Daily Jam (October Edition) - Haunted

It wouldn't be the Halloween season with a little music from Type O Negative, so here they are with "Haunted," our Daily Jam.

Zetra

Here's a new one from UK duo Zetra.  "The Spider" is a catchy mix of metal, synth pop, goth, et al.  Check it out below and pre-order the upcoming new album "Believe" here from Nuclear Blast.

Daily Jam - Bloody Kisses (A Death in the Family)

I distinctly remember the first time i heard Type O Negative, a friend letting me listen to it on his Walkman on a school bus in 10th grade.  At 15 years old, i had never heard anything like it, and honestly 31 years later, have still not.  Doom and gloom has never sounded slower, heavier, or more beautiful.  Here's a track from band's 1993 album "Bloody Kisses" for what is looking to be an overcast and rainy day here in Central Texas.  Listen to "Bloody Kisses (A Death in the Family)" below, our Daily Jam.

Zetra

Woke up this morning to a new single from UK goth metal darkwave duo Zetra.  "So" sounds like it could have been included on last year's self-titled full-length album, a dark and poppy lament.  Check it out below and download it here from Nuclear Blast.

Daily Jam (October Edition) - Be My Druidess

It's simply not Halloween, or Autumn for that matter, without some Type O Negative.  Here they are with the Gothic sensuality of "Be My Druidess."  Check it out below, our Daily Jam.

Daily Jam - Love You to Death

There’s really nothing quite like the perennial autumnal tones of Type O Negative, heavy metal’s answer to goth, where everyday is seemingly Halloween. Things got a little bit colder with the release of the band’s 1996 album October Rust, a record full of stark and haunting moments that feel as if they should accompany scenes of dark, dirty, foreboding men in the snow, their breath visible in the gray light. But don’t let that coldness belie the album’s lush and gorgeous production, the sounds and tones and themes coming together right at the start to craft a highlight of Type O Negative’s entire discography, the BDSM-alluding “Love You to Death.”

I think I was in the tenth grade the first time I heard Type O Negative, a friend of mine playing the song “Christian Woman” for me from the album Bloody Kisses, and I was instantly enthralled by the pairing of the slow and low heaviness of the guitars with the dark lyrical imagery akin to some of the best psychosexual stuff you’d hear by Depeche Mode. Combined with the proto-industrial-metal tones, Peter Steele’s deep, guttural moan, and all the gothic themes and moods, the band’s music became a pretty integral part of my teenage years.

While I loved (and still love) Bloody Kisses, Type O Negative really jumped to the next level sonically and creatively when they released October Rust. Taking the moodiness from their prior album, the band upped the melancholia and bleeding hearts, making the record a kind of yearning open letter for the black dye set. Finally, someone was expressing a whole legion of horror nerds’ untapped feelings, and doing it with heavy, chugging guitars, cathedral level keyboards, and dark, beautiful melodies. “Love You to Death” encapsulates all of that, a gloomy, gothic masterpiece that ends on an almost romantic note.

“Am I good enough for you?”

This is probably as close to a love song as Type O Negative ever got.

Check it out below, our Daily Jam.

Zetra

It's been a year since we last heard from UK duo Zetra, but they're back with new single "Sacrifice."  The track takes on more of a gothic metal aesthetic than the lo-fi, black metal-tinged darkwave i've grown accustomed to over the last few years, but still fits right in with the band's collective sound.  Check it out below and download it here from Nuclear Blast.

Tribulation

Swedish gothic death metal band Tribulation just released a new single called "Hamartia."  It rules.  Check out the video for the song below and dig on those guitar solos.

Daily Jam - Christian Woman

I'm sick today, so before i crash out for a few hours, here's "Christian Woman" from Type O Negative.  I still remember how dumbfounded i was the first time i heard them in high school, their goth metal and green tones sounding like nothing i'd ever heard before.  Listen below, our Daily Jam.  I'm going to bed.

Daily Jam (October Edition) - Black No. 1 (Little Miss Scare-All)

I remember when i was 15, and a friend of mine was describing Type O Negative to me, he concluded with, "They just sound like Halloween dude."  And he was right.  Really it's hard to muster a more adequate description of the band's particular brand of dark and melodic Gothic metal.  So here's their most Halloween sounding song of all, "Black No. 1 (Little Miss Scare-All)," our Daily Jam.

Tribulation

I saw Swedish metal band Tribulation a couple of years ago, and was kind of blown away by how overtly theatrical they were.  Combining aspects of death metal and black metal, but gothed up and played with earnest dramatic zest, the music and performance feels like theater kids aping our metal forebears but without a hint of irony.  They're buying into it, and so should you.  If you're only going to listen to one goth metal band today, make it Tribulation.  Watch the video for "The Lament" below and get the "Down Below" LP at the end of January from Century Media.