypres track “Kiss My Ashes (Goodbye).” And I mean that in the best way possible; I loved Type O Negative and I really liked Woods of Ypres last album Woods 4: The GREEN Album, released in 2009 and picked up by Earache for re-release in 2010. With Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light on Earache’s release slate for 2012, the band’s begun teasing tracks out to the public. And I’m really, really liking what I’ve heard so far. First great release of 2012? Maybe.

Check out another new track from Woods 5 at The Number of The Blog; it’s faster, but no less awesome. Think more “I Don’t Want to Be Me” and less “Christian Woman.”

-VN

As a member of Type O Negative and Carnivore, Peter Steele regularly antagonized society’s sensitivity police with blunt observations on sex, race, and violence. And he played doomy, dour metal about love and death, sharpened a few of his teeth to a point, and did drugs. But still, in death he is metal’s Princess Di, a symbol of our values: individuality, skill, and heart. That’s why fans do things to celebrate his memory, things that require time, resources, and effort, that net no profit, and that pay proper respect to our memories of him.

A wondrous example is “Peter’s Tree,” a Facebook group devoted to planting a tree in NYC’s Prospect Park as a dedication to Steele, free-thinker, nature poet, and onetime parks worker. And Monday was the big day: At a 10 a.m. ceremony, Peter’s special oak tree (above) got its official planting at a scenic — and permanent — spot in the north side of the park (map here). It’s genius cuz a tree’s lifespan is such that even fans yet to be born will someday enjoy it, and double-genius since a tree provides shelter and sustenance for other creatures. Peter would love that. Plus it’s tall and you can hug it. See you there!

-ADF

More photos and info here. Comment from Type O Negative’s Johnny Kelly here. The MetalSucks Peter Steele tribute interview special here and here. 

A headline like “Tori Amos Issues Challenge to Metal Bands” is hard to ignore.  So I went over to Spinner.com to read this interview with Ms Amos, and this is what she had to say:

“Well, look, sometimes you don’t know how music affects people. I embrace that because I don’t think that just because I talk about emotional stuff that it’s not mother—er stuff. I’ll stand next to the hardest f—ing heavy metal band on any stage in the world and take them down, alone, by myself. Gauntlet laid down, see who steps up. See who steps up! I’ll take them down at 48. And they know I will. Because emotion has power that the metal guys know is just you can’t touch it. Insanity can’t touch the soul. It’s going to win every f—ing time.”

Before we get too riled up, it’d be smart to remember that homegirl has a new album to promote, and will spout any number of ridiculous soundbites to sell some plastic. Also, the offending paragraph showed up at the end of the interview, and feels like an offhand remark. Metal news sites went apeshit over it, though, so here we are. I sincerely doubt that Ms. Amos really intends to stand onstage next to Iron Maiden (or Manowar!) and “blow them off the stage.” Unless she’s got about sixteen Orange amps to blast her whispery, piano-driven poem-songs through and 4/5 of Vader providing backup, she ain’t gonna have much luck.

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Over a few hours of interviews with Peter Steele’s closest compatriots and family last March, I kept rolling my eyes at myself for inquiring seriously about their reactions to Peter’s Playgirl photos. It’s like, really, Anso? You ask these nice, giving people about the man’s artistic genius, his singular intellect, his battles, and then the brandishing of his boner for a national magazine? This is journalism?

But hey, yes it is, ‘cuz that was Peter. As I told Type O Negative keyboardist/producer Josh Silver, it screwed with me to watch the band rock when into my mind would flash an image of Peter gripping little Peter. I should have avoided his pictorial in the first place, but, c’mon, you looked, I looked, whatever. After all, that’s the internet’s function: providing more information than you bargained for. And so I relate immediately to Thursday’s NEMI comic (above, don’t sue us?). But will the next three panels also match my experience by depicting the naked-Pete viewer in states of wowed disbelief, smirking mirth, and uncomfortable silence? Probably!

Very special thanks to the Ratajczyk family for the tip.

-ADF

Read part I and part II of MetalSucks’ massive exclusive Peter Steele retrospective featuring new interviews with his family, friends, and Type O Negative bandmates.

The Revolver Golden Gods Awards will air on VH1 later this month (or something… I know we got a press release but I was too lazy to read it), and it will be interesting to see that, because I was there, but I didn’t actually see very much of the show. I saw the schmuck from Asking Alexandria drop his mic two seconds into “Youth Gone Wild,” and I saw some of Avenged Sevenfold’s performances with Duff McKagan and Vinnie Paul, and I saw enough of Chris Jericho performing “For Whom the Bell Tolls” to consider throwing myself over the balcony and ending the awards in spectacular fashion (sometimes, sacrifices must be made for the greater good). But by and large I was too busy snorting coke in the bathroom with a girl who fucking swore to me that it wasn’t a herpes sore that lying bitch! to be bothered.

