A reunion followed, only to dissipate again, before members joined forces with members of Cypress Hill and Public Enemy to form Prophets Of Rage. Rage enjoyed a number of commercial successes with follow up albums – Evil Empire (1996) and The Battle of Los Angeles (1999) – eventually coming to a head in 2000 when the band staged a concert outside the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, a stunt in which fans came to riotous blows with the LAPD.ĭe La Rocha soon departed while the remaining members formed Audioslave with former Soundgarden vocalist, Chris Cornell. They quickly developed a hard-hitting alt-rock sound that fused together components of hip hop and heavy metal.ĭistinguished by Morello’s unique guitar style and De La Rocha’s direct high-pitched rap, the band released their self-titled debut in 1992, which featured both the controversial self-immolation of a Tibetan monk on the cover and their police-corruption anthem, Killing In The Name. United by a desire to spur positive social change, RATM was formed in 1990 by vocalist Zach De La Rocha, guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk. While contemporary music has often flirted with politics, from the anti-war psalms of 60s hippie America to the government backlashes of the early 70s London Punk scene, there have perhaps been none more visceral in their scathing takedowns than LA’s incendiary guerillas, Rage Against The Machine. “ Fuck you I won’t do what you tell me!” remain, arguably, the most memorable and powerful lyrics in all of 90s metal.
As bandmate Johnny Kelly said: “When Peter died, Type O Negative died with him." However, with seven studio albums and a whole catalogue of contagious tracks, both Steele and Type O Negative achieved nothing short of immortality. In 2010, aged 48, Steele died from an aortic aneurysm – and Type-O Negative were laid to rest, too. Many of his struggles are recorded within his lyrics, particularly the 1999 album Word Coming Down where he recounts his experience with psychiatric treatment. Following the release of ‘93 breakout album Bloody Kisses – which subsequently went platinum – he even appeared as a centrefold in a 1995 issue of Playgirl magazine.ĭescribed as generous, kind and funny, the frontman badly struggled with his mental health, and would often self medicate with alcohol and, later, cocaine.
With his brooding baritone and demonic stage presence (the singer was six foot, eight inches tall) Steele was a far cry from the scrawny, androgynous goth frontmen of the previous decade. Add into that his often darkly comical lyrics, and you have his template for pioneering gothic metallers Type O Negative.Įmerging in the early 90s and nicknamed ‘the Drab Four’ – an homage to The Beatles’ ‘Fab Four’ – Type O’s lyrics focused on goth cliches: love, sex and death. How they evolve now is anyone’s guess, but it’s sure to result in success.Ĭrediting both Black Sabbath and the Beatles as musical influences, Peter Steele channeled the old-school horror sensibilities of Sabbath and the gothic rock of the 80s into expertly crafted, infectiously-catchy Beatles-shaped metal hooks. For those who wrote them off early on, David Draiman and co are having the last laugh.
And, shock horror, David removed those “pieces” in his chin. Off the back of this, they released 2018’s Evolution – half metal songs, half ballads.