Customer Reviews

World Coming Down

5 star:		(100)
4 star:		(34)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

If Type O' Negative fans think the band's usual dry wit is absent from their fifth full length album, think again. The humor and sex, so prominantly featured on their last albums, is obviously toned down on "World Coming Down" but that doesn't mean it isn't there. The first track entitled "Skip It" is made to sound like a CD skipping so that the buyer thinks there is something wrong with his/her CD (the title of the track is also a suggestion). Even if this isn't your idea of a good joke, the noise only lasts eleven seconds ending with someone yelling "sucker!" It's almost a warning to the uninitiated to take the following 74 plus minutes of sound with a huge grain of salt. I won't say any more concerning the band's intent or whether they're genuinely solemn and gloomy, but "sucker" is right, because this band sounds like they want to punish their listeners for buying their album.

The songs on WCD may tend to start out slow but the payoff is in the soaring choruses carried by Peter Steele's majestic voice. They bring you into their world of pain and loss with their hard edged monolithic ballads dealing with topics such as drug addiction (White Slavery), losing loved ones (Everyone I Love Is Dead, and Everything Dies) and necromancy (Creepy Green Light and All Hallows Eve) just to name a few.

The lineup includes the usual suspects found on their last album with Josh Silver adding that creepy green atmosphere (keyboard and sampling), Kenny Hickey crunching hard on guitar, Johnny Kelly pounding the hell out of the skins, and of course Peter Steele, singing lead and thumping that big thick bass of his.

Musically the album has a sublimely dark (favorite industry adjective) sound. For the usuall TON fan it's a welcome return after waiting for a new release from the band ever since 1997's "October Rust."

In conclusion: On this album sex takes a back seat, the lush romantic sound is less but the songwriting is tighter, the scary is scarier, and more people die. For all you visual learners out there, if "October Rust" was like being in a shadowy medieval forest set against a blood red autumn sunset, then "World Coming Down" is after the sun has faded from the sky and you are plunged into complete darkness.

This is TON's most depressing album, not to be confused with its most negative (Slow, Deep, and Hard). I rarely EVER listen to this album, but NOT because it's bad. I'm not THIS depressed anymore, that's all. I read that Peter Steele was having A LOT of difficulties during this period, and it obviously shows. Except for 'Skip It' and 'Pyretta Blaze', there is no humor or 'positivity' on this album, it's pure gloom and wallowing in self pity and (self) hatred. Gone are the tongue-in-cheek asides and dark sarcasm, 'White Slavery' not withstanding. In some ways TON never change. Negativity, frustration, and depression are looked at through different 'eyes' with each album. If Bloody Kisses was a big sigh and an acceptance of a fate unwanted, and October Rust was an attempt to 'make the best of things despite feeling that things won't work out anyway', WCD is a complete giving up and blaming oneself for everything. No punches are pulled. This is Peter Steele's "Mea Culpa". How ironic that he's apologized for WCD. For those who've said this album is too slow and/or too boring, that's what you get when you mainline pure depression/self pity--boredom, unless you're right there each step of the way. Whenever I fall into a black hole, this is my prozac. Be warned, this is TON without the added comfort of humor. Before I forget, the medley of Beatles' covers is the least interesting of all their cover tunes. 'Paranoid', 'Summer Breeze', and 'Black Sabbath' (from the Satanic perspective) make me unable to listen to the original versions anymore (yes, even Sabbath's version. Think about the lyrics for a moment. Which music best goes with the vibe of those lyrics? This is TON's absolute strongest attribute--taking songs that have been around a while and giving the song a power and a point of view that even the author didn't know existed.)

"Slow, Deep, and Hard" possessed a thrash sound that Peter Steele had previously established with Carnivore. It was extreme to say the least, but his is an honest angst that tends to look at the big picture of things much more than most people would care to. "Bloody Kisses," for me, established what Type O's sound would become. Atmospheric, textured music with heavy guitars that made a fair share of noise, but it was a welcome noise. Lyrics so blatant and obvious that Black Sabbath would be proud (of course, they did covers of Sabbath songs on more than one occasion). "October Rust" finalized that sound, with nothing really new or radically different from "Bloody Kisses." Again, this is my opinion. The main difference between "Bloody Kisses" and "October Rust" would have to be the latter's greater attention to melody and sonic texture.

