Label - Mayhem

Year Of Release - 1998
1. Intro
2. Planets Collide
3. ...And Suffer As One
4. 1,000 Years Internal War
5. To Carry The Load
6. December's Spawn
7. It's All In The Gravity
8. Behind The Black Horizon
9. New Man Born
10. Scattered Pieces Lay
11. Odd Fellows Rest
12. On Frozen Ground
 
When a band names their album after a cemetery in their town, you know that they are not going to sing about happy people and happy lives. No, Crowbar are America's finest pursuers of whiskey soaked sludge/doom metal that takes all its inspiration from Black Sabbath with maybe a tiny bit of inspiration from American hardcore acts. The songs are slow and heavy enough to squash you like a bug.
 
This album opens with the immense "Planets Collide" and it is immediately apparent that the band have drifted into slightly more melodic territory. "Planets Collide" is an excellent album opener that sets the tone for the rest of the album. At times reminding me of old Paradise Lost for some reason, this song is a fine little sing along doom metal number. "And Suffer As One" starts off with a pummeling thrashy rhythm guitar intro and Kirk Windstein's tortured vocals make this song a disturbing listen. "Behind The Black Horizon" is another strong song off this album with Windstein's displaying some cleanish vocals that are still distorted. The slow dirge like guitars manage to create an oppressive feel to this song and Windstein's sometimes clean sometimes distorted vocal approach helps in making this song a truly painful listening experience but in a good way. : The highlight of this album for me though is the title song. Mournful yet strangely beautiful in its simplicity "Odd Fellows Rest" (the song) breaks new ground for the band. Be it Windstein's wonderful clean vocal performance or the sitar like effect of the guitars, this is one hell of a song. When Windstein sings "Its such a long way home" on the title song it hits me with an immense feeling of melancholy that many bands strive for but few achieve.
 
"Odd Fellows Rest" is yet another great album from this New Orleans quartet. Not for everybody but definitely worth experiencing at least once.