All will be one again…

Water will be earth; stone will be sea…

Stone Sea – a band who channel a groove inspired Alt Rock vision with elements of Stoner, Sludge and world music – and formed in Brazil in 2014 by singer and guitarist Elvis Suhadolnik Bonesso. The band is now based in Europe around Spain and Ireland, and has recently released their latest creation with the Ad Astra set.

Elvis joins us now for a Why I Love on Type O Negative.

OTHERWORLDY

There are very few bands that have caused me so many positive impressions due to their range of music styles and nuances, harmonic and melodic sensitivity, and lyrical content — Type O Negative is definitely one of them. Songs could go from extremely slow, sluggish doom riffs to old-school New Yorker hardcore styles, mixing harmonies similar to Black Sabbath and The Beatles, taking both examples to their extremes, while dropping the vocals two octaves down thanks to Peter Steele’s gigantically deep voice. The lyrics would very poetically touch base with the deepest things that are inherent to the human soul and flesh — love, death, sex, family, addiction, and mind mazes — all with a hint of dark humour. I really can’t dig the idea that someone wouldn’t love this band, honestly.

The first time I listened to them was in a friend’s car. He would always show me some bands (and I would find most of them a little “meh”), but he said to me, “Man, you have to check this out.” He played Type O’s version of Black Sabbath’s Black Sabbath, and it was so extreme that it probably hit me on the same level as hearing Black Sabbath for the first time. That extremely low piano note, the tritones, background sound effects of people crying and bubbles, and the horror-ish plucks blending together with Peter’s voice were something otherworldly. I instantly got into it.

IT’S ALL SUCCESS

So I went to university, and there was a friend who knew any band you could possibly name. I asked, “Hey man, a friend of mine showed me a song by Type O Negative — do you know any albums that would be good for me to start off with?” And he replied using a Brazilian expression: “Vai na fé que é só filé,” which essentially means “Just go for it, it’s all success” (I’m laughing as I’m writing this because it’s quite a random phrase). Anyway, fast forward — I got addicted to them.

I remember, at the peak of exploring their albums, I was coming back home quite drunk and somewhat stoned, and while going through the album October Rust, I eventually got to the last song, Haunted. It’s a very underrated song, in my opinion. I remember the notes hitting so hard and low that my head would bend down, almost making me hit the floor. I had never felt anything like it — such a dreamy, slow, and beautiful song. When I bought the album later, I remember that in the artwork, each song had a tree that fit the song’s vibe. For Haunted, that tree was very psychedelic, as the song talks about a girl that invades his dreams.

Around 10 years after I became a fan, my sister eventually came to me and said, “I’m in love with Type O Negative. After all these years of you listening to them in the shower, I don’t know how I only got into them now. I CAN’T STOP LISTENING!”

I could spend ages talking about them and each of their songs, but for now, I’ll only show my appreciation with a picture of my sister after tattooing them on our arm.

Our thanks to Elvis for writing on such a smart choice …

Here’s Stain – the opening cut from Ad Astra:

You can read more from our extensive archive of Why I Love pieces from a wide array of artists on an even wider array of subjects, here.

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