Peter Steele Died

Shocking news ;Peter Steele lead singer and bassist of Brooklyn based gothic metal band died of heart failure at 48.

The following is an interview Star-Ledger's Lisa Rose had with the musician on November 2000

The power of Negative thinking Don't be fooled by the frowns, black-on-black garb and soul-wracking lyrics, there is a lighter side to Type O Negative. Lead singer-bassist Peter Steele feels most listeners miss the dust-dry humor behind the somber image.

"People don't get the joke, which is that we think we're the joke," said Steele, 38, on the phone from a Cleveland tour stop.

The Brooklyn metal act's just-released career retrospective disc, "The Least Worst of Type O Negative," celebrates a decade of sarcasm. The opening track is 39 seconds of quiet titled "The Misinterpretation of Silence and It's Disastrous Consequences (Wombs and Tombs Mix)."

"Everyone is doing these tribute albums so we decided to do a Type O Negative tribute album - by Type O Negative," said Steele, a Playgirl model and former N.Y.C. sanitation worker.

The record includes alt-radio hits "Christian Woman" and "Black No. 1," as well as anti-anthems like "Unsuccessfully Coping with the Natural Beauty of Infidelity." While their 2 rpm rendition of Seals & Croft's "Summer Breeze" isn't included on the comp, there is "Hey Pete," a steele-centric twist on the classic rock standard "Hey Joe." They do Black Sabbath's "Black Sabbath," as told from Satan's point of view.

Live, the band is focusing on material from their 1999 "World Coming Down" album. The sound - lush keyboards, Texas chainsaw guitars and Steele's Outer Borough baritone - is vintage Type O. But the words are something of a departure, mourning late relatives rather than dead relationships and long-lost Goth chicks.

"I have to disassociate myself from what (the songs are) about so I don't get too depressed and crack up on stage," said Steele. "When I wrote songs like 'Everyone I Love is Dead,' I never thought about how I was going to execute them live."

Steele, who credits Black Sabbath and the Beatles as key inspirations, recently co-wrote the song "Just Say No To Love" with Tony Iommi for the Black Sabbath guitarist's solo record.

"I felt like a big kid," said Steele. "To be writing music with him, I was awestruck. I was stuttering. I've loved Sabbath since I was 15. I like that slow, heavy sound. Grinding, churning stuff. Ozzy (Osbourne) sounded like the ultimate outcast and I didn't fit in too well in high school with the nerds, the jocks or the cool jeans."

The singer lambastes rap-metal and said his record collection pauses at the mid-1980's.

"I think all recent music sucks, and that includes Type O Negative," Steele deadpanned.