This is a public service announcement.

Yesterday was the first anniversary of the death of Peter Steele, the frontman for Type O Negative. I am not feeling especially sad about the death of Mr. Steele. I am not happy about it either. I’m just indifferent, because (a) I did not know him personally; (b) I have never spent the time necessary to explore and learn to love the music of Type O Negative. I bought the band’s final studio album, Dead Again, when it came out in 2007, and it simply didn’t vibrate my tuning fork to the right frequency, so there I stopped.

HOWEVER, I am aware that many people genuflect before framed photographs of Peter Steele and remain heart-broken over his passing. Therefore, I am sharing this news because I try not to allow my own personal interests in music to dictate EVERY LAST FUCKING THING WE DO ON THIS SITE — merely 99% of what we do on this site.

The news is that MetalUnderground has organized a compilation of Type O Negative songs performed by other bands, as a tribute to Peter Steele, and made it available for purchase beginning yesterday, the anniversary of his death. Lest you think this was just a rank effort to make a buck off of the helpless teariness of Peter Steele fans, MetalUnderground states that the $3 it’s charging for this 12-track comp “covers the costs of the mechanical license and the transaction fees” and that “Metalunderground.com will be donating any leftover profits to charity.”

You can’t argue with that. So, I bought the comp, because I was curious. So far, I’ve listened to one song because I like the band who played it — A Band of Orcs. It was worth the $3, and I’ve got 11 tracks to go. Check out the track list and hear the Orcs after the jump . . . Continue reading »