Kirk Windstein Explains the Influence of Black Sabbath, Melvins, Carnivore and More

One cannot fathom what heavy music would look like today without genre inventors Black Sabbath or grunge-sludge icons Melvins, both of whom were pioneers in their own right. In this week’s episode of The Metal Sucks Podcast, we sat down with Kirk Windstein of Crowbar to discuss his new solo album, and he told us about the effect that Black Sabbath, Melvins, Carnivore and a number of other bands had on his early life, paving the way for Crowbar’s fusion of hardcore and metal.

Being from New Orleans we always like to talk to you guys about the sound, especially the heavy music. But who do you think was the most influential band to you during that era of heavy metal, is it going to be Black Sabbath or The Melvins?

“Honestly the big three for me were, well, Sabbath of course, but then I go into Melvins and Carnivore. Carnivore got me into the hardcore scene. Sabbath of course but I was also heavily influenced by. Trouble, Saint Vitus, Witchfinder General. You know, stuff that was kind of Sabbath-y, doomy, but of course the original Sabbath as well.

“And I remember there was a time around the beginning of what would end up being Crowbar where Jimmy Bower would pick me up for band rehearsal and the only cassette he had in his car, it had the first two Melvins albums on it. Ozma and Gluey Porch Treatments, not sure which one came first, both albums he recorded on one cassette and we listened to that to and from rehearsal every night. And when I got home I would listen to a lot of Carnivore, so those three bands were extremely important.”

Kirk’s first-ever solo record, Dream in Motion, is available now.

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