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Prior to forming Crowbar, guitarist and vocalist Kirk Windstein joined the band Shell Shock alongside drummer Jimmy Bower. When the band’s guitarist Mike Hatch committed suicide, Windstein and Bower carried the band on as Aftershock and experimented with a more doom metal sound. After a series of name and personnel changes, by mid 1991 the band was renamed Crowbar with a line-up consisting of Windstein, bassist Todd Strange, drummer Craig Nunenmacher, and lead guitarist Kevin Noonan.
Crowbar’s debut came in 1992 with the album “Obedience Through Suffering” and signed with Pavement Music. Crowbar’s subsequent self-titled album in 1993 and “Time Heals Nothing” in 1995, were issued by the new label, the former of which earned national promotion on MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball. After the release of “Time Heals Nothing” Nunenmacher left the group, and was replaced by Jimmy Bower for the albums “Broken Glass” in 1996 and “Odd Fellows Rest” in 1998. Choosing to focus on his other project Eyehategod, Bower left shortly after and was replaced by Sid Montz who recorded drums on 2000’s “Equilibrium”.
In 2001 with a line-up consisting of Windstein, Sammy Duet on lead guitar, Jeff Okoneski on bass, and Tony Constanza on drums, Crowbar released their seventh studio album “Sonic Excess in its Purest Form” on Spitfire Records. The band supported the album with an extensive touring schedule, and with Crowbar plagued with tumultuous line-up changes, often members of other bands needed to fill in. The band has subsequently released the albums “Lifesblood for the Downtrodden” in 2005, “Sever the Wicked Hand” in 2011, and “Symmetry in Black” in 2014.
Lead singer Jeffrey Nothing, drummer Skinny and keyboardist Shmotz are the only consistent members of Mushroomhead since its formation in 1993, they have seen various line up changes over the years yet their alternative metal sound has not varied greatly. Their music has a traditional heavy metal sound merged with influences of experimental genres such as techno, new age and even hip hop at times. They have named Pink Floyd, Pantera, Nine Inch Nails and Rammstein as major influences on their music and style.
The band has released all seven of their major albums on the Dirty Hands label, their first appearance on the US album charts came in 2003 with 'XIII' which peaked at #40. Their highest charting position to date is the 2014 album 'The Righteous & The Butterfly' which debuted at #20 and also topped the US Indie and Hard Rock charts.
The band is known for having an ongoing feud with Ohio metal band Slipknot mainly induced by their fan bases. There are similarities with the two bands stage personas including the use of masks and costumes. It seemed to conclude in 2009 after both sides stated in interviews they had no problem with each other and claimed the feud was mainly down to their fan bases' loyal nature. In 2010 when Paul Gray of Slipknot died Mushroomhead responded with a post on their Myspace page reading: "R.I.P. Paul Gray, This feud needs to end. Much Love and Respect to the guys in Slipknot".
I’ve been to many metal shows, and listen to a lot of music in the genre, but Crowbar are the only sludge metal band I follow, and I know that some people are put off the slow pace of some of the tracks, but the way that the band intertwine their sound with the fast paced hardcore punk sections keeps it fresh and exciting. When I saw Crowbar perform most recently, it was just after the addition of Jeff Golden on bass, and he totally rocked it, and the entire band looked like they’d been playing together since their beginnings in the early 90s.
One of the tings that stands out for me every time I see them perform live, is the way that they command the stage. Although they’re often facing away from the audience to play their music to each other, the way that they jump and throw themselves around the stage is electric and massively contagious, and had everyone dancing from start to finish.
They opened their set with Self-Inflicted, which had everyone singing along right away, and getting really into the music. They played a great combination of their old and newer material, catering for all the fans there. The show was nearly 2 hours long, and I don’t think the band stopped for a breather once, switching between epic solos and playing awesome tight sets together, but their energy didn’t drop once. For their finale, they played a mash up of some of their hits, and it was mind blowing. They were shouting out to us in the audience, and it was great to be so involved with the end of the show.
yazhow
US alt-metal band Mushroomhead’s long career has been rather unfairly overshadowed by their reported feud with Slipknot, which mainly stemmed from their joint penchants for theatrical costumes (rumour has it that Slipknot stole their look from Mushroomhead, who were then forced to change up their trademark appearance). Although both bands play a form of demented heavy metal, in truth they occupied different space; there is and has always been room for both bands.
Formed in 1993, Mushroomhead – who have always had a rotating lineup and can feature up to nine members at one time – were initially lumped in the nu-metal pile, but they really make a more interesting fusion of industrial metal and Faith No More-esque experimental metal. I have only seen them live once: at Ozzfest, Donnington Park, in 2002. The masked metal mob were touring their major label debut, XX, and delivered a riotous set (literally – the venue had reached capacity and the attendees stuck outside broke down the barriers and flooded in). Fronted by two charismatic singers, Jeffrey Nothing (clean Mike Patton-esque vocals) and J Mann (hard shouting vocals), who recently rejoined the band after nearly a decade in the wilderness, Mushroomhead smashed through tracks like ‘Before I Die’ and synth-laden hit ‘Solitaire/Unravelling’ with demonic passion. Now the feud is well and truly over, there is talk of a Slipknot-Mushroomhead tour. That would be a spectacle worth seeing…
cliverozario
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