Type O Negative - October Rust (1996) Reviews
Type O Negative are masters of eerily glowing atmospheres, being the perfect example of what a goth metal band should sound like. They've done a lot during their short time as far as musical innovation goes, and they've even gone almost as far as The Beatles have by going into genre after genre and applying it to their personality. And one of their most personal albums is their most famous: October Rust.
What we see in October Rust is the decision to go mainstream, and succeed. This has very little to do with the concept as selling out, although the general sound of the album is less heavy. Many of these songs fall under rock instead of metal, or maybe a hybrid of the two. The production technique used throughout the album maintains a heavily-polished pop sound, which brings out all of the romantic strengths. And Type O Negative once again play through a plethora of different styles, including their doom metal sound from the early days. But many of the other influences are more fit for rock, like the shoegaze aspects and the darkwave reverb. Because of this production type, many of the songs, while diverse, occasionally absorb into each other. Safer to say, they are more similar sounding to each other than the songs off of Bloody Kisses. There's even a little of this in World Coming Down.
October Rust is a very beautiful album, but it's not my favorite of the group. This is still an excellent example of goth metal focusing on the art of the sound itself rather than writing the same song over and over again (looking at you, post-Dreadful Hours MDB). The ideas on this album are built for a wider audience, and I think they did a good job of spreading word of the gothic sound to the masses.
My relationship with Type O Negative has always been troubled. Doom and Gothic Metal are some of my favorite genres, and Type O Negative practically invented the later (despite what people say, I am firmly of the opinion they have NEVER played the former). The thing about these genres is that they are known for being moody, melancholic, sombre, etc. Type O Negative, rather than representing these traits, are more so a parody of them.
Most of their songs are filled with tongue in cheek humor, sarcasm, overly vulgar sexuality, and Peter Steele’s ever so annoying “sensual tough guy” persona. It’s like if gym jocks tried making Gothic Metal. The joke interludes found on many of their albums send a pretty clear message they don’t really take anything too seriously.
Anyway, as for this album… Most of the music is pretty good. Red Water is great, even, with some actually melancholic and doomy atmosphere. Far too often, these songs are overlong and filled with all the annoying tropes of the band I mentioned before. The gothic guitar melodies and echo effects are usually quite nice, and Peter sounds good for the most part, but he still falls into parody territory too often.
It’s just a band that doesn’t sit well with me.
Type O Negative were not a group that I grew up with, but in hindsight, they would have fit right in. I enjoy the new wave sound of the 1980s, and the arrival of darkwave with Dead Can Dance were one of my favourites. And Type O Negative fit right in from a lyrical perspective, although with a predominantly doom metal sound. I caught on to this band super late, and I don't think I've heard this album since the passing of Peter Steele in 2010/2011.
So I've gone back and listened to it and man is it great! I really enjoy how well this album holds up by today's standards, and how influential it proved.
But I have to begin by talking about this album's bad parts, and trust me, they are unavoidable. None of these songs are finished...literally! Oh, the songs themselves sound complete, but every single track on this album ends prematurely without allowing their final notes to reach their desired conclusion, or lead in to the next track. Now, this may have been an issue of being under a time constraint; this album came out in 1996 and had to deal with time limits on CD's and vinyls. Valid argument, then explain to me why the album begins with thirty-eight seconds of static on "Bad Ground" a twenty-one second, untitled intro, and another nine second, untitled outro. I will at least give track 12 (I'm not writing all of that title down!) for being somewhat of a musical idea. These should have been cut. Even by the standards of the time, this is unacceptable.
Outside of my issues with the actual album, we can now talk about the music, which is excellent. When the album begins properly, "Love Me to Death" is an absolute joy to hear, no matter how many times I listen to it; the shoegaze elements are among some of the best in doom and sludge metal. Unfortunately for me, those elements take a backseat for the more traditional doom metal sound on "Be My Druidess", but is still a very solid tune with an awesome hook.
"Red Water (Christmas Mourning)" is literally a Christmas song with Gothic implications. I love how the bridge quotes the melody from "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", but the tone gives it a very different feel. While songs like "My Girlfriend's Girlfriend" and "Cinnamon Girl" are shorter, more accessible songs, the atmosphere does not go away. Meanwhile, "Die with Me" and "Wolf Moon (Including Zoanthropic Paranoia)" are longer, and more deliberate, but still sound great, especially the guitar work.
The Halloween-esque organ that persists throughout this entire record gives it that truly gorgeous eeriness that a lot of Gothic metal bands seem to lack. Think along the lines of the best tracks of Marilyn Manson. The bass lines are straightforward, as you would expect from a doom metal album, while the drums have their moments, but most of the time is left to basic timekeeping. This is all because of the lyrics and Peter Steele as a performer. His vocal timbre is very similar to that of Glenn Danzig, but much lower and drone-like. I can't explain it any more than that, you have to hear it!
In the end, I can see why this is considered by many as the pinnacle of Gothic metal. The music is haunting and dark, the songs are deliberately slow and brooding, Peter Steele's vocal's are what you might expect out of a satanic ritual! This is fantastic stuff and it still holds up today, even if the production and composition have some...questionable motives.
