Metal Israel spoke to TYPE O NEGATIVE keyboardist Josh Silver recently about a number of topics. Here are a few excerpts from the chat:

Metal Israel: OK, now as a Jew, how do you feel, in the metal world, when you see iron crosses and swastikas as trendy, as normal?

Silver: "I don’t think it’s trendy, because the minute anybody uses a swastika two things happen: the public can’t really display anything they do and they get a little hardcore following of children that just think it’s cool to be angry and anti-PC. I’m anti-PC, but I’m not toting swastikas around. I don’t worry about it. There’s always going to be a group of real Nazis, and there’s always going to be a group of angry little kids that don’t know shit and think they’re Nazis, and think it’s cool because it aggravates the rest of the world. I don’t think it’s super trendy. I mean, there’s always been a number of bands that claim to be skinheads or anti-Jews or anti-Semitic or whatever, but I don’t see it as super trendy."

Metal Israel: What do you think of all of the controversy surrounding Carnivore?

Silver: "The old controversy? Well, I think rock is also a place where people push the limits. The trichogram that was used by Carnivore was also a South African white power symbol at one point. Do I think that it was intentionally used to imitate that? No. I’m sure Peter just came up with a graphic symbol that would aggravate people."

Metal Israel: You guys never had a lot of Top 40 acknowledgement but you really stayed the course and you’ve influenced so many people. Underdog. What do you think of that?

Silver: "I think there was a point that when Bloody Kisses came out, it was a very different type of music for the time. I think we did something very original and very interesting for that time period. Even though it never really saw an incredible amount of commercial success, I think it was artistically successful. That’s what I care about. I could certainly use some money to survive, but it is what it is. You don’t get to go back and re-do it. Most bands never do it. So I’m pretty happy to have been part of something that had that kind of longevity. We did influence a lot of musicians and a big chunk of music and it’s an honor to have been involved in something like that."

Metal Israel: You’re talking like it’s dead already.

Silver: "No, I’m just talking like it’s not likely that we’re going to be that influential. Not many people are influential over a two-decade period. So the reality is that it’s not likely that we are going to put out something groundbreaking that’s gonna influence 7,000 bands. We have done what we do, we do what we do, and we do at least have our own identity. And that’s something that I fail to see in almost any band that is coming out today. It all sounds the same, it’s all fucking double bass and screaming, BLACK SABBATH rip-off and it all sounds the same. You give me 20 songs on SOU and I can’t even fuckin’ tell who’s who."

To read the entire interview head to this location.