Now we hear "World Coming Down," an album that proves that Type O's formula is working. Songs too long and thematically disturbing to radio-friendly, yet they possess a great deal of honest emotions that poser goths can only hope to imitate. This album combines elements from the three previous albums, with "October Rust"'s melodic sound structures, "Bloody Kisses"'s atmospheric composition and blatant lyrics (i.e. "Everyone I Love is Dead," and "Creepy Green Light."), and "Slow, Deep, and Hard"'s thrashy angst. This album, to me, is the ultimate Type O album for this reason.

"World Coming Down" also seems to possess Peter Steele's most saddening lyrics. Even the titles say it all. "Everyone I Love is Dead" can't get more obviously yet appropriately bitter. My personal favorite is "Everything Dies." Having faced some sudden and unexpected tragedies in my personal life, I identified immediately with Steele's reminiscing on his family and friends and how the truth is that we are all going to die. This song had me in a trance for hours, it's that beautiful, sad, but honest.

Honesty goes a long way with Type O, and this has to be the best when it comes to the truth of things. It may not be their best on the whole, but this is one that I'm more likely to listen to before any of the previous albums.

All of Type O Negative's albums have been different from the others. Almost as if they pick a theme for the album and go from there. No exception here with World Coming Down. No matter what mood I'm in, I can always find the music to fit my mood with a Type O Negative cd. If I'm in a ticked-off mood, I can listen to Slow, Deep, and Hard, or Origin Of The Feces. If I'm in a generally good mood, I can listen to Bloody Kisses. If I'm feeling lusty and dark, I can listen to October Rust. And, if I feel self-pity and just unhappy about life and the world I have to endure it in, then I can listen to World Coming Down. It may be different for other people, but I think Type O Negative has hit another realm of emotion with this luscious (Doors, Pink Floyd, and Beatles influenced) album. If you have never heard Type O Negative before, I would have to say, "Buy all their cds, because you won't get the full effect from just one. And you won't be dissapointed by any of them if you like heavy, dark, sometimes gothic, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, but always rockin', music." I especially like the three tracks that Josh Silver (keyboards) created. "Sinus", "Liver", and "Lung" just freak me out. "Lung" sounds like the Grim Reaper calling you on the phone and taking your soul.....creepy!

I am not a goth fan, nor am I very familar with the genre, but when I heard "everything dies" on the radio, I was blown away by the song, and I had to get this CD. There is something about that song that just got to me, and I can't really describe what it is about it. The song is creepy in the sense that the song is about death, yet a little ways in the song you got people cheering! The osng is sad, yet not depressing, at least to me anyway, it powerful, that's for sure, the rest of the album is so-so, I liked creepy green light, pyretta blaze, everyone I love is dead, this is not an album you take on a date, unless you want them to shoot themselves. This stuff isn't for everyone, but after my CD's got stolen, this is one of the few I plan on buying again.

i just put this album in, so it'll be about 75 min before i can listen to something else, but right now i can't help but relax in a type o negative like stupor as i rock out hard on the inside to the beautiful, cacophonic sounds of peter and kenny giving me a dose of some goth metal emotion

they really do it right with this one, not sounding too produced, but way more coffinesque than any garage band worthy of my attention. boy it'd be sweet to rock this hard in a four piece band with only one guitarist/drummer/keyboardist/bassist--ghoul. i heard they produced it themselves...no egos anywhere, far as i can tell. 75 min ain't enough, i need more!!!!!!

support type o for crying out loud. you will not find anything more satisfying (except physical carnal knowledge--emotionally, this is it, it's like the devil on my shoulder telling me to go all the way). the sad giant has spoken.

first time indulger, long time admirer...

