''The Origin of the Feces'' is the second studio album by the American

gothic metal Gothic metal (or goth metal) is a fusion genre combining the aggression of heavy metal with the dark atmospheres of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy meta ...

band Type O Negative, released in 1992.

Recording and production

The album was recorded in a studio but produced to sound "live" by adding crowd noises, banter with the fictitious audience, and even a song stopping because the venue supposedly had received a bomb threat. This was done to simulate the controversy the band faced during the European leg of their ''

Slow, Deep and Hard ''Slow, Deep and Hard'' is the debut studio album by the American gothic metal band Type O Negative, released in 1991 on Roadrunner Records. Overview The album, originally titled ''None More Negative'' and released in 1990 under the group's ...

'' tour. The band is known among fans for weaving this type of humour into their often gloomy music.

Album content

The album is composed primarily of slightly altered, re-recorded versions of tracks that had appeared already on ''Slow, Deep and Hard''. Four of the song's titles have been deliberately renamed: :- "Unsuccessfully Coping with the Natural Beauty of Infidelity" = "I Know You're Fucking Someone Else" :- "Gravitational Constant: G = 6.67 x 10-8 cm-3 gm-1 sec-2" = "Gravity" :- "Prelude to Agony" = "Pain" :- "Xero Tolerance" = "Kill You Tonight" One song, "Are You Afraid?", is an original composition that the band played live as an introduction to "Gravity" but never included on an official studio album. It foreshadows the gothic sound the band would adopt on their next album, ''

Bloody Kisses ''Bloody Kisses'' is the third studio album by the American gothic metal band Type O Negative and the last recording with their original lineup, as drummer Sal Abruscato left the group in late 1993 to join labelmates Life of Agony. The album inclu ...

''. This album also started the tradition of Type O Negative including cover songs performed in their distinct

sound. The album includes covers of

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy metal music. The band helped def ...

's " Paranoid" (which halfway through contains the main riff of Black Sabbath's "

Iron Man Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The cha ...

"), and

Billy Roberts William Moses Roberts Jr. (August 16, 1936 – October 7, 2017) was an American songwriter and musician credited with composing the 1960s rock music standard "Hey Joe" (of which the best-known version is the hit by The Jimi Hendrix Experience). B ...

' " Hey Joe", which has been re-titled "Hey Pete" for frontman Peter Steele. The reprise of "Kill You Tonight" has a sample of the closing piano strike from

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' " A Day in the Life". In another instance of the band's sense of humor, circus impresario P. T. Barnum is credited as a producer for the record, despite the fact that he had been dead for over 100 years at the time the album was released.

Packaging

The original cover of the album has a close-up of Steele's anal sphincter. This was changed for the re-issue two years later, to a green and black version of the 1493 painting by

Michael Wolgemut Michael Wolgemut (formerly spelt ''Wohlgemuth''; 143430 November 1519) was a German painter and printmaker, who ran a workshop in Nuremberg. He is best known as having taught the young Albrecht Dürer. The importance of Wolgemut as an artist rests ...

, '' The Dance of Death''. The album's title is an obvious pun and a reference to

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...

's ''

On the Origin of Species ''On the Origin of Species'' (or, more completely, ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life''),The book's full original title was ''On the Origin of Species by Me ...

''. In addition to the re-issue's cover, other artwork included in the album's sleeve/liner notes is the famous 1498 woodcut by Albrecht Dürer, ''The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse''.

Track listing

All lyrics and music by Peter Steele, except where noted.

Credits

* Peter Steele –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* Kenny Hickey –

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

, co-lead vocals (on "Hey Pete"),

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

* Josh Silver – backing vocals, keyboards, sound effects *

Sal Abruscato Sal Abruscato (born July 18, 1970) is an American drummer, guitarist and singer, best known as the original drummer for Brooklyn metal bands Type O Negative and Life of Agony.Hart, Josh (2011)Interview: Sal Abruscato and Matt Brown of A Pale Hor ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

* Johnny Kelly – drums, percussion (on "Paranoid")

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Origin Of The Feces, The Type O Negative albums 1992 albums Roadrunner Records albums