Valborg Channel Their Inner Type O Negative on “Comtesse”

The fifth anniversary of Peter Steele’s death completely crept up on me yesterday. I had some awareness that he died in the Spring, and a vague sense that… it had been a while… but until I started seeing the tributes pop up in my social networks feeds I didn’t realize it had been FIVE FUCKING YEARS. Wow.

Whether Decibel deliberately chose to premiere a song by German doom trio Valborg on International Peter Steele Day or it was just coincidence, this much is certain: the band has clearly been very heavily influenced by Type O Negative. And that’s refreshing, because you really don’t hear a whole lot of Type O influence in bands these days; maybe it’s because Type O haven’t released anything in a long time and today’s “kids” simply weren’t there, or maybe, like the years leading into the current Quicksand/Helmet/Ugly Kid Joe/Fudge Tunnel revival, doom goth just hasn’t had its renaissance yet.

In any case, stream Valborg’s “Comtesse” below. It may be darker than anything Type O ever did, and the vocals are certainly a far cry from Peter Steel’s ball-rumbling baritone, but Valborg are absolutely channeling the spirit of Type O here, and they’re adding their own flare to it as well. I love it.

Romantik comes out on May 19 via Temple of Torturous. Visit Valborg on Facebook for more info.