I'm sick of Evanesance being labeled as gothic metal. They're boring nu-metal, unlike the guys in my review. TON is a real goth metal band. They mix goth metal with doom metal, and it works. Out of all their albums, this one is the most doom influenced. It's also their most depressing. It's Black Sabbath with more depression. The lyrics are painful and full of despair, but not all nu-metal. Peter Steele's vocals can range from angry yells to deep singing, and his basslines are very hearable. The guitarist lays out powerful riffs and some solos as well. He's not as technical as Dragonforce(another great metal band), but he sets the album's mood. The drummer is devastating, as he even lays out some drum solos. The keyboardist keeps the depressing mood in the music, as well as doing some keyboard solos. Standout tracks include Everything Dies and Everyone I Love is Dead. Avoid fake goth like Flyleaf and Shinedown. This is real Gothic Metal. Also check out Carnivore, the thrash metal band he was in.

This album is a masterpiece of dark metal. This is the album I was crying out for all those times when I lay in a dark room, depressed about life. Stand out tracks such as 'Everyone I Love Is Dead', 'Creepy Green Light' and 'Everything Dies' are wonderfully dark but emotional reflections on life. I love to listen to this album in a dark room full of candles, while I hang from the ceiling and watch my life, slowly dripping away.

Behind all the machismo and muscle headed bravado, there lies a sensitive, acutely aware soul in Pete Steele. Don't laugh. Just listen to this.

Have you ever thought about death? Are you scared to die? Why do people you love die? Why don't people talk about it? All are considered here.

Type O has produced one of the darkest atmospheres ever created on record. This is not dark in the Spartan black metal sense. This is blacker, thicker darkness. It is something like sinking in a bottomless pool, the light gradually fading, and you are utterly helpless to save yourself. The darkness becomes all enveloping, and the instinct to save yourself is replaced by an anaesthetising, almost mildly euphoric dream like state. It is like being buried in a black velvet lined coffin, letting the blackness surround you, keep you warm, keep you safe.

Type O tried a more commercial sound with October Rust, and it didn't work. Apparently the record buying public who claim to be into dark, "Gothic" music prefer androgynous puppets and pyromaniacal Germans with scary apendages. Their loss. Darker than Manson, more dangerous than Rammstein, more introspective than Manic Street Preachers, more coherent than The Cure, it seems Type O are simply too damn depressing for the self-proclaimed depressed.

This is just so gloriously depressing it's... inspiring. Songs like "Everything Dies", "Everyone I Love Is Dead", and "World Coming Down" are played with so much feeling they have a greater impact than any death metal band blasting away for an entire album. The dirge like feel of these songs is built on with subtleties, like Gregorian chants, heavenly choirs, acoustic interludes, and excellent song dynamics. Pete Steele's incredible distinct bass sound rumbles beneath the dark beauty created above by the rest of the band. This is also his most accomplished vocal performance, ranging from a vampiric sensuality to a dejected moan.

There is none of the silliness of tracks like "My Girlfriend's Girlfriend". The only cheerful point of the entire album is a sinister rumble through a medley of Beatles tracks tacked on the end. Like other Type O Negative covers, it probably sits better on it's own than as part of an album.

This is essential listening for anyone interested in dynamics or atmosphere. Just put the razorblades well out of reach before you start.

This album has great integrity: it is very consistent in it's mood and themes (whereof the most obvious are loss and anticipation of death), and therefore is very convincing throughout. Less elegant than October Rust, WCD is dark, deep, dense, and monumental; and melodical in the best TON style. It has many powerful riff themes. The moment when they begin to unwind the theme of White Slavery is extremely powerful, very slowed down, and reminds of their earlier cover of Paranoid. Silver's keyboards stay in the background but just enough to add that solemn gothic - ecclesiastic dimension to the music. It is a dark album, but it is not made without a dose of irony (Skip It, etc). The production and sound processing are near perfection, everything fits together nicely. The drum sound is great. An amazing thing about Everything Dies is that the chorus sounds almost cheerful, yet one is not in doubt - it's like standing in the wind that is blowing one's tears... very emotional. I wouldn't call it TON's best album, but then again, I don't measure their albums against each other because of the different personality of each. It is enough to state that this album is pure TON: with all those goth and morbid bands out there, they still sound totally unique and fresh. PS. Don't buy this album if you have suicidal tendencies!