Kirk Windstein

Kirk Windstein
Background information
Born	14 April 1965 (1965-04-14) Middlesex, England
Origin	New Orleans, Louisiana
Genres	Heavy metal, sludge metal, hardcore punk, metalcore
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, bass
Years active	1987–present
Labels	Relapse
Associated acts	Down, Crowbar, Valume Nob, Kingdom of Sorrow

Kirk Windstein (born 14 April 1965, Middlesex, England) is an English-American sludge metal singer and guitarist for the New Orleans bands Crowbar, Down, and Kingdom of Sorrow.

He currently plays guitar for both Crowbar and Down. He also played bass for Valume Nob, but resigned in 2006, citing he was unable to commit the time needed to give it full justice^{[citation needed]}. In February 2005, Windstein formed Kingdom of Sorrow with Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed. Their debut album, including guest artists, was released on February 19, 2008. Windstein began his musical career in 1987 as a guitarist for a Judas Priest and Iron Maiden cover band called Victorian Blitz, and in 1988 joined a hardcore punk band called Shell Shock as a vocalist and guitarist.

Life and career

Victorian Blitz

Windstein played guitar for the Judas Priest and Iron Maiden cover band Victorian Blitz in 1987. Other members included Sid Montz, with whom Windstein would play again in Crowbar and Valume Nob; Kevin Noonan, guitarist from 1989 to 1993; and bassist Danny Theriot of Metairie, Louisiana.

Shell Shock

Having left Victorian Blitz, Windstein joined the New Orleans' premiere hardcore punk band Shell Shock as their guitarist and vocalist. With Windstein in the band they began to play more of a crossover thrash style rather than straightforward hardcore punk, as it better suited Windstein's vocal style and a two-guitarists lineup. When the band was recording a new album called "No Tomorrow", their guitarist Mike Hatch committed suicide. Kevin Noonan replaced Hatch for the final Shell Shock show in 1988, and the band became what now is Crowbar.

Crowbar

After the collapse of Shell Shock in 1988 due to the suicide of guitarist Mike Hatch, the band enlisted Kevin Noonan and carried on as Aftershock, which played a mixture of hardcore punk and doom metal. Under that name they released a demo in mid-1989, but then renamed themselves WREQIUEM when bassist Mike Savoie (who would later direct music videos for Crowbar, Down, and Pantera) left the band and was replaced by Todd Strange. In 1990 they renamed themselves to The Slugs, and after a demo in mid-1990, the band collapsed. Windstein considered becoming the guitarist for Exhorder. But Windstein and Strange reformed the band, with Craig Nunenmacher as the drummer, and Kevin Noonan on guitar. The band renamed themselves Crowbar in mid-1991.

Crowbar was originally signed to Pavement Music and released "Obedience Through Suffering" in 1991. Windstein's childhood friend Phil Anselmo (who at the time was in Pantera) produced their next effort, a self-titled album released in 1993. The album went on to achieve international success with songs such as "All I Had (I Gave)", "Existence is Punishment", and a cover of Led Zeppelin's "No Quarter". MTV's Headbangers Ball began to play the music video for "Existence Is Punishment", which was also featured on Beavis and Butt-head. Following that success, the band toured with Pantera. Together, the bands partied heavily, and footage of these events appears on Pantera's "Home Video 3" and Crowbar's "Like Broken" video, in which Windstein dressed up as the Hulk. In 2001, Crowbar went on hiatus, because Windstein concentrated on other bands. With Windstein's returned, Crowbar released Lifesblood for the Downtrodden in 2005, and two years later released a live DVD called "Live:With Full Force". Their latest album, entitled Sever the Wicked Hand, was released on February 8, 2011.

Down

Down released their debut album "NOLA" on Elektra Records in 1995 with Windstein on guitar and bass, Anselmo on vocals, Pepper Keenan on guitar, and Jimmy Bower (Crowbar, Superjoint Ritual, and Eyehategod) on drums. The band played a 13-show tour with Todd Strange on bass, and the album was certified gold by the RIAA. Following the tour, each member returned to their respective bands. Crowbar recorded three albums before Down reunited to release "Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow" in 2002. Following the release, Down toured on the second stage at Ozzfest, and then continued to tour on the "An Evening With... Down" tour. Afterward, both Windstein and Keenan returned to their main bands, thereby allowing Kirk to record Crowbar's "Life's Blood for the Downtrodden" with Rex Brown on bass, Craig Nunenmacher (Black Label Society and original Crowbar member) on drums and Down producer Warren Riker in spring 2005. In 2007 Down released the album Down III: Over the Under. They now have a fourth album in the works.

