Live Review: Crowbar - The Asylum, Birmingham
2nd April 2023
Support: Voidlurker, Tumanduumband
Words: Cat Finch
Photos: Tim Finch
It’s safe to say that tonight is going to get heavy… very heavy! We’ve headed to The Asylum in Birmingham’s Jewelry Quarter, just outside the city centre for some very weighty music. Crowbar headline this intimate venue and along for the ride are two of the cities finest in Voidlurker and Tumanduumband.
The two support bands tonight are the previous two winners of Metal 2 The Masses in Birningham and thus both have graced the stage at Bloodstock festival. Tumanduumband the current holders of the title take to the stage first.
Two rotting corpses hang from either side as the duo take to the stage, draped in a dark green light, the pairing shrouded in cloaks obscuring their faces from view. They let their music do the talking, and despite only being a bassist and a drummer, it’s surprising what they can produce.
For thirty minutes their weighty drones spew forth, the heavy bass slowly bettering the crowd, punch after punch of powerful pummelling us as we watch on. For an idea of the sound think Conan, just heavier! A cracking way to start the night.
Next up are Voidlurker who’ve had a few years to establish themselves now, a Bloodstock appearance and the release of EP ‘Industrial Nightmare’ via the legends at APF Records have allowed they to get a foothold in the UK’s heavy market.
They don’t quite pack the punch that Tumanduumband do in terms of musical weight, no one else can achieve those levels of heaviness. But the band are a well rounded beast, their sludgy undertones received well by Crowbar’s faithful fans. It’s half an hour to sell themselves to a new audience and they do it exquisitely. A wider range of sounds than the previous act allows them to explore paths untrodden and really whip then fans up ready for what will shortly come!
The anticipation in the building rises as we prepare for Crowbar to enter the dimly lit stage. There is no razzmatazz or over the top showmanship, Crowbar are four guys playing heavy as hell music and that’s why we love them. With no roadcrew to sound check the four members prep the stage and check their kit themselves, and with no introduction go straight from the check into opening track ‘Self Inflicted’ .
This is music low and heavy, bass tones that vibrate your very soul as Kirks gruff vocal style commands attention. Horns raised, heads bang and a small pit forms in the now packed house as the band canter through ‘I Feel The Burning Sun’, 'Chemical Godz’ and ‘Fixation’.
Without the trappings and frills of a band seeking adulation, they storm through their set in what seems like minutes but is well over an hour. Planets Collide a firm favourite with the sweaty heaving masses before the finish of ‘Broken Glass’ and a cover of Led Zeppelin’s ‘No Quarter’
If you like your music powerful, sludge infested, to the point, and an out and out heavy metal show, then tonight Kirk and his team delivered a masterpiece. As the fans drink with the band on into the night, music ringing in our ears, we can sleep happy in the knowledge Crowbar haven’t and will never, let us down.
All photo credits: Tim Finch Photography