So one thing I had absolutely no idea even transpired was the below montage paying tribute to the five guys who died in the past year that are relevant to the readers of Revolver, which is to say, not Phil Vane or Frankie Sparcello.

But I shouldn’t be a jerk about it, it’s really a very touching video.

-AR

[via Metal Underground]

And Hell Will Follow Me is a sad, sad, sad album. One can only speculate on the source of the album’s lyrical themes of death, despair, drug use and depression given A Pale Horse Named Death mastermind Sal Abruscato’s (also of Life of Agony) affiliation with Type O Negative… but again, one can only speculate. The music is certainly reminiscent of Type O — dark and moody — although it’s decidedly less gothy and more rocky. In more ways than one I’d liken it to Type O meets Alice in Chains; the music has that same sort of depressing, yet churning AIC plod, and Abruscato’s voice certainly calls Staley’s to mind at times.

Sal’s partner in crime on And Hell Will Follow Me is Matt Brown, sound engineer extraordinaire and guitarist of fellow NY band Seventh Void. Matt knocked it out of the park here; this album sounds excellent. Type O drummer / Seventh Void bandmate Johnny Kelly plays drums.

Listen to album track “Serial Killer” below; it’s about as upbeat and rocky a track as this album has to offer. Stream “Heroin Train” over at SkullsNBones for another taste of the album.

A couple of weeks back we told you about a tribute compilation to Peter Steele being released through MetalUndeground. That compilation, which features 12 covers of  Pete’s work in Type O Negative and Carnivore, is out now and available for download here; the $3 it costs will all go towards recoup the costs of securing the licenses for the songs. Check out the tracklisting below.

In case you missed it, our own Anso DF produced a stellar writeup that looks back at Pete’s life and features interviews with his former band members, family, and friends: Part 1, Part 2.

All For None, None For All, A Tribute to Peter Steele tracklisting after the jump:

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I’m not gonna do a regular worst week this week, because I wanna ramble for a minute. I’m sure no one will be too disappointed.

I really can’t believe it’s been a year since Peter Steele died… I also can’t believe he’s really dead. If you haven’t already read Anso’s two-part rememberance of the man, featuring interviews with bandmates, family members, and friends, you absolutely must do so — it’s amazing. Here’s part one, and here’s part two.

But I’d like to take a moment and pay tribute to the guy in a way that I know might seem weird — by discussing the song “Enemy of the State” from the Roadrunner United album. Steele didn’t write the music — Joey Jordison and engineer/mixer/producer Matt Sepanic did — but the keyboards and samples are by his Type O Negative bandmate, Josh Silver, and Steele did write the vocal melody and lyrics, and those contributions from Steele make the song really special.

See, the entire track is sung in a made-up language. And it sounds pretty authentic — I didn’t know it was made up until I read an interview with Jordison. I honestly thought, “Oh, Peter Steele is fluent in some cool Eastern European language. Awesome.”

Singing words that don’t actually mean anything might seem crazy, but I get the distinct impression that they meant something to him. I mean, check out his vocal delivery, the way that he laughs after certain moments — he was most certainly telling a story. He conveyed that narrative purely through sound and the tone of his fantastic voice — maybe he was making a commentary on how lyrics don’t matter, maybe he was just trying an experiment, or maybe he was just fucking around. I just find the fact that he even thought to approach the song this way so brilliantly weird. Even if it’s not necessarily the definitive Peter Steele song, the way he made it is definitively Peter Steele.

Vince and I will be away most of next week, but we leave you in the competent hands of Anso DF and Corey Mitchell. Try to take it easy on those dudes and not miss us too much.

-AR

Today marks the first anniversary of Peter Steele’s death and though we at MetalSucks have just dragged you to Bummer Town with our two-part Peter retrospective (read part I, part II), MS chum Mick Stingley of Rocksalt.Mx has big, green plans to turn our frown upside down. Yes, tonight at 10 PM EDT he unveils a lengthy unpublished 2005 interview with the always hilarious and merciless Type O Negative frontman. Treasure, right? Stingley, an ace music writer for Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, Metal Edge, and Terrorizer, gave me a peek at the sprawling Q&A; I can tell you it defines epic and hilarity. He’d phoned up Peter ostensibly to talk about Type O’s then-forthcoming Dead Again record, but unsurprisingly, the 12,000+ word interview stretches to accomodate subjects like joy and mortality and most points between. Read it as you crank Carnivore and Type O all day and night. Read it as you dash off angry letters to the Grammys and Revolver. Read it as you hail one of our greats, now elsewhere, always close by.

