The ethereal darkwave sound of Dead Can Dance, Cocteau Twins, and This Mortal Coil, existed simultaneously with the stadium-ready hard rock of The Sisters of Mercy, The Cult, and The Fields of the Nephilim. ![]() The first wave of goth rock groups, such as Joy Division, Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure, The Damned, Killing Joke, and The Birthday Party, were primarily rooted in post-punk, art rock, and underground music, but by the mid-late ‘80s, much like heavy metal, the goth scene had broadened its reach. In stark contrast to metal, gothic rock- which emerged during the early 1980s- was darker offshoot of punk- typified by a morose, gloomy atmosphere and lyrics which displayed a fascination with death, morbid romance, depression, the macabre, and the gothic literature of Poe, Hawthorne, Shelley, Stoker, Baudelaire, Lovecraft, and others. The unprejudiced musical landscape of the ‘90s did much to ensure that a band as multifaceted as Type O could prosper- and even experience a taste of mainstream success- alongside their similarly-innovative contemporaries. It had just broadened its sound and broadened its appeal- infiltrating alternative rock, punk, hip-hop, funk, blues, goth, progressive rock, noise rock, industrial, world music, and everything in between. But the truth is, metal couldn’t have been more alive. Nevertheless, it remains a commonly-held belief amongst metal traditionalists that the genre was somehow “dead” throughout the ‘90s due to grunge’s overthrowing of glam and bands like Metallica pursuing a more “mainstream” direction. ![]() Even stadium-selling superstars like Nine Inch Nails, Smashing Pumpkins, and Marilyn Manson unabashedly wore their metal influences on their sleeves. Thus, by mid-decade, the definition of what constituted “heavy metal” could be extended to groups as diverse and eclectic as Pantera, Tool, Ministry, Helmet, Danzig, Sepultura, Rage Against the Machine, L7, Corrosion of Conformity, Godflesh, Primus, Korn, Rollins Band, Kyuss, Deftones, and White Zombie. Utilizing the sludgy, pummeling riffs of early Black Sabbath in combination with introspective and deeply-personal songwriting, the Seattle bands helped alter the public’s perception of metal, allowing it to reinvent itself, broaden its appeal, and stand in contrast to the shallow and misogynistic excesses endemic to the ‘80s hair bands. Grunge, which itself owed much to the earlier innovations of bands like Jane’s Addiction, Faith No More, and the Melvins, was instrumental in creating a place for heavy music within the realm of so-called “alternative rock” in ways never seen before. Not only had the movement broken off into numerous, sonically-diverse subgenres- including death metal, power metal, black metal, doom metal, and more- but it had also found a niche within alternative music, thanks to the mainstream acceptance of Seattle grunge and bands like Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains. By the time the ‘90s rolled around, the idea of what could be considered “heavy metal” had broadened significantly. ![]() Throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s, the genre grew exponentially in both diversity and popularity, with both a thriving mainstream (defined by the glam/pop metal sound of Mötley Crüe, Poison, Ratt, and others) and a bubbling underground (represented by the burgeoning thrash scene populated by early Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Exodus, and Anthrax). Heavy metal- the tougher, more amplified extension of hard rock- emerged at the dawn of the ‘70s, pioneered by the mighty Black Sabbath. I’m speaking of the late, great Peter Steele: the mordant, towering, self-deprecating frontman of Type O Negative- one of heavy metal’s most ingenious and underrated bands.Įmerging from the Brooklyn metal/hardcore scene of the late ‘80s (which also included contemporaries Life of Agony and Biohazard), the brilliance of Type O lay largely in their seamless and inimitable melding of two utterly disparate musical genres. But, unless follow the metal or goth scenes, you might not even realize it. Tuesday, April 14th marks the 11-year anniversary of the passing of one of rock’s most unique and charismatic frontmen.
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