TYPE O NEGATIVE DEAD AGAIN ALBUM STEAMHAMMER, PLAYGROUND RELEASE: MARCH 13, 2007 (USA), MARCH 16 (GERMANY), MARCH 19, (REST OF EUROPE) REVIEW: FEBRUARY 26, 2007

Type O Negative will not be comfortably labeled. On "Dead Again" the band swaps its identity with a frightening frequency. They may always have had a slow and a fast mode, but here we get hardcore, military choirs, blazing guitar solos, dirges and heavy 70:s sounds on songs stretching between four and fourteen minutes.

OK, so no one has the bloody right to call Type O Negative goth, or anything else for that matter. This however is sort of problematic. While Peter Steele and his cohorts are very able musicians, easily managing a number of genres between them, they do not sound truly at home in any of them to the extent of creating a classic song. It is as if the ironic distance often present in the lyrics of this band also applies musically. "They're clever and all", I find myself thinking, "but are their hearts really in it?"

While Type O Negative albums always stand out for covering ground far beyond the usual home turf of metal bands, and this one even more so, the fact remains that their most memorable songs were recorded more than a decade ago. "Dead Again" does not change that; interesting ideas abound but do not congregate to form individual killer tracks. In spite of this, its diversity and dynamism keep you coming back to it for more.

MATTIAS HUSS