Odd Fellows Rest Review

Band	Crowbar
Album	Odd Fellows Rest
Type	Album (Studio full-length)
Released	1998
Genres	Sludge Metal
Labels	Mayhem
Length	54:05
Ranked	#123 for 1998 , #5,417 all-time

Reviewer :  SilentScream213         Rating :  75 / 100

An unfortunate example of an album where the first (actual) track is far and away the best song on the album, and a bit misleading. After a moody intro, Crowbar open up Odd Fellows Rest with “Planets Collide,” their Doomiest song yet, with plodding atmosphere and emotional guitar leads paving the way for the destructive, pained vocals and lyrics. It’s a great song in evoking the pessimistic suffering when Sludge and Doom are mixed so well.

And then, almost all of the following songs trade this sort of atmosphere for a more Groove-oriented rhythmic chugging. Guitar leads are basically absent. Riffs are sometimes monolithic, but lack emotion. Rhythm section is more boring. The songs are still good, but pale in comparison to the opener and much of the band’s previous material. It does sound very 90’s and it’s got that stereotypical “we don’t need to write riffs if we chug” play style. Unfortunately this one was a big disappointment for me, especially after that first track.