TYPE O NEGATIVE SYMPHONY FOR THE DEVIL DVD STEAMHAMMER, PLAYGROUND RELEASE: MARCH 16, 2006 REVIEW: APRIL 28, 2006

When I watched Type O Negative in a small club in Gothenburg circa 1993, I thought it was a great live experience. Pete Steele was larger than life, playing slide-guitar on his bass with the neck of a bottle of wine. The band and the audience was one, cementing the fact that Type O, back then, was the premier goth metal band.

The gig captured on this DVD, from The Bizarre Festival in Germany 1999, seems to be a different story all together. Despite a cool set list, including high lights such as "Christian Woman" and "My Girlfriend’s Girlfriend", and superb 5.1 sound, the whole concert lacks something. Maybe it is crowd participation, the huge audience being separated from Type O Negative by a high stage. I don't know. What I do know, though, is that had I been at this concert, where the band sound sluggish and look like statues on the stage, I wouldn’t have wanted it on DVD. And no, the band bios or childish handy cam-footage from the tour (Pete Steele taking a shit on the toilet, for example) don’t make up for the lame live experience. The whole DVD actually has the feel of a low budget, hastily put together attempt to rip off fans. I mean, look at the amateurish root screen, for starters.

Apart from the chance to hear songs as "Cinammon Girl" and "Black #1" live, for fans that weren’t around when Type O still mattered, this DVD is simply a waste of time.

KALLE MALMSTEDT