Amidst the towering skyscrapers and canyonlike avenues of New York City, the greenish heart of darkness beats with a steady rate. TYPE O NEGATIVE's ghoulish mischief and misanthropy has once again set a milestone (or rather a tombstone) in the saga of Goth/Doom Metal: the sorrow-stricken "World Coming Down".

Lyricwise, the new album is a myriad of themes, ranging from substance abuse and social disintegration to emotional deprivation and loss of life. Though some of the tracks display an almost upbeat attitude towards death, the majority of songs descends upon the listener like a night-time curtain of nervous breakdowns.

Like so many times before, it took me quite a while to unravel the true genius of Peter Steele's wailing and Josh Kelly's autumn-inspired keyboards. The buzzing guitars, which could be regarded as TYPE O's trademark, flow freely through such gothic gems as "Everyone I Love is Dead" and "Pyretta Blaze". Then again, their omnipresence in "White Slavery" hugely diminish the grim effect of Steele's brilliant lyrics.

In contrast to their last release, "October Rust", "World Coming Down" doesn't harness neo-romantic visions of a misty forest, but rather introduces a more apocalyptic and depressed TYPE O NEGATIVE.

"World Coming Down" is, without doubt, the band's most diverse effort up to date. This wielder of the green plague deserves a perfect ten!

Guest Reviewer Daniel Sankala