Feature: Peter Steele, Type O Negative, and the Prodigal Sons of Metal
Peter Steele, Type O Negative, and the Prodigal Sons of Metal
The subject of Christian bands and artists leaving their faith behind is a topic always rife with controversy, debate, concern, and of course, mud-slinging. And with Heaven’s Metal’s Seth Metoyer’s latest article on Christian bands changing their name if they leave Christianity, all kinds of responses were brought forth. But one kind of response gave me serious pause – the idea that if a person leaves the faith, they were never Christian to begin with.
Certainly, St. John the Theologian touches on this subject in 1 John 2:19: “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us” (KJV). But who is St. John speaking of? In his letters, he speaks of “antichrists” (1 John 1:18) and “deceivers” (2 John 7) those who were among the Christians but went out to sow their own heresies; Gnostics and Docetists (those who denied Christ’s physical body), for example. I certainly could be wrong here, but it seems to me that this verse (1 John 2:19) has a fairly specific context – it’s touching on heretics, obstinate deniers of the faith.1
Declaring someone was never a Christian to begin with if they leave the faith simply out of a loss of faith effectively locks the church doors behind them. It turns the parable of the prodigal son on its head, and instead of the father running out to meet his returning son, the son finds the doors to his old house closed.
Case in point – Peter Steele of the iconic goth/doom metallers Type O Negative. Without a doubt, Type O Negative has cast a long shadow over the metal world with their mix of plodding, glacial dirges and tongue-in-cheek send-ups that simultaneously skewer both themselves and their chosen targets of parody. From the iconic Bloody Kisses to the ultimate gothic romance soundtrack of October Rust to the bleak nightmare of World Coming Down, just from a musical standpoint, they’re a hard band to fault.
But from a Christian viewpoint, Peter Steele and Type O Negative will obviously be problematic. The lyrics could be vulgar in the extreme, and the blasphemous nature of songs like “Christian Woman” (along with the attendant band photo inside the Bloody Kisses insert) are impossible to ignore. Many songs dealt with extreme drug use, suicide, and were laced with occult themes. But this only serves, in retrospect, to highlight the darkness from which Peter Steele in particular emerged.
Going back to my original point concerning those who leave the faith never being Christians in the first place. Peter Steele was born and raised a Roman Catholic. He left it behind, declaring himself to be an atheist. But in 2007, Peter Steele – the same man who came up with the motto of “No Hope = No Fear” – declared that he had found hope and returned to his faith.
According to Steele, “Going through a midlife crisis and having many things change very quickly made me realize my mortality,” Steele told Decibel magazine in 2007. “And when you start to think about death, you start to think about what’s after it. And then you start hoping there is a God. For me, it’s a frightening thought to go nowhere. I also can’t believe that people like Stalin and Hitler are gonna go to the same place as Mother Teresa.”2
Naturally, this is not the kind of statement that is going to change the mind of an atheist or a skeptic, but it is a profoundly human one. Oftentimes, death or the fear of it is enough to make a person reconsider their position on God and faith. In the life of St. Theodore of Sanaxar, for example, we find a powerful example of this:
“When he was once making merry with his comrades, one of them suddenly fell to the ground and died. This produced great terror and lamentation in all of them, but it was John [St. Theodore] most of all who was moved in soul. Casting everything aside, he then resolved to flee into the wilderness, according to the words of the Prophet David, Lo, I have fled afar off and have dwelt in the wilderness, I have waited upon God Who saveth me (Ps. 54:7-8).3
Of course, in the metal world, it seems there’s nothing more taboo or shocking than someone openly becoming a Christian. It’s tantamount to a giant selling-out, a betrayal, a sign of weakness. But in a world where the constant posturing and edge-lording of bands that knock Christianity is pretty de rigeur at this point, I think an artist like Peter Steele stands out a heck of a lot more as someone who really wrestled with it all. From what I can see, it seems a lot of fans of the band respect this about him, even if they disagree with his views in the end.
The band’s final album before Steele’s passing, Dead Again, would continue in grand Type O Negative fashion to offend some listeners, but not like in the days of old. “These Three Things” proved just as controversial as earlier tracks like “Der Untermensch” and “Christian Woman,” but for a much different reason – its lyrics were anti-abortion. The rest of the album was permeated with Biblical references. The CD label itself was a crown of thorns. The insert was in the shape of a cross. All these little aspects are pretty hard to ignore and spelled out something fairly clearly about a man who often couched his lyrics in dark humour and sarcasm. Peter Steele was really grappling with Christianity, and was being open about it. That’s not to say that Dead Again is an album you’re going to find being touted as a Christian metal classic. The language can be vulgar at times still (which some listeners might not find themselves comfortable with), and Steele’s exploration of Biblical and theological concepts are obviously his own personal wrestling with them. In short, this isn’t a statement of doctrinal/theological orthodoxy, it’s an account of someone who has suffered tremendously in his life who is now returning to and speaking about the faith he left. It’s powerful in its own way.
After his reversion, Peter Steele seems to me to have kept his signature funereal sense of humour intact. He didn’t mince words, and he still came off pretty vulgar. And yet, behind that lurked a faith in God, however damaged and imperfect it might seem to some. In an article found on Leo Weekly from 2007, he stated: “’My views on virtually everything have changed radically’… ‘People ask me about how I used to f*** around on the road and abusing my body and writing songs like ‘Christian Woman.’ I turn around and say, ‘God loves his lost little lambs the most. Especially those that return to the flock. So flock you.’”
I don’t make any pretences about knowing the entire ins-and-outs of his return to Catholicism. I’m not making claims that he somehow became a saint overnight, nor am I saying I agree with everything he said after his reversion to Catholicism. All I know is that it seems he gave Christ a chance again in a way he knew how. And he encouraged others to do the same.
It isn’t all about a giant exit door when it comes to Christian faith. It’s easy to focus on (and what’s more, to criticize) those who choose to leave their faith behind. It’s easy to pass judgment, to simply hunker down even further into one’s fortress catholicus and lounge in one’s sense of spiritual security, however that might play out. But I think it’s important to remember that those who leave their faith sometimes return, and in particular, when it comes to the metal world and Christian artists who leave their faith, we have to leave the door open for them to come back. Not everyone’s journey is a simple salvation event or a continual ascent to God. Sometimes it’s much messier than that. And with people like Peter Steele, we see an example of it in action.
Footnotes
1 – Fr. Michael Pomazansky, Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, trans. and ed. Hieromonk Seraphim Rose (Platina: St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, 2009).
2 -“TYPE O NEGATIVE Members ‘Not Cooperating’ In Telling Of PETER STEELE’s Story,” Blabbermouth.net, April 10, 2013, https://blabbermouth.net/news/type-o-negative-members-not-cooperating-in-telling-of-peter-steele-s-story.
3 – “The Life of Elder Theodore, Abbot of the Sanaxar Monastery,” in Little Russian Philokalia Vol. V: St. Theodore of Sanaxar, trans. St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood (Platina: St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, 2000), 13-72.
4 – “Interview with a Vampire: Type O Negative’s Peter Steele”, Leo Weekly, October 23, 2007, https://www.leoweekly.com/news/interview-with-a-vampire-type-o-negativea-tms-peter-steele-15768530/.
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