By the time 1996 rolled around I’d been aware of Brooklyn-based gothic doom merchants Type O Negative for several years already. My de-facto partner had been a huge fan of the band so their albums (particularly 1993’s “Bloody Kisses”) had gotten regular spins around the home we shared together. However that relationship came to an abrupt end under the worst possible circumstances just before the release of their fourth studio album “October Rust” & it sent me spiraling into the most difficult time of my life thus far as I tried to recover emotionally. So you can imagine that listening to a new Type O Negative album wasn’t exactly something that was high on my priorities list at the time. Particularly given the early reports that it was the band’s most commercially accessible outing yet & the evidence of the poppy single “My Girlfriend’s Girlfriend”. But when a good mate at work (who wasn’t a metalhead by any stretch of the imagination) pushed me to give it few spins after becoming somewhat obsessive about it I was left with no choice but to do so, if only to appease his continuous hounding. And boy was I glad I did because not only did I find “October Rust” to be a stunningly addictive record but it somehow managed to significantly assist me through the emotional turmoil I was going through.
Type O Negative have always had a very strange sense of humour & the start of “October Rust” is a prime example of this. The first 38 seconds of the album is made up of the sort of amplifier hum that’s produced when you pull the cable out of your electric guitar with your amplifier left on. It’s meant as a joke but it’s a long way from funny. It’s just a waste of time & space really. Then an even worse artistic decision follows with the band members expending one of the most pointless 21 second periods of my life in verbally thanking me for buying the record. No worries guys but can we get on with some fucking music now please?? If we skip right to the end of the album, the final untitled 9 second track is also a spoken-word thank you from Peter Steele & these musical missteps almost lead me to believe that Type O Negative have intentionally tried to self-sabotage their appeal. I mean what other conceivable reason can there be for this sort of misguided self-indulgence?? Thankfully though, the rest of this lengthy album (it totals a duration of 73 minutes) is made up of legitimate songs & some extremely high quality ones at that.
In a word, the production on “October Rust” could best be described as glistening. The band have incorporated a number of new elements to create a more expansive & ultimately more attractive & marketable product with Josh Silver’s use of synthesizers filling out, complimenting & enhancing Type O Negative's dark metal sound throughout. Kenny Hickey’s guitar sound is particularly fuzzy & distorted with a noticeable reliance on chorus FX & it works to become a huge unified beast when combined with Peter Steele’s impressively thick & heavy bass sound. The use of melodic vocal harmonies has the potential to isolate those of us that are averse to a bit of cheese but it’s done in such a tasteful & professional manner & the hooks are of such a high quality that it’s very hard not to be drawn in for the long haul.
Steele’s performance on the album is pretty phenomenal to be honest. His vocals are as deep & powerful as any he delivered in his career & they really suit the newly developed Type O Negative sound. It’s not hard to recognise the influence of gothic rock bands like Sisters Of Mercy on his style here & that’s a theme that runs through other elements of the album too. In fact, many of the melodic instrumental bridges scattered across the tracklisting appear to have an obvious connection to The Cure & it works beautifully. Peter’s bass playing is also a highlight with a post-punk influence being consistently visible in many of his bass lines. Again, this is perfectly amalgamated with the doomier sound that Type O Negative were previously known for & this diverse range of influences is one of the real strengths of “October Rust”.
Sadly, there are a couple of weaker songs included. The popular single “My Girlfriend’s Girlfriend” is much too quirky & commercially focused for my liking while the cover version of Neil Young’s “Cinnamon Girl” was a strange choice indeed. But thankfully these two blemishes are amongst the shorter tracks included with most of the other tracks exceeding the five minute mark. There are still a multitude of highlights to choose from with a good two thirds of the tracklisting falling into the classic category. Most of the material lies firmly within the realm of gothic metal but, as with many bands associated with the subgenre, the band’s doom metal roots are never too far off with tracks like “Red Water (Christmas Mourning)” & “Haunted” presenting some of the most depressively dreary & majestically heavy riffs we’d heard from Type O Negative to the time. It’s really interesting though that I often find myself thinking of early 80’s new-wave & pop bands like Duran Duran, Simple Minds & Tears For Fears when I hear the lush synth-driven melodic content & vocal harmonies that have been integrated into many of these songs. That might sound horrible to most metalheads but trust me when I say that it’s a big positive & one of the key elements that makes this release so unique.
Strangely, “October Rust” not only left me enamored with its hooks for weeks (if not months) on end but it also managed to help me recover from some extreme emotional trauma even though it should by all rights have been some sort of reminder of the root cause. In truth, I don’t think that would have been possible if Type O Negative hadn’t taken a fresh approach as it would have been too easy to link the album with my past experiences with the band. But even if I put my past aside & listen to “October Rust” with fresh ears in the modern day, I find that I’m often left in awe of its ability to balance sheer depressive heaviness with insanely beautiful melody. Sure there are a few misfires on offer but that’s Type O Negative for ya & the peaks here are astronomical. This is essential listening for fans of gothic metal.
For fans of: Moonspell, Paradise Lost, Tiamat.