^ It was surreal listening to "Dead Again" last night as he keeps repeating the lyric "I can't believe I died last night", and he, in fact, had.

I was at that gig as well. Good night out.

found this kinda funny on another board RIP Peter
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Although a bit more muscular than I'd expect, I wouldn't be surprised if he had Marfan's, which ultimately contributed to his early demise.

At first I hated Type O with a passion. Then I started to get what they were all about. After that, I saw them a bunch of times. I highly appreciated Peter's sense of humor. I'm bummed I'll never get to see him play live again because they put on a great show. RIP...

I remember reading about 15 years ago how he said he was going to kill himself (onstage?). Then I think I remember reading he turned Christian a couple years ago. Anyone remember/know anything about this?

Sounds like something he'd say... He found religion more recently after the death of some close relatives, but he was an avid atheist for many years.

Oh, man. I just saw this and told my wife. They were her favorite band. She got to meet Peter Steele once and he signed her copy of Playgirl he was in. RIP Steele.

It's hard for me to believe that both of these guys are gone. Two of the biggest characters in rock gone way too soon. Not only were they great musicians, but they always seemed to make the most of being on stage.

Ive loved Type O since Bloody Kisses came out and I hear their stuff all the time. October Rust gets heard alot in the fall for me as well I LOVE Origin of the Feces though. I Know Youre Fucking Someone Else has got to be the greatest song ever. Anyone whos had a relationship turn to shit has to hear this.

Okay no ones mentioned this and this is a DVD forum.... Anyone here have the After Dark or Symphony For the Devil DVDs? Great DVDs, but the BEST thing is they both have COMMENTARY with the band! It is some of the funniest shit ever and you can tell these dudes were a blast to be around. Its great to hear them make fun of eachother and remember good times, especially when Dime comes on screen. Get these DVDs.

RIP Peter Steele... you were literaly a giant amongst insects

Read the lyrics to any of the songs on Dead Again.

I thought this was awesome, and those who knew Pete's humor will find the comments fitting:

Before Peter Steele began touring the world as the frontman of the goth-metal act TYPE O NEGATIVE, he held a job with the New York City Parks Department driving garbage trucks and dump trucks and steamrollers.

Julius Spiegel (pictured below), Brooklyn Commissioner of Parks, remembers Steele in the following way:

"I remember Pete Ratajczyk [Steele's real name] not at all like the dark character some of the blogs have portrayed, but as a very hard-working, sweet and respectful guy, always eager to please. Even after he had achieved notoriety, he would visit us, occasionally even coming to our hokey dinner-dances, just to reminisce. He often joked (at least I thought he was joking) about coming back to work at the Parks Dept."

In a 1997 interview with Circus magazine, Steele spoke about his pre-TYPE O NEGATIVE career. An excerpt from the chat follows below.

Circus: So what did you do before you started touring around the country busting up cafeterias?

Steele: I used to work for the Parks Department in Brooklyn. $40,000 a year.

Circus: Did you enjoy your time with the Parks Department?

Steele: I loved it. Outside all the time, however I was passed over for a promotion because I'm a white male. That's made me a little bit irritable. I don't mind taking orders from people who score better than me on the civil service exam, but when someone's giving me orders because they're female, handicapped or they have more of a tan than I do, then it gets my testosterone level up. I have a little pride.

Circus: So what were your duties with the Parks Dept.?

Steele: Every day was different. I drove garbage trucks and dump trucks and steamrollers. Pretty much anything that had to be done in the park — I was the guy. Including picking up human feces and anything that can come squirting or spewing out of the human body. All for $15 an hour. My motto was "Slobs equals jobs." Do what you want, because you're giving me a job.


I've got both of these on DVD. Hell, I think I still have my After Dark VHS, too. I agree that anyone who was a fan, and loves pitch-black humor, needs to own them. The commentaries and stage banter alone are worth it for all the comedy. The few times that my buddy (TON is also his fav band) and I met the guys, they were always hilarious. My friend, who is 6'5", asked Peter after a show what to do to get big and muscled, we were about 17 at the time, and he told my friend to just "eat a lot of pussy".

I remember Pete saying in an interview years ago that he was thinking about quiting the music biz and going back to work for the parks dept. He said something to the effect that he could make more money working for the city than he did being in a band. Considering his sense of humor, it was hard to tell if he was serious or not.

Btw, I also have the After Dark vhs(never got around to picking up the dvd). Like the above posters have stated, it is well worth owning for the humor alone.

That was the only time I got to see both Pantera and Type O and let me tell you, both those bands put on one of the best shows I've ever seen. You could tell that Dime was not only enjoying being up there, but was enjoying that the crowd was into it as much he was being there. And Pete owned that stage. The whole time he was up there he knew that he had every woman in the palm of his hand while he performed.

Yea Pantera and Type O was one of the greatest concerts ever! At the one I was at, Phil sat on the side of the stage drinking and lauging, than he came out and sang kill all the white people while Pete played and drank his wine. Than Pantera played and theyre the loudest group Ive ever heard.

I forgot to say, in the type o vids theres this annoying bald gay dude that is unbearable. Im sure hes Josh's cousin and I dont know why hes associated with Type O at all

One year ago today...

There's a great 2-part series of interviews posted over at metalsucks.net with Peter's family, friends and former bandmates. Great reading.

Hard to believe it's been a year.

Seriously. It is scary how fast the years fly by as I get older.

I was just coming over here to post about the article on metalsucks. That shit made me sad, and I still can't believe Peter's gone. And I can't believe it's already been a year. RIP Pete

I can't believe it has been a year either. I got into the band relatively late in the game, partially due to my age and the fact that I never really gave them a fair listen since the "gothic" tag kind of turned me off. It wasn't until a friend whose musical suggestions I trusted (even if we didn't always agree, he never suggested anything generic) convinced me to give them a shot.

Even more strange, the day before his death I remember having the urge to listen to "Black No. 1", and I think I even posted it to my Facebook. It had probably been months since I had listened to Type O Negative at this point. When I got home from work the next night I remember reading the news on another message board and being completely taken by surprise.

I guess since I listen to a lot of bands that had their heydey in the 70s I haven't really had to experience a "shocking" death of a musician I adore too much. The ones that have died have been either older, so it wasn't too surprising, or died before I ever really listened to them. The only other time I remember getting a shock like this was when Quorthon of Bathory died in 2004 of heart failure at only 38. Even worse, since he had just released two great albums in 2002 and 2003 and was apparently working on another.

Thanks for the link. It's sadly ironic that he was getting his life back in order when he died.

Shitty. I was happily hearing Carnivore a few days ago on the 14th.

"If you cant eat it or kill it, than fuck it!"

Carnivore was phenomenal. 2 albums worth of pure, utter destruction. I could listen to them on an endless loop.