Listmania: 20 Years of “Equilibrium” by Crowbar!

A band of legend centered around the work of Kirk Windstein as the only member who has been in the revolving door of the band over the last 32 odd years, Crowbar are the undisputed Kings of Louisiana Sludge Metal that takes the slow, brooding style of Doom Metal and Injects it with a lethal cocktail of Hardcore Punk. As they are celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the brilliance that is “Equilibrium“, arguably their finest hour, here are our five favorite tracks from them…

We’re starting with our all time favorite from the NOLA Sludge Metal legends. 2001’s “Sonic Excess In Its Purest Form” starts with an absolute bone crusher of of a track in “The Lasting Dose” and the album is one that has a completely unique line up. It was the last album to feature guitarist Sammy Duet and the first and only album to feature bassist Jeff Okoneski and ex-Machine Head drummer Tony Costanza.

Rewinding the cassette on a pencil back to 1993 and “All I Had (I Gave)” from the bands self titled album produced by Pantera, Down, Scour, Superjoint Ritual to name but a few vocalist Philip H. Anselmo is an absolute must. Not only did it feature in the cult classic series that is Beavis and Butthead but it also inspired Jamey Jasta from Hatebreed. The pair would later form a solid friendship and record a couple of albums together as Kingdom of Sorrow.

Talking of tracks that inspired other bands, “Planets Collide” from 1998’s “Odd Fellows Rest” inspired Throwdown vocalist Dave Peters and the Orange Country Metallic Hardcore band covered it during their “Venom & Tears” album recording sessions. Arguably one of the bands best known works, the album is an absolute monster that provides the foundations that its follow up in “Equilibrium” was built upon.

Tours with Pantera were the life’s blood for Crowbar in the early 90’s and that blood ran thicker than water with Kirk Windstein playing in NOLA supergroup Down with Philip H. Anselmo. Following Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell’s tragic death, they dedicated 2004’s eighth studio album “Lifesblood for the Downtrodden” to his memory with former Pantera bassist Rex Brown spending a year in Crowbar, recording on the album and getting a production credit. Our cut of choice is “Slave No More” with Windstein supporting his friends in Hatebreed…

Last but not least, we’re going to go with “Like Broken Glass” from 1996’s “Broken Glass“, a record which saw Philip H. Anselmo once again involved, singing some of the backing vocals on various cuts. Original drummer Craig Nunenmacher left the band in 1995 (he returned for year long stints in 2000 and 2004) and was replaced by multi instrumentalist Jimmy Bower of Down and Eyehategod fame. The results are their for the listening to; it’s an album of raw emotion and sheer power, heavy enough to crush the World to dust.