TYPE O NEGATIVE: OCTOBER RUST

SCORE: 100/100

'October Rust' is a sheer musical aphrodisiac - one that you won't be able to get enough of.

Once 'October Rust' gets a proper start, it's a hard album to escape from - with a captivatingly sexy gothic sound and a stunning usage of both instrumental and vocal work, Type O Negative clearly had what they wanted to do set to perfection for this project. It's an album that will leave you completely enthralled, and it's a hard platter of songs to turn your nose up at.

The immersively sensual soundscapes of 'October Rust' make this an absolute goth essential. It has everything that you could possibly want or need from the genre. It's a delightful mix of both wanting and hurting - and it feels like a gothic wonderland of everything dark and sexy wrapped into one massively filling album that isn't lacking whatsoever in content.

It builds up a heavy atmosphere almost instantaneously following the 2 short intros that precede the rest of the album's content - although it may seem slightly intimidating, it builds such an intoxicating atmosphere it's near-impossible to resist the charm that the album has once you're in it.

'October Rust' manages to feel like one of the most comprehensive projects that the gothic music scene has to offer. It's deeply inviting with a sultry, dark tone that will drag you in very quickly, and it's the kind of album that will keep you interested and enjoying it despite its long runtime. It doesn't deviate from its established sound, and it's incredibly clear to see just how well the band was able to work together to collaborate on such a massively polished and refined project - and the end result was something truly stunning, an album that shines devastatingly bright and stands out hugely amongst the masses.

The music of 'October Rust' manages to be seductive with just the instrumentals alone. There's a hugely cinematic and titillating sound to each and every note, all of which come together into one massive spectacle that showcases exactly what gothic rock and its subgenres should sound like to some extent. This album feels like a massive handbook on how to make a stunning gothic metal project, and it would go on to pave the way for HIM, Bullet for My Valentine, and Avenged Sevenfold to follow the footsteps left behind by the band.

The style used by the band was efficacious in making the album feel dark and atmospheric with every sound. Each and every murky guitar riff, drum beat, and vocal croon bring the album to new, unadulterated heights. It switches from pace to pace with songs ending and starting abruptly and meshing into one striking album that never grows bored of its own material. It's an impeccable showcase of sheer musical and artistic talent, making it an absolute rock essential; not just in the gothic subgenres, but in the genre in its entirety. 

There's a deeply granular approach to the composition of this album - making it feel like a bundle of delicately woven soundscapes that come together into one dark haze. It's a stunning work that showcases the talents of each individual member of the band, with each of their respective elements coming together into something massively engrossing and entirely compelling. It gets more emotionally charged with 'Die with Me' being a stunningly tear-jerking ballad, and the dark and sweet come together as one into one dreamlike display of an album.

From doom metal to dream pop - 'October Rust' manages to do it all and then some. It takes an all-encompassing approach that will swallow you whole and leave you in for one slow and romantic ride that you won't want to come down for. It's a gentle high that eases you in and leaves you in a soft, quiet, yet dark lull; and it's ravishingly enjoyable every step of the way.

Music this spellbinding is something that is hard to come by, but Type O Negative make it look easy on this album. It's their most ballad-filled album that drops some of the heavier aspects of their previous efforts, but it does this with ease - making such a weighted album feel entirely weightless and pillow-soft when you get around to it.

It's passionate without being too harsh, but it still has a dark edge that makes it feel like something out of a hot & hazy fever dream - one that you almost don't want to get up from. It's deeply, darkly sensual in all of the ways you would want a gothic album of any kind to be - and it feels like the most tasteful kind of sexy imaginable.