RIP Peter Steele (Type O Singer)

[Peter]

Not sure if there are many fans on the forum but Peter Steele, the bassist and vocalist for Type O Negative (also Carnivore) passed away last night from heart failure.

A sad loss to the rock/metal community.

For those who are not aware Type O Negative is a Gothic rock/metal band from Brooklyn. They made siouxsie and the banshees sound like a happy go lucky band.

RIP Peter Steele

 

[Gerrit]

A sad loss for the music community. I don't like the whole gothic metal tag when it comes to Type O Negative. There is very little gothic about it. In general I dislike the whole tagging, but if you insist, there is little gothic about TON. They are/were doomy and gloomy in their own very unique way which cannot be easily compared to goth bands. In a way goth bands are often more dramatic than really sombre whereas some bands such as The Smiths, The Connells, Sophia, Type O Negative etc made music that had a sadness about it that was much more in-depth than the average goth band even when their sound would not be typically associated with that feeling of sadness.

Type O Negative had a very unique sound mainly due to the whole atmosphere of sadness and doom. There was just something about the whole sound, the atmosphere they created, that was unsettling. Like a danger lurking behind you, slowly approaching you until the anxiety realises its peak, it was somewhat claustrophobic at moments. Peter Steele had the perfect voice for that, you just gotta love that baritone like in My Girlfriend's Girlfriend.

Christian Woman in my opinion is a signature song for TON and a statement to the talent of Steele's songwriting. The song's entire structure has a very sombre feeling about it, the voice suits it perfectly. Also, the video (the uncensored one) completes the whole gloomy feeling, as if the last rays of light made room for total darkness. That was another thing about Type O Negative, the esthetical part: the green-black images contributed to that claustrophobic dark feeling. It all just worked out perfectly well together.

A very sad loss for the musical world. Peter Steele was a brilliant songwriter and vocalist, unique within his style of music. I hope TON will now call it an end rather than replace Peter ; you can replace a band member but you cannot replace an icon. Peter was the face and the soul of Type O Negative, he was TON in a way. Irreplacable.

RIP Peter, and thanks for the music you left us which will live on for many many more years.

 

[jkennedy]

Dye 'em black......

Black #1
One of my fav type o neg. songs.

He will be missed.

 

[BrandonG]

I believe the world will be a better place without him. His music will live on though...

 

[Peter]

A very sad loss for the musical world. Peter Steele was a brilliant songwriter and vocalist, unique within his style of music. I hope TON will now call it an end rather than replace Peter ; you can replace a band member but you cannot replace an icon. Peter was the face and the soul of Type O Negative, he was TON in a way. Irreplacable.

I very much doubt Type O will continue. The other members have other projects they have been working on so will most likely just make them the full time projects.

I cannot think of any other singer that could take over Peter Steele's role as you say his voice was very unique.

---------- Post added at 08:57 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:53 AM ----------

I believe the world will be a better place without him. His music will live on though...

Why do you think it will be a better place without him?

Even if you are not a TON fan, many bands have been influenced by them shaping their career,

 

[Gerrit]

Not just his voice was unique, his whole charisma as well. To me, TON was Peter Steele with some backing musicians. I found it hard to even remember the names of the others. To me, Type O Negative was just Peter Steele. He was not just the singer, he was the heart and soul of this band.

I must admit disliking the concept of Carnivore due to the racist connotations, but then maybe it's just black humor just like "I like Goirls" was not intended homophobic but just tongue-in-cheeck humor. Type O Negative was one of the first metal bands I discovered, and I will continue to enjoy their music ; it's just not the same though when realising there will never be a TON concert anymore. I regret I never saw them perform live.

BrandonG, with all respect but I find your reaction somewhat inappropriate. The world would be a better place without him? First of all I wouldn't wish death upon my worst enemy (not saying you wished him death or so, but your reaction sounds quite emotion-cold) and secondly Peter Steele was a musician. He was not a crimimal, he never did anyone harm, I believe he even was quite an emotional and sensitive person. I don't see what he did wrong to say the world's better off without him, unless you take offense to some lyrics. But then lyrics are not always to be taken literally, even the songs that are quite harsh are quite artistic if you read them between the lines.

 

[Peter]

I must admit disliking the concept of Carnivore due to the racist connotations, but then maybe it's just black humor just like "I like Goirls" was not intended homophobic but just tongue-in-cheeck humor. Type O Negative was one of the first metal bands I discovered, and I will continue to enjoy their music ; it's just not the same though when realising there will never be a TON concert anymore. I regret I never saw them perform live.

I am a fan of the Carnivore albums as well. You really cannot take the lyrincs too seriosuly. I am not going to go into the lyrics too much here as it is not appropriate but go back and read the lyrics then think about who it was singing them. If it was 2pac or someone like that then fair enough they maybe taken seriously but when it is a white man it doesnt make any sense to take it literally.

 

[Gerrit]

Yeah, he had a very morbid sense of humor, but sometimes I do appreciate that black humor. Rammstein and The Smiths are other examples. I can understand some songs of ToN (eg the one about suicide) can scare off people, but then I think artistic liberties are very important as arts are often taboo breaking. And for sure some songs were tongue-in-cheeck. I guess people often had a very wrong image of Peter Steele and saw him as some suicidal, sexist, fascist pig. If you look beyond the surface he came across as very sincere and sensitive to me. It's all a matter of interpretating the songs the right way, in Type O Negative's case this means reading between the lines and sense the irony.

 

[elias75]

\m/ RIP Peter Steele \m/

The Metal band of Heaven is now much darker!