Anyone finding and reading this page should have a healthy, or in the eyes of mainstream music press, an unhealthy knowledge of the band and style of music they have been been pumping out in a sea of sludge from New Orleans for a whole quarter of a century. That history, however, has not been uninterrupted, there being distinct breaks as founder Kirk Windstein took his crushing riffs to bear for the excellent Down. Recently, and amicably, he left that supergroup to concentrate on Crowbar, and the first release from this new found focus is ‘Symmetry In Black’, coming a whole three years down the line from ‘Sever The Wicked Hand.’
‘Walk With Knowledge Wisely’ opens the album in a style that is pure Crowbar: the guitars are down tuned and crushing; the rhythm section is dirty and battering; and Kirk sings like every note is his war cry, the lyrics conveying an anger undiminished by time. Following quickly, or rather slowly on its heels is ‘Symmetry In White’, with Mr Windstein matching the deep fuzzy riffing with his most mellow of vocals, interweaving his trademark snarls with a dark drone that harkens back to the days when ‘Grunge’ was not a dirty word to the metal community. His version of mellow, however, is still harsh enough to strip paint from the walls of the sweaty clubs where this music plays best. It is not the sort of music that needs theatre, pyros and props, just four musicians at the top of their game and a stack of amps.
Track after track, Crowbar do what they do best, not changing their formula of heavy doom, rather refining it. ‘Ageless Decay’ starts with a faster but still grinding tempo, an almost punk beat to the drums throwing in an extra element to the doom without diluting it, whilst ‘Amaranthine’ (nothing to do with the shit Euro pop metal act Amaranthe!) has an almost trippy stoner vibe, but with a constant undercurrent of darkness the imbues every Crowbar album. From the first to the last, the band deliver their trademark sonic battery, enhanced by a combination of excellent musicianship and a tightness that the band with its shifting line up has honed on the road. There may be no surprises or shifts in direction; you’d hardly expect this band to come out with a power ballad or nu-metal rapping and sampling! Instead, it is a solid consolidation of their standing at the forefront of sludge, with solid nods to their past whilst marching forward with the inexorable crushing advance of a glacier.
I was lucky enough to catch Crowbar this March in a show at Glasgow’s King Tut’s, and some of the new material was played live, and despite suffering a heavy cold Kirk played a full set with power and fury; I’m more then glad to report that the fist in your face sound of the album is not diminished live, rather amplified, and with ‘Symmetry In Black’, the tenth studio album from the band, Crowbar have only enhanced their repertoire. Come summer they’re main-staging at Bloodstock, and I for one will be front and centre for the set.
(8.5/10 Spenny)
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