Track Listing
1. The lasting dose 2. To build a mountain 3. Through the ashes (I've watched you burn) 4. Awakening 5. Repulsive in its splendid beauty 6. Counting daze 7. In times of sorrow 8. It pours from me 9. Suffering brings wisdom 10. Failure to delay gratification 11. Empty room Year: 2001 Label: Spitfire |
Crowbar - 'Sonic excess in its purest form' - By S. Burrell
Before you listen to this CD, open up the jewel case and have a peek at the inlay picture. That's the kind of artists your dealing with here, and never has a bands appearance been so descriptive of their music. That may prepare you a little for the forty-five minutes of balls-out bludgeoning that lies ahead� However, amazingly, not every song on this album provides music that you want to stomp on something, or, even better, someone, to. The opening and closing tracks are both emotional little numbers, which display the vocal talent and variety of Kirk, who also does a storming (literally) job on guitar. The disc also includes a nice little interlude half way through with 'In times of sorrow', a completely instrumental, calm song which is excellently located, giving you a chance to gasp for breath and regain a little composure before launching into the nearest object again as the album continues. The rest of the album however is pure battery, which maintains it's sludgy, slow performance throughout. There are the occasional speedy moments, such as track 10, 'Failure to delay gratification', which sounds worryingly punky at first, however, reassuringly within moments Kirk lunges into to his tremendous vocal pounding again. And so it is with the rest of the CD. Songs like 'Through the ashes' and 'Repulsive in its splendid beauty' are less brutal, Kirk's voice being the main focus, and then there are tracks such as 'To build a mountain', which shred your ear drums to pieces as if someone was putting a pneumatic drill to your head. The entire album is pretty impressive - I cannot find a single song I dislike on the entire CD. Now I just cannot wait to delve deeper into the Crowbar catalogue, this album isn't even supposed to be their all round best. However, it's definitely one of the best of my CD collection. I have always believed the mood you are in greatly determines how much you like a certain type of music. This is very true with 'Sonic�', you do need to be in the mood for Crowbar to really get the best out of this CD, lyrics such as 'Frozen in time my body aches with all I do, Fracturing bones, lashing at skin until I am through' illustrate this. However, I still find this CD immensely good even if I'm horny (Which I would never be, of course :D) and considering how skull-crunchingly heavy it is, I think that's a pretty impressive feat. Metal Obsessive Grade: 91% |
