“The Misinterpretation of Silence and Its Disastrous Consequences” exists in 1 minute of plain silence it’s nothing other than the typical TYPE O NEGATIVE sense of humor. The following two tunes are both instrumentals: “Glass Walls of Limbo (Dance Mix)” is a 6-minute-long interlude made of tribal chants and sounds of heavy chains hitting the floor, where a feeling of estrangement takes over. The third one, way more aggressive, is a quite explicit fantasy about raping his ex-girlfriend with a jackhammer, an utterly violent image that surely gives an idea of how hurt the frontman of the band was feeling at that time. Musically speaking, some classic doom influences are particularly clear in the second part, where the scathing verse “love is life, life is love, love is pain, pain is death” proves how effective Steele’s lyrical skills were. “ Prelude to Agony” contains four different parts and works as a summary of the whole album in terms of sound and general atmosphere. Its title is “Love You to Death,” like one of the songs the band wrote later on, which was published on their acclaimed album “October Rust.” The tune is divided in three different parts: the first one is about hate, anger, and rage, as something the narrator is obsessed with in the second part the narrator sees himself as a killer ready to commit murder the third part sounds more like a short instrumental outro.
The following song, “Xero Tolerance,” shows a strong punkish vibe mixed with more solemn and slow moments provided by keyboardist Josh Silver, who adds some kind of a psychedelic touch to the whole thing. The song is a straightforward statement against those who live on social assistance, here described as a “socioparasite,” “subhuman scum,” and a “waste of life.” “Der Untermensch,” whose title clearly refers to the counterpart of Nietzsche’s philosophical concept called “übermensch,” is a weird yet well-balanced combination of hardcore and doomish features, where guitarist Kenny Hickey gives his best in terms of versatility and expressiveness.
The drumming, provided by Sal Abruscato, is extremely various and colorful, going from punk to rock to doom style in a matter of seconds the use of keyboards gives a hint of pathos to the middle part of the song, then the closing part goes back to the quite explicit chorus, where the singer states that “he knows…” All trust is gone, life becomes unbearable, and “the only things that last forever are memories and sorrow.” “Unsuccessfully Coping with the Natural Beauty of Infidelity” is a detailed description, divided in two different phases, of how a man feels like when he catches his girlfriend cheating on him. The album title itself summarizes the whole atmosphere: composed in a few hours while Peter Steele (the charismatic bass player and frontman of the band, who unfortunately passed away in 2010) was dealing with a relationship break up, “Slow, Deep and Hard” is, in my opinion, one of the most nihilistic and aggressive albums ever written.Ī sense of utter discomfort is the guiding line throughout the seven tracks, both musically and lyrically: the iconic bass sound and the distinctive voiceprint of the singer that made TYPE O NEGATIVE a cult band leave their mark from the very first track.
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