Crowbar
- DAY: 07.06
- STAGE: Park Stage
- GENRE: sludge metal
- COUNTRY: USA
Crowbar are the godfathers of what we came to know as sludge metal, but they deserve a standing ovation not only for their pioneering sound, but also for their recipe for music, which remains effective. Their convention can be classified as a collision between doom metal and hardcore punk, with the addition of riffs that are sure to crash the listener in mere seconds. The band hailing from New Orleans is led by the indefatigable Kirk Windstein and their music is slow, but that lethargic tempo only emphasises the heaviness of the group – to the point where each note and melody is the equivalent of a boulder falling from a great height. So what, are you gonna let them nail you?
History:
Despite Crowbar’s official date of birth being 1990, their beginnings reach the end of the 80s. To be more precise: in 1988, Kirk Windstein joined the hardcore band ShellShock, where he met the drummer Jimmy Bower. The lads quickly hit it off and after their short yet tumultuous time with the band, they went their own way.
That’s how Crowbar began, debuting already in 1991 with an album called “Obedience thru Suffering”. The never-before-seen mixture of the power of doom and the insanity of hardcore became a sensation in the New Orleans underground, and with time, in the whole country. Their self-titled album, released two years later resulted in fame, fans, great sales and a lot of air-time on MTV. Ever since then the band keeps their release tempo without any greater obstructions – they’ve recorded twelve albums all together. The same can be said about their exorbitant reputation, thanks to which they remain one of the most important sludge metal bands, despite, interestingly, Kirk Windstein’s disdain for the term. Their latest album is the 2022 “Zero and Below”.
Discography:
Studio albums:
Obedience thru Suffering, 1991
Crowbar, 1993
Time Heals Nothing, 1995
Broken Glass, 1996
Odd Fellows Rest, 1998
Equilibrium, 2000
Sonic Excess in Its Purest Form, 2001
Lifesblood for the Downtrodden, 2005
Sever the Wicked Hand, 2011
Symmetry in Black, 2014
The Serpent Only Lies, 2016
Zero and Below, 2022
EPs:
Live +1, 1994
Singles:
Let Me Mourn, 2010
The Cemetery Angels, 2011
Isolation, 2011
Walk with Knowledge Wisely, 2014
Falling While Rising, 2016
Plasmic and Pure, 2016
The Serpent Only Lies, 2016
Chemical Godz, 2021
Bleeding from Every Hole, 2022
Splits:
Maximum Metal vol.269, 2022 (z Amorphis, Cobra the Impaler, Pike vs the Automaton, Rolo Tomassi, Bloodywood)
Compilations:
Odd Fellows Rest & Equilibrium, 2007
Archive Metal… in It’s Purest Form, 2018
Setlist Classics, 2019
