The 6'7" Peter Steele was born Petrus T. Ratajczyk January 4, 1962 in Brooklyn, New York. He came to form a number of bands including Fallout, Carnivore, and the more famous Type O Negative where he served as vocalist and bassist. It has been reported that Steele suffered from clinical depression for which he received treatment, including a stint in a mental hospital. This goes along with periods of heavy substance abuse, which led to a stint in Riker's Island and a probationary period.
I was working in a mall electronics store in the mid-1990s, it must have been 1994 or 1995. One of my friends, although for the life of me I cannot remember her name (I want to say Rebecca), told me about this group that I had to check out. She then lent me her copy of 1993's Bloody Kisses, which she had originally bought based on the cover art alone. I took it home, gave it one listen and bought myself a copy the next day. The dark, somber songs, gloomy catchiness, Steele's impossibly deep voice, and the freshness of the sound (at least to me at the time) held me in awe.
I went back and picked up the first two Type O Negative albums and then every one since. Each album brought with it its own surprises. The slow heavy churn of the music always familiar, yet always different with each release. Peter's lyrics always playing out like some sort of therapy session for whatever issues ailed him during the writing. To this day I find them mesmerizing. The world has lost a unique voice.
Peter Steele was only 48 years old, died of heart failure, and left a legacy that will be long remembered. I cannot claim to know all that much about the man, but what I have read is pretty interesting. I am not sure if he ever found genuine happiness, although I suspect the search or lack thereof aided in his ability to write. Beyond that, his belief system went through drastic changes late in his life. The professed atheist began identifying with the Roman Catholic Church. It was noticeable in some of the lyrics on Dead Again that something had changed. Whatever it was that spurred him on, I hope he found solace.
Type O Negative will always have a place on my shelf. I am just sad that we will not get anymore new music or have the opportunity to attend a live performance. Peter Steele was taken away too soon and my thoughts go out to his friends and family.
1 comments:
Just wanted to stop by and tell you what a well-written entry this is. Although I really liked Type O Negative and recently did quite a bit of writing about how very affected I was by Peter's music, I have to admit that I find a whole lot of the over-eulogizing to be a little weird. I fel like your approach was much more appropriate and aligned with my own perspective on the guy. Well done.
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