In the past,
Type O Negative
dared the listener to sit through aural jokes to weed out the four or five cuts of ghoulish greatness only these Brooklyn boys could devise. At this point, slab number six, everyone knows what to expect from the drab four, and they now know how to deliver it consistently. Ultimately,
Life Is Killing Me
breaks no new ground, but engages throughout, always touching on the
Type O
oeuvre.
"I Don't Wanna Be Me"
easily qualifies as one of the band's best singles. Like the medley on
World Coming Down
,
"Less Than Zero"
conjures
the Beatles
. In fact, the classic
rock
analogy is apt, because
have become so adroit at their goth
metal
broth they're now true connoisseurs and
slickly serves up a specialized feast. Guitarist
Kenny Hickey
's passages have grown increasingly melodic, and the keys of
Josh Silver
possess a timeless melancholy, meaning no matter how bleak or odd the lyrical proceedings get, as on the euthanasia of the title track, the playing keeps the songs soaring, even while each dwells six feet under. They mock the '80s in
"We Were Electrocute"
but then use
new romantic
influences to solidify their sound. Sure, the famous puerile sense of humor remains (
"I Like Goils,"
"Angry Inch"
redux [both left off the clean version], and the cartoon chick litany of
"How Could She"
), but the surrounding music structures stand so rock solid the lyric sheet is better left behind. Though they never seem sincere,
do care. The quartet may profess to hate everybody, but
deliver to the fans on this record. Like
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
or
Agents of Fortune
, all the pieces fit; and though
may not make great steps forward, for now the ugly universe it unleashes is a great place to be. ~ Whitney Z. Gomes