First, a word of caution, any and all optimism must be immediately extinguished! The word from the street is the world's coming down fast and anyone within earshot would be best advised to take cover immediately. Outspoken dooms-dayers of the modern era, Brooklyn's own "Type O Negative" have made great strides in bleeding the heart of Goth out of the realm of fantasy and into the real world, cutting deeper and deeper toward the bone with each and every new release - not to mention keeping the checks rolling in to yesterday's heroes Neil Young and surviving members of The Beatles!

"World Coming Down" should be a surprise to no one who's spent even two minutes a day in front of the evening news, although as it's interpreted from TON, we delve into a mind wrenched in torment. Unpleasant surroundings to say the least! The chip Steele's been towing carries the weight of the world on his shoulder and one can only wonder how long the support will hold up before he caves in.

Leading a band that's grown up practically overnight, a personal observance taken to levels of extreme intensity, his world currently consists of great sorrow and misunderstanding. Pain shoots to the extremities amidst a flood of doom-driven surrealism that give rise to the questions of death and deep remorse. A lengthy epic portrayal, conceptually stunning, not unlike where "October Rust" left off only more direct. "White Slavery," "Everyone I Love Is Dead," "World Coming Down" and "Creepy Green Light" manage to escape the impending carnage relatively unscathed, but poor unfortunates like "Everything Dies" and "Pyretta Blaze" are not so lucky. Where the silliness of "Skip It" fits into the grand scheme of things as I reach for the control knob on my stereo, or the one minute of "Sinus" escapes me, but lest we forget the band's earlier days.

TON represents pure human emotion, probably never more evident than on "World Coming Down," where the listener will find the scariest moments are also those most relevant to themselves!