Sever the Wicked Hand
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Sever the Wicked Hand
| type = Album
| artist = Crowbar
| cover = Severthewickedhand.jpg
| border = yes
| alt =
| released = February 8, 2011
| recorded = 2010
| venue =
| studio = OCD Recording and Production (Metairie, Louisiana)
| genre = Sludge metal
| length = 52:12
| label = E1/Housecore/Century Media
| producer = Kirk Windstein
| prev_title = Lifesblood for the Downtrodden
| prev_year = 2005
| next_title = Symmetry in Black
| next_year = 2014
}}
Sever the Wicked Hand is the ninth studio album by American sludge metal band Crowbar. It was released on February 8, 2011 through E1 Music, on February 14, 2011 through Century Media in the UK, and a day later for the rest of Europe.[http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=149854 Crowbar: New Album Track Listing, Audio Samples Available] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127150433/http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=149854 |date=November 27, 2010 }} blabbermouth.net. November 23, 2010. Retrieved on April 18, 2011. It was the band's first studio album after Lifesblood for the Downtrodden, released exactly six years before in 2005.
Background
Sever the Wicked Hand was the first album that frontman Kirk Windstein recorded sober.{{cite web|last=Marshall|first=Brandon|title=Kirk Windstein Is Severing The Wicked Demons|url=http://www.sonicexcess.com/crowbar_interview_2011.html|work=Sonic Excess|accessdate=November 23, 2013}}
Critical reception
{{Album ratings
| MC = 79/100{{cite web|title=Sever the Wicked Hand - Crowbar|url=http://www.metacritic.com/music/sever-the-wicked-hand/crowbar|work=Metacritic|accessdate=November 23, 2013}}
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{cite web|last=Rivadavia|first=Eduardo|title=Crowbar Sever the Wicked Hand|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/sever-the-wicked-hand-mw0002100052|work=Allmusic|accessdate=November 23, 2013}}
| rev2 = Popmatters
| rev2score = 7/10{{cite web|last=Begrand|first=Adrien|title=Crowbar: Sever the Wicked Hand|url=http://www.popmatters.com/review/137123-crowbar-sever-the-wicked-hand/|work=Popmatters|accessdate=November 23, 2013|date=February 23, 2011}}
| rev3 = Rocksound
| rev3score = 8/10{{cite web|last=Horsley|first=Jonathan|title=Crowbar - Sever the Wicked Hand|url=http://www.rocksound.tv/reviews/article/crowbar-sever-the-wicked-hand|work=Rocksound|accessdate=November 23, 2013|date=February 18, 2011}}
}}
According to Metacritic, the album received "generally favorable" reviews and a score of 79. Writing for Popmatters, Adrien Begrand praised Crowbar for ensuring that its ninth album "sound so fresh while sounding so comfortably familiar at the same time", and gave particular accolades to Kirk Windstein's vocals on "Let Me Mourn", the emotional intensity of "Echo an Eternity", and the soulful closing track, "Symbiosis". Situating the album in the context of Windstein's recent recovery from alcoholism, Eduardo Rivadavia wrote for AllMusic that, while there are "no great revelations or revolutions" on Sever the Wicked Hand, Windstein's "spirit and inspiration have clearly been revitalized, and the end results amount to a quintessential Crowbar album" among the strongest of the band's career.
Track listing
{{track listing
| total_length = 52:12
| title1 = Isolation (Desperation)
| writer1 = Kirk Windstein
| length1 = 4:15
| title2 = Sever the Wicked Hand
| writer2 = Windstein
| length2 = 3:16
| title3 = Liquid Sky and Cold Black Earth
| writer3 = Windstein
| length3 = 6:24
| title4 = Let Me Mourn
| writer4 = Crowbar
| length4 = 4:51
| title5 = The Cemetery Angels
| writer5 = Crowbar
| length5 = 4:02
| title6 = As I Become One
| writer6 = Crowbar
| length6 = 4:56
| title7 = A Farewell to Misery
| writer7 = Crowbar
| length7 = 3:44
| title8 = Protectors of the Shrine
| writer8 = Crowbar
| length8 = 3:29
| title9 = I Only Deal in Truth
| writer9 = Crowbar
| length9 = 3:20
| title10 = Echo an Eternity
| writer10 = Crowbar
| length10 = 5:03
| title11 = Cleanse Me, Heal Me
| writer11 = Crowbar
| length11 = 3:42
| title12 = Symbiosis
| writer12 = Crowbar
| length12 = 5:05
}}
Personnel
- Kirk Windstein – vocals, guitar
- Matt Brunson – guitar
- Pat Bruders – bass
- Tommy Buckley – drums
=Guest musicians=
- Patrick Plata – vocals on "A Farewell to Misery"
- Duane Simoneaux – piano on "A Farewell to Misery"
=Production=
- Kirk Windstein – production
- Zeuss – mixing and mastering
- Duane Simoneaux – engineering
- Thomas De Ville – engineering
- Mike D'Antonio – art
References
{{reflist}}
{{Crowbar (American band)}}
{{Authority control}}