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GAUGE16 : Sculpting the Sound of Sludge
- kgreg31
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
[CROWBAR]
One of my all-time favorite bands that brings a heavy, near-addictive swing that was birthed from the New Orleans metal scene during the 90s, Crowbar, never fails to make you get up and move to the nastiest down-tuned riffs you may ever find. Straight from Louisiana and founded by Kirk Windstine, Crowbar forged a distinct and unforgettable sound by blending aspects of doom metal with hardcore punk. It can be best characterized by its brutishly slow guitar riffs over powerful, rugged vocals that make you feel like your shirt size would go from a medium to a 3XL just by hearing it.
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If I were to suggest any album of theirs to start listening to especially if you’ve never heard of them or any adjacent bands that were in the New Orleans heavy metal scene, I would recommend either Sonic Excess In Its Purest Form, or their self titled album, Crowbar, which have some of their best and most popular songs like “To Build A Mountain”,“All I Had (I Gave)”, and "Existence is Punishment”. Some of my personal favorites from them, after listening to most of their discography, are “Like Broken Glass,” Burn Your World”, and "Conquering” off of the album Broken Glass, which is probably my favorite album, along with “I Feel The Burning Sun” from their album Equilibrium.
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As the band's early unadulterated music continued throughout the years, it seemed to be refined to a more intricate, eerie sound while still keeping the raw aggression and brutish nature that was the foundation of their earlier work. Some of the bands that Crowbar have taken inspiration from to create their unique sound have been Melvins, who influenced the early Seattle grunge scene, Black Sabbath, and thrash metal band Carnivore, whose lead singer and bassist, Peter Steele, would later go on to form the band Type O Negative.
Kirk Windstine, who was the only consistent member of Crowbar, was in several different bands before its creation and during the early stages of the band, it had gone through several different name changes before settling on the name Cowbar. Windstein first played for Victorian Blitz, which was a cover band that mainly played songs from WASP and Judas Priest, which I a little funny considering that WASP was a glam rock band, and Judas Priest utilized more operatic, high pitched vocals, contrary to the kind of music that Windstein makes in Crowbar. It reminds me of how Pantera was originally a hair metal band before the addition of Phil Anselmo, who was a longtime friend of Windstein, who also grew up in the same area of New Orleans.
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Crowbar's first studio album Obedience Thru Suffering (1991) didn't gain much profit and was only until the release of their self titled album Crowbar (1993), which produced by Phil Anslemo, did the band really take off. After their 1993 album, they were featured on MTV’s Headbangers Ball, along with their music videos of “All I Had (I Gave)” and “Existence is Punishment” being featured on Beavis and Butt-Head. After their success, they had multiple more instances of popular hits, references, and tours with popular bands like Pantera, and Acid Bath, which cemented them as an unforgettable and iconic band in heavy metal that still makes new music to this day.
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