Review: Various Artists – 'This Man Of Steele'

VARIOUS ARTISTS
'This Man Of Steele'
DARK ITALIA

This year marked five years since the world lost one it's most enigmatic and thoroughly under-appreciated artists in Peter Steele of Type O Negative. But his legacy lives on in the many bands that his band inspired, whether they are rock, metal, darkwave, or electronic – the Type O formula contained so many elements that you could always find something in there to latch on to no matter what your personal preferences. With this in mind, Dark Italia have released a tribute album to the gothic metal maestro in the form of 'This Man Of Steele' that sees darkwave, post punk, batcave, gothic, neofolk, and synthpop artists tackle the band's best know hits.

This isn't the first Steele tribute album to be released since his death. MetalUnderground.com in fact released a brilliant rock/metal orientated album in 'All For None, None For All: A Tribute To Peter Steele' a year after his death that featured some stunning renditions. But not to be outdone, 'This Man Of Steele' has a lot to offer as well.

The strongest tracks on offer vary wildly in their approach but the execution is always original and clever with the doomy synths rock of Magnuss, the new wave of Dade City Days, the acoustic pop of Lenz, the synthpop of TourDeForce, the doomy neofolk of Furvus, the gothic rock of Dim Arcana, the straight mournful neofolk of Vanity, and the acoustic strains of Spiritual Front.

Some tracks of course don't work as well as others, but as with all tribute albums it is in the ear of the beholder and up to their personal genre preferences as to what will grab them the most. But on the whole this is a good display of talents and genres.

The album doesn't suffer from that lack of mastering that many free digital compilations tend to do. Instead all the levels sound right and while there are variances in the quality of the recordings due to each bands' recording set ups, it still sounds like a cohesive whole.

This is a strong, and heartfelt album that displays some genuinely inspired covers. Not everything will be to everyone’s cup of tea, and if you're expecting a lot of rock and metal you may be disappointed. But as far as tribute albums go, this is pretty damn good.

Posted in: music,Peter Steele,this man of steele,tribute,Various Artists