Kingdom of Sorrow

In 2005 Kirk teamed up with Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed to form a new side venture called Kingdom of Sorrow. The band's self-titled debut album was released on February 19, 2008 by Relapse Records. It debuted at #131 on the U.S. Billboard charts and sold 6,000 records in its first week of release. The album was recorded at Planet Z studios with producer Zeuss B. Held, known for his work with Shadows Fall.

Equipment

Guitar

• ESP Viper (Black)
• ESP Viper Baritone
• ESP Viper Custom (Red)
• ESP Eclipse Ambery Cherry Sunburst (Down 2009-2011)
• Gibson SG VooDoo (2005 With Crowbar)
• Gibson SG Custom Black (2005 With Crowbar)
• Gibson SG Gothic (Down 2002, Crowbar 2005, Kingdom of Sorrow 2008)
• Fender Stratocaster White (2009 Tour With Down)
• ESP Viper Custom Purple Le Fleur-de-lis (2010 crowbar)
• Maxon Effects Pedals

Amplification

• Orange Tunderverb 50 (he and Pepper Keenan are both endorsers since 2010)
• Marshall Amplification
• Marshall JCM800 2203X 100W Head (Down)
• Marshall 1960B straight front 300W 4x12 cabinets that use 75W Celestion speakers.
• Orange Rockerverb 100 (Down 2009-2010)
• Randall RG100ES (Crowbar)

Discography

Crowbar

Date of Release	Title	Label	US sales
26 September 1991	Obedience Thru Suffering	Pavement Music
12 October 1993	Crowbar (Produced by Phil Anselmo)		100,000
29 March 1994	Live +1 (EP)
23 May 1995	Time Heals Nothing
29 October 1996	Broken Glass
7 July 1998	Odd Fellows Rest
7 March 2000	Equilibrium	Spitfire Records
8 August 2001	Sonic Excess in its Purest Form
9 February 2005	Lifesblood for the Downtrodden (Produced by Warren Riker)	Candlelight Records
February 2011	Sever the Wicked Hand	Housecore Records

Down

Date of US Release	Title	Label	US Billboard Peak
19 September 1995	NOLA	Elektra	57
26 March 2002	Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow		44
25 September 2007	Down III: Over the Under	Roadrunner Records (Europe)	26
TBA	Down IV

Kingdom of Sorrow

Date of US Release	Title	Label	US Billboard Peak
19 February 2008	Kingdom of Sorrow	Relapse Records	131
8 June 2010	Behind the Blackest Tears	Relapse Records	N/A

Music videos

• 1991 Crowbar - "Subversion"
• 1993 Crowbar - "All I Had (I Gave)"
• 1993 Crowbar - "Existence Is Punishment"
• 1994 Down - "Stone the Crow"
• 1995 Crowbar - "The Only Factor
• 1996 Crowbar - "Broken Glass"
• 1997 Crowbar - "Like Broken" (Full Length Home Video)
• 1997 Pantera - "Home Video 3" (Full Length Home Video) (Kirk as The Incredible Hulk)
• 2000 Crowbar - "I Feel the Burning Sun"
• 2002 Down - "Ghosts along the Mississippi"
• 2005 Crowbar - "Dead Sun" (Filmed in Miami, Florida around August 2004 and directed by John-Martin Vogel and Robert Lisman)
• 2005 Crowbar - "Lasting Dose"
• 2005 Crowbar - "Slave No More" (Filmed in Miami, Florida on June 21, 2005 and directed by John-Martin Vogel)
• 2007 Crowbar - "Live: With Full Force" (Full Length DVD)
• 2007 Down - "On March the Saints"
• 2008 Kingdom of Sorrow - "Lead into Demise"
• 2008 Kingdom of Sorrow - "Lead the Ghosts Astray"
• 2011 Crowbar - "Cemetery Angels"

External links

• Crowbar official webpage
• Down official webpage
• Valume Nob official webpage
• Kirk Windstein interview (Nov. 2007)