Crowbar is an American sludge metal band formed in New Orleans in 1989 around constant member Kirk Windstein. The 1993 self-titled album and Sonic Excess in Its Purest Form (2001) are the entry points into one of the foundational New Orleans sludge catalogs — slow, downtuned, and crushing. Dig into Crowbar vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Crowbar formed in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1989 (originally as the Slugs, becoming Crowbar in 1991). The band's central figure is founder Kirk Windstein, who has remained the only consistent member across multiple lineup changes. Crowbar is widely regarded as one of the foundational acts in New Orleans sludge metal alongside Eyehategod, Down (which Windstein co-founded), Acid Bath, and Soilent Green. Their early catalog on Pavement Records and subsequent releases on Spitfire, Candlelight, and eOne established their template for the genre.
Crowbar's sound combines sludge metal, doom metal, hardcore punk, and Southern groove metal with extremely slow tempos, downtuned riffing, and Windstein's distinctive growled vocals. Their work alongside Eyehategod and other New Orleans bands established sludge metal as a recognized genre in the early 1990s.
Pavement pressings of the early Crowbar catalog and subsequent label pressings are widely collected in the sludge metal community.
Listeners new to Crowbar typically start with Crowbar (1993) or Sonic Excess in Its Purest Form (2001).
