Crowbar, Winiary Bookings, and Mushroomhead

Prior to forming Crowbar, guitarist and vocalist Kirk Windstein joined the band Shell Shock alongside drummer Jimmy Bower. When the band’s guitarist Mike Hatch committed suicide, Windstein and Bower carried the band on as Aftershock and experimented with a more doom metal sound. After a series of name and personnel changes, by mid 1991 the band was renamed Crowbar with a line-up consisting of Windstein, bassist Todd Strange, drummer Craig Nunenmacher, and lead guitarist Kevin Noonan.

Crowbar’s debut came in 1992 with the album “Obedience Through Suffering” and signed with Pavement Music. Crowbar’s subsequent self-titled album in 1993 and “Time Heals Nothing” in 1995, were issued by the new label, the former of which earned national promotion on MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball. After the release of “Time Heals Nothing” Nunenmacher left the group, and was replaced by Jimmy Bower for the albums “Broken Glass” in 1996 and “Odd Fellows Rest” in 1998. Choosing to focus on his other project Eyehategod, Bower left shortly after and was replaced by Sid Montz who recorded drums on 2000’s “Equilibrium”.

In 2001 with a line-up consisting of Windstein, Sammy Duet on lead guitar, Jeff Okoneski on bass, and Tony Constanza on drums, Crowbar released their seventh studio album “Sonic Excess in its Purest Form” on Spitfire Records. The band supported the album with an extensive touring schedule, and with Crowbar plagued with tumultuous line-up changes, often members of other bands needed to fill in. The band has subsequently released the albums “Lifesblood for the Downtrodden” in 2005, “Sever the Wicked Hand” in 2011, and “Symmetry in Black” in 2014.

Lead singer Jeffrey Nothing, drummer Skinny and keyboardist Shmotz are the only consistent members of Mushroomhead since its formation in 1993, they have seen various line up changes over the years yet their alternative metal sound has not varied greatly. Their music has a traditional heavy metal sound merged with influences of experimental genres such as techno, new age and even hip hop at times. They have named Pink Floyd, Pantera, Nine Inch Nails and Rammstein as major influences on their music and style.

The band has released all seven of their major albums on the Dirty Hands label, their first appearance on the US album charts came in 2003 with 'XIII' which peaked at #40. Their highest charting position to date is the 2014 album 'The Righteous & The Butterfly' which debuted at #20 and also topped the US Indie and Hard Rock charts.

The band is known for having an ongoing feud with Ohio metal band Slipknot mainly induced by their fan bases. There are similarities with the two bands stage personas including the use of masks and costumes. It seemed to conclude in 2009 after both sides stated in interviews they had no problem with each other and claimed the feud was mainly down to their fan bases' loyal nature. In 2010 when Paul Gray of Slipknot died Mushroomhead responded with a post on their Myspace page reading: "R.I.P. Paul Gray, This feud needs to end. Much Love and Respect to the guys in Slipknot".