-ADF

Check out Mick Stingley’s Rocksalt.mx, the Vanity Fair of metal, for more interviews with Johnny Kelly of Type O Negative and Seventh Void, Ministry’s Al Jourgensen, Doro Pesch, Michael Monroe, and more.

If they weren’t laughing with me, okay; if they want to laugh at me, it’s better than nothing.

– Peter Steele, 1962-2010

As far as I can tell, it was easy to laugh with Peter Steele. It seems like he invariably got the chuckling started himself; his companions merely could wait and watch, then break into laughter whether they wanted to or not. I get the same feeling watching his interviews. His joke might be brutally self-deprecating, but you laugh with a knitted brow. His remark might disregard standards of good taste or social sensitivity; you choke down tee-hees while scanning your proximity for aghast eavesdroppers. Or maybe he drops a bad pun or a hoary old uncle joke, causing you to mingle groans with guffaws.

We laughed at Peter, too. Once he, like, totally frenched an admirer on stage at The Ricki Lake Show. At the final stop of Type O Negative’s tour with Pantera, he instigated a multiple body pile-up on stage during a song. He inadvertently made it so that his bandmates would forever be asked to autograph pictures of his nude body. Only Peter.

In the first installment of our salute to Peter Steele, his friends, family, and bandmates talked to MetalSucks about their relationships with Peter, his modesty and talents, his genuine respect for fans, and his new commitment to a healthy life. In our conclusion, recurrent themes include the painful timing of his death and the future that could have been. Consider it: At one moment, Peter was poised to relocate to Staten Island to commence work on new Type O music; the next moment, he had gone and his surviving bandmates were left to contemplate a future without him. At one moment, his family was awaiting his return from Pennsylvania; the next, so began life in a world filled with little reminders of their special big man. At one moment, we had our laughs with and at Peter; the next moment, as he was dying far from his home and his family, we knew to expect no further fun and games from him. Then again, he might be laughing at us right now.

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How would I like to die? I don’t know. It wouldn’t really matter so long as I thought I’d made a difference in the world.

– Peter Steele, 1962-2010

***

Peter Steele was 48 when he passed away on April 14, 2010. His instantly-recognizable baritone graced nine albums with his bands Type O Negative and Carnivore. As did his rusty, fuzzy bass tone, which seemed to represent the man himself: big, soulful, and unfiltered. And in his lyrics, the giant was revealed to be gentle, wounded but smirking, and a little paranoid. Best of all, these were sung to melodies and harmonies only rivaled in awesomeness by Gram Parsons, Jerry Cantrell, and freaking Paul McCartney. He was equally known for his humor and accessibility, the common rave being that Peter took pains to make people feel good. Or bad, like when trading brotherly zings with his bandmates on the commentary track for Type O’s video collection DVD, After Dark. In some measure, it felt empowering for us outsiders to have Peter Steele on our team. The world could keep its superhero fantasies. We have a real one.

So we miss the guy. His departure was sudden and, typical of Peter, ironically timed: A long period of turmoil had come to an end, say his friends and family, and a sober, focussed Peter was days away from a return from seclusion in Pennsylvania to his native New York. A late 2009 string of Type O concerts — which turned out to be his final shows — had marked the best Pete performances in years. Further, the band had just signed a new record deal with Napalm Records and booked a Staten Island rehearsal studio to undertake writing a new album. Nearby, an apartment had been found for Peter, also minutes from two of his bandmates’ homes. He was coming back; he was going to write songs to tell us where he’d been. His death seemed so cruel. It was hard to process.

A year has nearly passed, and we reached out to a few of Peter’s family, friends, and Type O Negative bandmates, who generously shared their thoughts, remembrances, and regrets. A massive round of applause for them, please, as it was an emotional task. In their speech, there often were just-perceptible sighs, shrugging intonations, and pauses to accomodate rushes of emotion. This has not been an easy 12 months for them. There was no shortage of topics either, from Peter’s flirtation with a law enforcement career to his legal peril, from his life as the 6’8″ baby brother to five sisters to his creative partnerships with three metal guys from Brooklyn, from the sophistication of his mind to the humility in his heart. With these words, we salute Peter Steele, we express our support to those devastated by the loss of a friend, brother, foil, confidant, co-worker, and co-goofer, and we share a community-wide hug for enduring negative year one.

