TYPE O NEGATIVE keyboardist Josh Silver spoke to BW&BK; Magazine recently about a number of topics including their new album, Dead Again, which is out now via SPV. Here are a few excerpts from the chat:

Type O Negative has recorded some great cover songs in their career including NEIL YOUNG’s ‘Cinnamon Girl’ and ‘Black Sabbath’ by BLACK SABBATH. Yet none appear on Dead Again. “We rehearsed ‘Dead Moon Rising’ (by SENTENCED); it just didn’t seem to fit in. There were a lot of firsts on this record. This was the first record that Peter (Steele - vocals/bass)didn’t scream Kenny’s (Hickey - guitar) name out anywhere. This is the first without a cover, as you pointed out. We don’t think about it. We don’t go in with this clear picture. If I pointed it out as we were doing the album, Peter would have gone in and screamed Kenny, just to be consistent. But it just didn’t happen. We don’t put as much thought into this as people think we do. We just kind of go on instinct. We let the stuff develop. This album was a little more jammier, a little more ‘70s kind of feel. It is what it is. We don’t look for rational decisions. We never get them anyway.”

There are a few references to God on Dead Again, specifically “You want to play God” in ‘Tripping A Blind Man’ and “I can’t play God’” in ‘Some Stupid Tomorrow’. That’s a huge step from ‘My Girlfriend’s Girlfriend’. “Yeah it is. There’s a lot of space between cutting up your girlfriend and going to church. But people change. Maybe Peter’s getting a little more spiritual and realizing his mortality. When I asked him about the lyrics, that’s how he answered me. He’s becoming aware of his mortality. I’ve been aware of his mortality for quite a while now.”

Metaphors play a large part in Peter’s lyrics, including ‘She Burned Me Down’. “There’s a lot of stuff in Type O that goes by and is completely missed. Things like ‘Every time I see her start a fire I get higher.’ That’s really about Peter being in bad relationships and every time he fights with his girlfriend, it makes his desire stronger. People don’t understand the use of metaphors that are in Type O because they’re done with an amount of intelligence. So it’s not often obvious.”

Reflecting on the band’s most popular song, ‘Black No. 1’ from 1993’s Bloody Kisses, Josh laments, “If I didn’t play ‘Black No. 1’ for the rest of my life, I’d die a happier person. I am so fucking sick of that song. Try playing it after half a litre of vodka. It’s the last song (of the night) so you’re in the worst condition.”

A major Type Of Negative feature can be found in BW&BK; #103, which is out now and can be ordered via BraveWords.com here.