October Rust is the fourth studio album by American gothic metal band Type O Negative. It was released in 1996.[10] This is the first album with Johnny Kelly credited as the band's drummer, although programmed drums are used on the album. October Rust has more ballads and less of the doom metal sound of previous or subsequent albums. It also features a cover of Neil Young's "Cinnamon Girl.”
It is the first of the band's albums with a "joke intro"; in this case, "Bad Ground", which is 38 seconds of low-level buzzing, meant to sound as if one or more audio leads is incorrectly plugged into the input jacks of an amplifier. Tracks 2 and 15 are humorous untitled spoken word intros and outros to the album, respectively, with the band downplaying the recording of the album. Another production technique employed on the album is the use of very abrupt endings and segues to a few of the songs, heard on the tracks "Green Man", "Red Water", and "Haunted".
Track listing
All tracks are written by Peter Steele, except where noted.
Val Ium – backing vocals (on "In Praise of Bacchus")
Production
Mike Marciano – recording engineer
George Marino – mastering
Sagmeister Inc. – cover art
Tim Fitzharris – photography
Joseph Cultice – photography
Tobias Frere Jones – typography
Laura Michaels – design
Release and reception
October Rust was well received by critics. The album was released on August 20, 1996 on CD and audiocassettes through Roadrunner Records. October Rust sold over 500,000 copies, eventually receiving a gold certification by the RIAA in the United States. The album was not as successful as its predecessor, Bloody Kisses, but it peaked at number 42 on the Billboard 200, and is considered the band's best album among fans. October Rust was not originally released on vinyl, but in celebration of the album's 25th anniversary, it was officially reissued on vinyl in 2021. The album was also released on vinyl in 2024 as a limited edition for the Rhino Records "Rocktober" campaign. Steve Huey of Allmusic gave the album 4 stars out of 5 and wrote: "Peter Steele predicted that the follow-up to Bloody Kisses would accentuate Type O Negative's melodic side, specifically for the purpose of making money. Steele's attempt at "pop-goth" actually works well for a while; his cynical take on goth rock's typical subject matter is in full swing over the first half of October Rust, and the band gleefully wallows in its stated commercialism by personally thanking the listener for purchasing the album at its start and finish." In 2017, former Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward ranked October Rust as one of his favorite Metal albums of all time.[11]
October Rust: The Demos
In November of 2020, the October Rust: The Demos compilation was unofficially released on CDs for a limited amount of 300 copies - it contained early demo versions of tracks from the final album that Peter Steele recorded on a audiocassette for his friend. Later, in 2021, it was also released on vinyl.
