UMUR "Broken Glass" is the 4th full-length studio album by US, New Orleans based sludge metal act Crowbar. The album was released through Pavement Music in September 1996. It´s the successor to "Time Heals Nothing" from 1995 and features one lineup change since the predecessor as drummer Craig Nunenmacher has been replaced by Jimmy Bower (Eyehategod, Down).

Stylistically this is Crowbar as we know and love them. Groove laden and ultra heavy sludge with lead vocalist/guitarist Kirk Windstein´s raw hardcore type shouting in front. It´s angry, it´s filled with despair, and it´s bleak, bleak, bleak.

"Broken Glass" opens with "Conquering" which is a relatively uptempo track, and it´s just not where Crowbar shines. "Like Broken Glass" works much better with its heavy grooves and riffs, "(Can't) Turn Away From Dying" adds some atmosphere to the band´s sound, and "Nothing" features sligthly more melodic singing (but that´s more or less the extent of variation). The remaining tracks on the album pretty much follow similar formulas (and simple vers/chorus structures), and while there are several killer riffs and heavy rhythms on the album, the tracks often end up sounding a bit too much the same. It´s nothing new in the world of Crowbar though and it is a minor issue, that the songwriting is not a little more creative and varied.

"Broken Glass" features a heavy, raw, and dark sound production, which suits the equally dark and heavy material well. It´s not an album where Crowbar have developed their sound or moved forward much since "Time Heals Nothing (1995)", but fans of the band won´t be disappointed and "Broken Glass" is overall a good quality release. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

aglasshouse Sludge metal has had it's roots particularly deep ever since the mid-late 80's. Bands formed in '88 - '91 began releasing albums throughout the 90s, inspired by the sound of Washington-based sludge predecessors The Melvins and particularly the albums Gluey Porch Treatments and Ozma. Being an almost solely American scene in it's early stages, sludge metal began springing up mainly in Louisiana, specifically the New Orleans area with it's bustling and diverse music scene. One of the more prominent bands of this area are Crowbar, who themselves released their debut Obedience Thru Suffering in 1991, preceded only shortly by New Orleans peers Eyehategod by about a year.

It took Crowbar a few albums to get going, though it's contested as to which album it was where the band had made their mark. Obedience Thru Suffering, although highly acclaimed and extremely good, was more or less a tribute to the Melvins. I hasten to say the band's self-titled was where the band just kept getting better and better (sans Time Heals Nothing, not a fan). The bands zenith is arguable yes, but I'd like to think it's 1996's Broken Glass.

Broken Glass is quite the experience. Packed with raw emotion and power, this is album is both a return to basics and inversely and improvement. The album sort of incorporates doom elements on some of the slower tracks, as well as featuring more tuned-down instruments than those on prior albums. It's honestly a unique experience listening to the cohesion of the instruments, even though they each have their own unique recording style. The drums don't sound booming, on the contrary their more akin to a garage-rock style. This is almost amusing (though not mock-worthy) to a certain degree, as the guitars are loud and booming, and the bass is one of the most audible instruments on the album as they both crunch out some of the most cantankerously unyielding riffs that grab you by the balls in the most wonderfully violent way. It's so strange because the album puts you in the sort of stranglehold where you can't just stop listening, but it's consensual on both sides. A strange fact it may be, but a fact it is.

If you are a fan of sludge or really hardcore material in general, I'd say this is the cream-of-the-crop when it comes to Crowbar. Go wild!