High point(s): "Life is Killing Me", "Anesthesia", "Nettie" Perhaps it doesn't quite reach the heights of World Coming Down and October Rust, but it's a solid record and well worth adding to your collection. But overall, this is a great album that I would definitely recommend. something Type O Negative always seems to have, unfortunately. The lyrics are generally very well written, except for a couple exceptions where they're a bit too arrogant or obnoxious. The album was originally going to be titled The Dream is Dead, which would have been just as fitting as the one they ended up using. It holds a harsh, frustrated despair, along with a deeper and quieter sadness. Even their usual attempts at humor feel forced and angry, in an oddly satisfying way. Thematically, this is Type O Negative at some of their darkest. Type O albums always have wonderful production, and this one is no exception, incorporating every element perfectly, including the aforementioned drum machine. Once again a drum machine is used in place of real drumming, and once again it still sounds amazing anyway, somehow. There are still some softer sections of course, which are always of equal quality to the heavier material.
There are some wonderful doom riffs, a bit of punk influence here or there, and of course Josh Silver's wonderful synth everywhere giving it that trademark Type O Negative sound. It's generally faster, with heavier riffs and more focus on the distorted guitar and bass. Simply put, it's more metal than the previous two records. Life is Killing Me shares a little bit of the thick atmosphere of World Coming Down, especially in the softer sections however, as with every other Type O record, it builds on what came before to forge its own style. However, once you reach the second half, its strengths really start to show. When you compare it to the two Type O records that preceded it, it doesn't even compare. The first half of the album is alright, but not wonderful.
The whole thing would be better off without it but a two-minute track that can easily be skipped isn't too big a deal. That is, aside from the fifth track on the record "I Like Goils", a blatantly homophobic and rather uncomfortable song that doesn't fit well into the album.
Peter Steele's conservative beliefs occasionally seep into the lyrics of Type O Negative's work (one of the few gripes I have with the band's music) and I initially worried that a more personal look at his mental state would provide more of that unnecessary nonsense however, this record hardly touches it, and rather sticks to the important things, things of real emotional and artistic worth. It directly followed the melancholy beauty that was World Coming Down, which already took a more sad and emotional approach than earlier records, and this album continues down that path thematically, albeit with a much different musical flavor. Life is Killing Me is a dark and personal record, and Type O Negative's sixth overall.
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