Peter Steele was a lot of things on the mic. A swoon-worthy goth romantic that could slide into louche lothario mode. A depressively vulnerable soul who could just as easily transform into an aggressively un-P.C. antagonist. Through it all, Type O Negative’s towering, bass-hoisting, baritone-voiced frontman was singularly breathtaking the second he opened his mouth.
Type O’s seven-album run is one of doom metal’s most beloved bodies of work, and honestly, a huge part of it comes down to the many unique ways Steele would croak, croon or cry his way through the band’s darkest moments. But what’s the be-all, end-all performance from Type O’s brilliant belter — the chef’s veritable bloody kiss, as it were?
We asked you to pick Steele’s greatest moments behind the mic, and these were the top five vote-getters.
“Wolf Moon”
Peter Steele loved the women in Type O songs, fully and completely. That’s one of the main takeaways from October Rust‘s “Wolf Moon,” a booming ballad that ties together the implicit sexual energy of the werewolf myth with menstruation cycles and the singer’s all-in, cunnilingual “sanguine addiction.”
While truly one of the horniest hits in the band’s catalog, there’s a grace to how Steele holds his tongue here. He’s a hot-and-bothered mess while seeking out the “rusted essence” of his beloved — his vibrato quivers through a falsetto howl at its climax — but the poetic finesse he applies to the song makes it more romantic than, say, a red-band trailer for a triple X throwdown. And while not completely altruistic, there is a sweetness to how he pledges to “kiss away the curse” each cycle.
Ultimately, “Wolf Moon” is an endearing, lunar love song about two animals casting a spell on each other on the regular.
“Christian Woman”
Vocally, Steele really puts on a clinic on erotically-charged Bloody Kisses standout “Christian Woman.” He’s truly magnetic with his lascivious range, injecting the sensual, sacrilegious song with passionately bluesy cries and a couple subsonic sections where he comes across like a sentient goth didgeridoo.
And if his ultra-low crooning about the titularly lustful, sadomasochistic sinner seems extra personal on this one, that’s because, as Steele told Revolver years ago, “Christian Woman” is somewhat based on a lover who used to have him dress up as a priest before they performed… sacred rites.
Forgive us, lord, for most of us have all sinned in some form while listening to “Christian Woman.”
“Anesthesia”
Despite Steele’s masterfully melancholy, often flowery command of language, few lines cut to the chase more than the following one-word interjection on Life Is Killing Me’s heavy-brooding “Anesthesia”: Despair.
Type O often swung between romantic highs and crushingly isolated lows. “Anesthesia” digs its heels firmly into the latter camp, with Steele using the nearly seven-minute epic to weigh in on living in the aftermath of a broken, trust-eroded personal situation. And it sucks. ‘Tis better to love and lose, sure, but it still hurts like hell when you’re on the ass-end of a relationship.
Though Steele sings that he’s numbed out and emotionally stunned, there’s no mistaking that there’s actually a lot of pain being pushed into this staggeringly powerful performance. A raw and heartbreaking Type O moment, among many.
“World Coming Down”
Everything comes to an end. That’s the grim inevitability presented throughout World Coming Down’s 11-minute masterwork of inner gloom.
Mortality, legacy, power and pain. It’s all here, with Steele’s lyrical self-reflection occasionally making for a brutally depressing listen — right off the jump, he delivers the crushing blow that “the mirror shows me an ingrate.” There’s a war going on inside his head, and while he refutes living life like a “lamb,” even an “iron man” is bound to feel the pain sometimes.
At its bleakest, “World Coming Down” is a reminder that we’re all just a couple ticks of the clock away from death.
“Love You to Death”
“Love You to Death” is perhaps Peter Steele’s most irresistible Type O moment. October Rust’s devout doom ballad juxtaposes a series of achingly vulnerable lines through Steele’s singularly compelling croon. And while, tonally, it’s a commanding vocal performance from a master belter, his words are fully in service of someone else (“I beg to serve, your wish is my law.”)
Honestly, it didn’t take much for Steele to convince us he was “good enough.” Fueled by red wine and bestial urges — likewise sporting salaciously memorable lines about breast sweat — his hips-lunging presence on the track is one of metal’s most outwardly sensual and eternally awesome performances.
Now close your eyes and go listen to “Love You to Death.”