Carnivore

Emerging in the mid-'80s, larger-than-life metal bassist and singer Pete Steele first gained attention as frontman of Brooklyn's hardcore metal trio Carnivore, whose lineup included Louie Beateaux on drums and successive guitarists Keith Alexander and Marc Piovanetti. Far more straightforward thrash metal than the goth sound Steele would later cultivate with Type O Negative, Carnivore stirred unease among cautious listeners through tracks such as "Jesus Hitler" and "Angry Neurotic Catholics." In contrast to most contemporaries, the band avoided undue solemnity, a stance illustrated by the deliberately outrageous opening cut "Jack Daniels and Pizza" on their second album. During their short run the trio put out two Roadrunner Records releases—the self-titled 1986 debut and 1987's Retaliation—before disbanding, after which Steele preserved and broadened Carnivore's audience through Type O Negative, the group he assembled in the early '90s.