i am not familiar with crowbar. i only know kirk windstein's side project kingdom of sorrow together with jamey jasta of hatebreed fame. in hindsight this band already gave me a fair idea of what crowbar might sound like. anyway, i listened to 'lifesblood for the downtrodden' at burnout record store when it was re-pressed by back on black records two years back but it wasn't the right time for me and crowbar.
lately i was visiting blitz record store in kiel quite regularly. mostly not because my girl and i were record shopping but as a welcomed side-effect. blitz records had the latest crowbar re-pressings by back on black in stock. i found the 'odd fellows rest' cover art of the 1998 album cool in a way and so listened to it. now i finally understood the band and thought man, that shit is good. i bought the sealed record and went home happily.
back home i wanted to throw the platter on my turntable, removed the seal and was shattered. record one had some processing error. a fingernail wide spot of the surface was damaged or not sealed properly, it couldn't be played. ah fuck, kiel isn't quite around the corner. it's still a fifty minutes drive, nothing i'd do just to return a damaged record.
fortunately i had to get back to town three weeks after that purchase. so last weekend i returned the damaged one and got a working replacement instead. finally i can drop the needle on it and it's a damn strong record. crowbar's bluesy sludge/doom hardcore really hits the nail on the head. it's the right mix of melancholy and steamrolling heaviness. check my favourite song of the album 'december's spawn'. love the whole layout, artwork, vinyl colour - all crisp and clean. more of it! 500 copies made. back on black. 2015.
