DEAD AGAIN - REHAB KEPT TYPE O NEGATIVE STAR OUT OF THE STUDIO

Heavy rockers TYPE O NEGATIVE took three years to record their new album to allow frontman PETER STEELE to recover from a breakdown and a rehab stint. The band has regrouped to record DEAD AGAIN and Steele is now revealing exactly what prompted the delay. He tells MTV News, "I was in a psychiatric institute for a while... and I went through rehab." Steele admits record label spats and the deaths of his mother and close friend, guitarist 'DIMEBAG' DARRELL ABBOTT didn't help his recovery. The singer adds, "It was like a slap in the face with a frozen hand." Steele also spent time locked up in New York's notorious Rikers Island prison for, what he calls, "accidentally punching someone in the face 50 times." But he admits the toughest thing to deal with is balancing his rock career with family life. He explains, "You have wives and kids and house payments and divorces and separations and all this other f**king s**t that goes on, so when we'd schedule rehearsals, they'd start revolving around, 'Well, can we find a babysitter?' It just becomes more and more complicated."