Type O Negative a bloody mess

Goth and metal don't mix. For evidence, listen to Type O Negative's Life Is Killing Me. \nIs frontman Peter Steele serious or joking? The more one listens, the more unsure one gets. For example, a song on Life Is Killing Me is called "(We Were) Electrocute." Sorry, but wordplay doesn't go with this music. \nWhile this reviewer might be missing the joke, there's no questioning the music: it's lethargic, restrained and bland. Guitar shredding is absent, leaving the listener to focus on Steele's overmodulated baritone. With repeated listenings, Steele's singing just gets annoying.\nWhy don't goth and metal mix? Goths are essentially sensitive, and metal's cacophonous roar is not for sensitive ears. Channel the dark overlord if you wish, but I don't have to buy it if you're doing so, because you can't get a girlfriend. \nThe alternative are bands like Cradle of Filth and Emperor (or, in the poppier vein, Six Feet Under). Their reach for goth-metal is downright symphonic, and your nightmares are worsened by their hellacious imagination. Type O Negative has been passed up on that scene. While their 1993 breakthrough Bloody Kisses sounded bold and new, they now sound hackneyed.\nThey don't frighten like they used to.