***

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Did you know that it’s been almost a year since Peter Steele died? Crazy, but true; the Type O frontman passed away on April 14th, 2010 at the age of 48.

Our own resident Peter expert Anso DF is planning something special for April 14th, but in the meantime we figured we’d let you know about a tribute album our friends at MetalUnderground.com are organizing. In collaboration with Dan Mitchell of Beneath The Woods Studio, MetalUnderground.com has teamed up with a dozen underground bands from across the globe to release an exclusive tribute album entitled All For None, None For All: A Tribute to Peter Steele featuring twelve cover songs from many stages of Peter’s career in both Type O Negative and Carnivore. The tracklisting:

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Shining’s Jorgen Munkeby with Melissa Auf der Maur

When Melissa Auf der Maur, one of the most metal not-really-metal musicians on the planet today, tipped us off that she was going to be collaborating on a new project with Shining’s Jorgen Munkeby, well, we pretty much got down on our hands and knees and begged her to write a guest blog about the experience. Luckily for us, Melissa is used to having men beg her for things, and she took mercy. And so here are her recollections of how she came to learn about Shining, befriend Munkeby, and the collaboration that ensued. Enjoy!

Belgium, Summer Festival 2010 : My bearded Dutch booking agent friend, Bob, insisted I check a band he works with: SHINING. Since I saw and heard them explode out of that festival tent, they have topped my favorite albums of 2010 list with their one of a fucking kind blend of industrial, metal, and jazz: the phenomenally original Blackjazz. Check this Shining shit out:

We became fast friends, bonding over full-time music making, independent music making, intensity, keeping a hold of wicked band members on top of doing absolutely everything else that needs to be done in a band, and much more. Shining  leader/visionary/detail-oriented hard-ass worker, Jorgen Munkeby, became a friend and peer. Later in the year, Jorgen, his sax, and his snake scream joined us on stage during my Out of Our Minds Tour in Europe, in both Istanbul and Oslo (below):

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There are basically three things I care about in this world: fighting, metal, and video games. And of those three, it’s video games that I REALLY care about. I’m not talking about Halo, GTA, Call of Duty, and whatever else your little cousin plays. I’m into some really embarrassing, truly hardcore nerd shit — if names like Darius, Fire Emblem, TwinBee, Tactics Ogre, Front Mission, Parodius, Super Robot Taisen, and Famicom Disk System mean anything to you, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. 1997′s Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (for Playstation) is not only one of my favorite Metroidvania games, but has an incredible soundtrack that combines the best of J-rock, cheesy gothic metal, a dash of techno, and symphonic classical/baroque. Think of it as what Type O Negative might sound like if they were all weird computer programmers from Japan instead of metalheads from Brooklyn.

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We bid fuck off to 2010 tonight ,and that’s sad cuz this year contained the last days of  Type O Negative’s Peter Steele and metal’s Babe Ruth, Ronnie James Dio. We also have to prematurely turn the page on Paul Gray of Slipknot (see you in lefty heaven, dude), Bay Area legend Debbie Abono, and Makh Daniels from Early Graves. It’s like we’re leaving them behind in ’10 and will be forced to forge a path beyond 2011 without their support. What a rip-off.

Okay, this is turning into a real bummer and, worse, it’s redundant to our oft-blubbery reportage of these deaths and others. But today, let’s quickly acknowledge that outside of the MetalSucks coverage umbrella fell the passings of two friends of metal, actor Tony Curtis and filmmaker Satoshi Kon. Curtis may’ve been a marquee leading man and master of frantic comedy in the ’60s, but he first delivered the single greatest, metallist, brilliantest line of dialogue in the history of cinema in 1957′s The Sweet Smell of Success (see headline). Even Mike Patton and Tomahawk made it the refrain of their jam “Laredo” (above, at 1:40). Which is odd cuz that album also has a track named “Sweet Smell of Success.”

Then there’s Satoshi Kon, whose mind-mangling 13-part series Paranoia Agent is one of those works that metal people can love for its non-damning treatment of outsider fuck-ups and its flip, fatalist depiction of mankind’s collective narcissism. It brings to bear the desolate panic of Hitchcock, Lynch’s themes of futile struggle against unfathomable evil, and inevitable dead-end violence, as found in Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors. Which is odd, cuz the star of that movie reminds me of Mike Patton.

Cheers everybody! See you back here in 2011!

-ADF

Before there were blogs there were these things called magazines, and the only metal magazine we still get excited about reading every month is Decibel. Here’s managing editor Andrew Bonazelli.

