The "metal" portion of their equation comes from two very different sources though. You have doom metal on one hand (which leads to very long and elegant slow songs), and crossover on the other (which gives them an opportunity to play fast and sloppy). The crossover elements were most obvious on Type O's first album, Slow Deep and Hard. This was a carry over from Peter Steele's previous band, Carnivore.
If I were to make an assessment, I'd say the first two Type O albums, and the two Carnivore albums (the only ones they ever released) are some of the best heavy metal ever known to man.
Going back a bit, I'd like to dissect Carnivore, and their meaning. This band answers the age old question "if GWAR and Anal Cunt formed a band together, what would it sound like?"
I always knew Steele had a background in hardcore punk, just from the few tracks on the first two Type O albums, but nothing could have prepared me for hearing Carnivore. It's very much akin to NYHC and the crossover thrash scene it spawned, like Agnostic Front or the Crumbsuckers. Fuck, the drummer and guitarist from the second album were actually IN Agnostic Front and the Crumbsuckers!
This stuff also has a metal sensibility to it, and a lot of the riffs are wildly original. I can see Carnivore influencing several sludge metal and thrash bands in the early '90s. This is hardcore from when it was punk, and not just a bunch of screeching kids with barb wire tattoos and skin-tight clothes, wearing trucker hats and doing windmill kicks away from their lawn service jobs. Petrus and co. were original, and arguably just as innovative and important as Type O, but in a much more misanthropic and highly offensive way. Most of the females who dream of being seduced by Mr. Steele would probably think twice after hearing his first band. This is music for disaffected teenage males who hate everything on the face of planet Earth, and parts of Mars.
Oh yeah, and don't let the morbid and disturbing lyrics scare you. Petrus just has a sick sense of humor.
After Petrus got sick of being a garbage collector for a couple of years in the late '80s, he formed Type O Negative. For my money, they are best goth metal act ever. Talented, smart, and funny. Type O songs were done in a faux vampire voice half the time, with Petrus wearing fake fangs. The band's name was also taken from the blood type known as "the universal donor." The modus operandi of Type O as much a mockery of all things goth as it was a celebration. How can I not love a band with songs like "Unsuccessfully Coping With the Natural Beauty of Infidelity," "Kill All White People," and "We Hate Everyone?" Bloody Kisses is a classic album, the defining moment of an entire musical style, and damn good fun too!
And now, I'll deliver some choice quotes from the maestro himself:
"If you don't like us, that's perfectly alright. I've bludgeoned people to death with my penis before."
"My name is Petrus J. Farnbuckle, the first and only vampire from New Jersey."'
"The building manager has just informed me that the venue is on fire, so I'm afraid we're going to have to cut this set short. Just do what you were already thinking of doing. Turn around and walk toward the exit."
Interviewer: So what's next for Type O Negative.
Petrus: I've just been informed that I've been fired from the band. Again.
Interviewer: But... don't you write all of the music and lyrics?
Petrus: Don't remind me, it's a horrible crushing responsibility. I'm so glad to be rid of it.
Interviewer: So what are you looking forward to in your own future?
Petrus: Fu-FUTURE?! You're asking me about the future?? What do you want? I'm old and decrepit! I try to avoid thinking about the future, and how I'm not gonna be in it.
Interviewer: You're known for your distaste with travel and playing live. How do you feel about this tour so far?
Petrus: Much better than usual. The new record label has given me total control, and as you know, I'm a big fan of totalitarians. Hitler and Stalin are my two biggest influences. I've tried compromise in the past, and it always led to the same old bullshit. That's why I love dictators. I'm certain that if Adolf and Joe were alive today, we'd be partying right now.
Interviewer: So you're enjoying this tour?
Petrus: Oh certainly! The average person has to hate their job in solitude, but I get to share my misery with up to 10,000 people on any given night!
This man makes me want to string my bass up with a tow chain.
Awesome quote 
