I was made aware of Peter Steele's death in the very early morning hours, directly after his body was found and the immediate report came out. To wake up to that news was awful, and too reminiscent of the brutal past. I shook off a layer of sleep and directly called the singer of Agnostic Front, Roger Miret, who confirmed the terrible truth. Shortly after that, I was on the phone with Evan Seinfeld of Biohazard. Both of us were damn near too stunned to really comprehend it. After all, Evan and I weren't just good friends with Pete, we were ongoing fans of the guy. We could talk Carnivore for hours and had several times over the 15 years we'd known each other. It was and is sad.
I was made aware of Pete Steele in general through his band Carnivore back in '87, '88. All my friends in New Orleans were freaking on their Retaliation record, and not surprisingly, I grew to love that album quick-like. Pete's legend grew as time went on, especially after Pantera had the pleasure of touring with him and his next band, Type O Negative, in the mid '90s. He was such a cool cat. Type O Negative had this take-it-or-leave-it approach to their music, and Pete completely knew it. He had a devilishly clever sense of humor!
I can't even begin to accumulate how many different musicians Pete touched along the way. He had the utmost respect of every New York hardcore band in the scene back in the day! He wrote songs for one of my favorite bands of the time, Agnostic Front, and he named the band Biohazard, who I consider brothers as well. There was no way he couldn't have touched your heart if you knew him. If Pete was on your side, he'd do anything for you, and Pete was a good guy to have on your side! He was one of a kind, and no matter how cliché that might be to say about someone after they've passed, it's the truth. I loved the guy as a friend, and I respected him incredibly as a songwriter. He will be missed in this house, no doubt.
Respectfully, Philip H. Anselmo
