Well, shit. So apparently Peter Steele was confirmed dead by Josh Silver, the keyboard player from goth metal icons Type O Negative. If you don’t know who Peter Steele was, this probably doesn’t mean much to you, but as a fan of the band since I was just a kid I find this to be a big bummer.
There will be a lot of eulogizing and freaking out and stuff over the next few days. There’s an entire generation of kids who grew up on the Type O records from the RoadRunner era who are going to break out Slow, Deep and Hard, Origin of the Feces, Bloody Kisses and October Rust all day.. and maybe for a couple days on top of that.
Frankly, I don’t know what to write that won’t come off as a bit cheesy. Having not known the guy I can’t speak for any personal contact or his great character or anything, other than to say that I really liked his music for the most part. I liked his voice, his stupid sense of humor and his live performances. Most of all I love those early albums that really affected my own attitude towards metal and taught me the lesson that you should never, ever take yourself too fucking seriously.
Now there’s one more empty seat at the table.
Petrus T. Ratajczyck – 1962 – 2010