Axl was rad enough to mention it on Tuesday, and many of you have probably seen our newsletter already, so we’ll just reiterate the basics super fast:

• The Decibel Flexi Series will commence unlubricated face-decimation with the January 2011 issue (out in early December).
• Flexis are clear vinyl incorporated into the actual magazine.
• Every month a new band will drop never-before-heard awesomeness on said flexi.
• “Never-before-heard” means unreleased tracks, covers, liveage, demos, alternate takes or re-recordings. Who knows, maybe even a skit like the kind Type O used to open albums with. I’m sure, like, Pig Destroyer have been dying to cover “Skip It.”
• Brutal Truth are doing the first one. Enslaved are doing the second.
• Only subscribers get to handle these super collectible, extremely limited, most brutal of truths.

That much you probably already know. As for the future, trust us, there’s no shortage of bands being considered for this series. But right now that’s mostly just in-house fantasy draft stuff. Now would be a good time to hear from you guys: Who would you like to see in this thing? Got any dream covers? Know of anything crazy-rare that would blow minds if it just finally fucking got out there? Please tell us, in the spirit of Ludacris and weak-ass gamer puns, what’s your vinyl fantasy?

P.S. A particularly badass one might be Incantation smashing through Golgotha live, which you can check out for yourself on their Decibel Hall of Fame mini-tour , which kicks off tomorrow at Reggie’s Rock Club in Chicago.

-AB

Like the man said, the only way to get these awesome flexi discs is to subscribe to Decibel, so get off your tuchus and do that. You can also buy the flexi-less-but-still-killer December 2010 issue here.

I’ve been so caught up in the Unsigned and Unholy thing lately that I’ve left a few signed bands on the table that are well-deserving of the ears of MetalSucks readers. So, without further ado:

• Chickenhawk: I wasn’t expecting much from a band named Chickenhawk, but these guys completely rip. They’ve got the post-hardcore-meets-metal vibe of bands like Converge, Cancer Bats or Kvelertak, so if those names mean anything to do you ought to check them out right quick.
• Primitive Weapons: These Brooklynites just signed to Shinebox Recordings, and they’d actually make a good touring match with Chickenhawk; they’re a little bit noisier and a little less rock/metal-y, but no less talented.
• A Pale Horse Named Death: New band featuring ex-Type O Negative / Life of Agony drummer Sal Abruscato, another Brooklyn boy, collaborating with producer, engineer and musician Matt Brown. The result is a band that has sonic elements of the aforementioned (more so Type O than Life of Agony) but has its own brand of dark melancholy too.

At the Golden Gods thing back in April, I really perked up when Alice In Chains’ Jerry Cantrell came down the press line. It was surprising and weird because I was not aware that his band remained significant to me. But there I was, rudely turning away from Zakk Wylde in mid-sentence to beam fanatically at Cantrell and bassist Mike Inez. The two seemed spot-lit and energetic; there was a sense of relief that the band had returned from the brink, and with a fucking awesome album to boot. I couldn’t take my eyes off them the whole night, not least of all during their innumerable trips to the stage to collect awards for Black Gives Way To Blue before a roomful of applause and well wishes. So deserved. Awesome.

This is a big turnaround for me after a decade of intense AIC fatigue, during which I suffered actual nausea from the harmonies of “Heaven Beside You,” and the opening chords of “Rooster” triggered an immediate lunge for the radio dial. (The latter is partially my fault, ‘cuz I remember a beer blast at which I stood guard over the stereo as that song stayed on repeat for like two hours.) I’ll never tire of Cantrell’s masterful solo in “Man In The Box” or the majesty of “Down In A Hole,” but otherwise it seemed that by 2000 we’d all gotten enough Alice In Chains for a lifetime. Not to mention the proliferate AIC clones complete with insta-Laynes — which really riled me cuz if anyone, it’s Cantrell whom a smart band would replicate. And, sadly, Staley himself was pretty much a super-bummer on two legs before long. Semi-consciously, I began to ignore their existence. Me and Alice In Chains were over. Such a great band, such a shame.

But, yes, some time apart and a tardiculous new album have healed the oft-rocky relationship between AIC and my ears. We’re back together, stronger than ever, and it’s no exagerration to state that I still can’t stop listening to BGW2B, a pop-doom metal masterpiece that finally brings some closure to the Staley situation (and it even impacted the new Soilwork record). Actually, I always think of Type O Negative’s Peter Steele when I hear the album’s big finale, “Private Hell.” Maybe you do, too.

-ADF

Alice In Chains embarks on the BlackDiamondSkye tour with Deftones and Mastodon starting September 16. Get dates here.