Uptempo "Retaliation"-hardcore meets the heavy sound of "Slow, Deep and Hard" meets the pretentious, but to me excellent, feel of "Bloody Kisses" and "October Rust". One might already here draw the conclusion that I was wrong, and that is perfectly correct. I'm slightly disappointed, and I will tell you why. The album kicks off with the title track, "Dead Again". A decent opening song, like a rockier, hence less poppy, "I don't wanna be me". It's an average song however, a stronger opening would have been appreciated. The optimal for me would have been an S.M.D-like slap to the face, but I guess that was wishful thinking. Moving on to song number two, "Tripping A Blind Man", we find a nice refrain but an in general boring tune. But have faith, ye unfaithful, it all changes with "The Profits Of Doom", one of the top songs of the album. A heavy, agitating tune, with a scent of "Bloody Kisses". The following songs are a similar mix of punky/70's metal/classic Type O-ish creations. When reaching "These Three Things" I briefly wondered if Peter was gonna do a Johnny Cash and go christian on me. We'll see what happens on that department I guess (Peter introduced himself as "fucking Johnny Cash" at Wacken with Carnivore; is he seeing similarities?). Two songs contain march-like interludes, with pompous vocals on the funny side. Neat. Notable is also that Kenny does more vocal work than in some time, and he does it well. Back to Type O Negative basics. A personal favorite is "Some Stupid Tomorrow"; it kicks off great, looses some in the middle, but finishes nicely. That song really could have been a killer if the composer hadn't chickened out. However, the Type O Negative fan that I am, I still like this album. I doesn't reach all the way, and I think it would have been way better had it been even heavier. Long gone is the sexyness, but the screams compensate by far. My two favorite Steele-albums are "October Rust" and "Retaliation", and this release does not reach all the way. "Dead Again" is more like a new release of Carnivore's first album, done by more skilled composers/musicians yet with that original Type O feel to it. I hoped for aggression but I got old school rock. Not bad, but it could have been better. The peaks are to few, and the material too unconsistent, to reach all the way. I still find this release better than it's post-October Rust predecessors. Crazy, old, vampiric russian or not, Peter Steele and Type O Negative will probably be around for some time still. At least they'll still have my attention.

written by Growlin Johan Larsson

Playing time: 77.33