Artist: Crowbar
Title: Sever The Wicked Hand
Genre: Sludge Metal
Release Date: 11th February 2011
Label: Century Media
Album Review
Is it a bird? No! Is it a PANTERA? No! It is CROWBAR, renowned sludge metal band from New Orleans that has been around for about 20 years and has changed more members than the number of their LP’s. If you’re not very familiar with the particular sludge idiom, the riffs are low and the vocals sound as if they are coming from a grave of a wronged ghost. Let’s call it the grave of existence. What is more interesting is that the band made its breakthrough with the help of Phil Anselmo (PANTERA, DOWN). DOWN is also a band that Kirk Windstein participates in.
The amazing thing is that the particular LP brings nothing new under the sun or more to the point of the fitting title, between the ‘Liquid Sky And Cold Black Earth’, the best moment of the album. ‘Sever The Wicked Hand’ just doesn’t sound different than what they did 20 years ago. Well, you may think that consistency is a good thing; bah, only in the case of MÖTORHEAD! If we forget that they’re not trying out anything new and only play on the strong points that made them one of the most influential bands of the given trend, a point of interest would be ‘As I Become One’ where the music steers more into the more traditional Heavy Metal territory.
‘A Farewell To Misery’ which is mostly orchestral with only some atmospheric, in this case melodic as well, singing as a background, both seem to be buffers between the harsher, sludge sound. The album seems to carry a message of shedding one’s negatives as Windstein, the singer and front man, has shed his substance dependencies and lyrics reflect it by their personal nature, if only he gave the music a feeling of a catharsis that felt more fresh and ground-shaking... A quiver of it was in ‘Echo An Eternity’ with its epic tinges, but this has not been sustained or built upon as much as it should have or as much as should have been expected from a band that’s been around so long, which is a shame, maybe next time eh?
Tracklist
01. Isolation (Desperation) 4:14
02. Sever The Wicked Hand 3:14
03. Liquid Sky And Cold Black Earth 6:22
04. Let Me Mourn 4:49
05. The Cemetery Angels 4:00
06. As I Become One 4:55
07. A Farewell To Misery 3:43
08. Protectors Of The Shrine 3:28
09. I Only Deal In Truth 3:18
10. Echo An Eternity 5:01
11. Cleanse Me, Heal Me 3:41
12. Symbiosis 5:05
Line-up
Kirk Windstein – vocals, guitar
Patrick Bruders – bass
Tommy Buckley – drums
Matthew Brunson – guitar
Websites
http://www.crowbarmusic.com/ / www.myspace.com/crowbar
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 6
Sound: 6
Total: 6 /10
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