Peter Steele R.I.P. ?

Despite a message on the band's official web site that seems to suggest otherwise, TYPE O NEGATIVE frontman Peter Steele HAS NOT DIED.

The band, who are famous for their dark sense of humor, have spent much of the last few months preparing material for their SPV Records debut, which is expected to be recorded later in the year.

TYPE O NEGATIVE cancelled their U.S. tour last fall in order to allow Steele to undergo further tests after "undisclosed anomalies" were discovered during a medical exam. A February 11, 2005 update on Peter's condition from TYPE O NEGATIVE drummer Johnny Kelly stated, "There really isn't much to report other than he's doing fine and his health is improving daily."

TYPE O NEGATIVE, whose first album, "Slow, Deep and Hard", was issued in 1991, fulfilled their contractual obligations to longtime label Roadrunner with the release of 2003's "Life Is Killing Me". That album debuted on The Billboard 200 chart at No. 39 in June 2003 after registering a first-week sales tally of 27,023 copies. TYPE O NEGATIVE's best-selling album to date is 1994's "Bloody Kisses", which has shifted around nearly a million copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan.