Career
Strange formed Crowbar with Kirk Windstein (Down), Matt Thomas, and Craig Nunenmacher (Black Label Society). They released the best-selling albums of the band's discography, including the self-titled LP with the songs "All I Had (I Gave)", "Existence is Punishment", "No Quarter" (by Led Zeppelin), and "I Have Failed", produced by Phil Anselmo. By 1994, Anselmo put his band Pantera to the side and resurrected Down which was sidelined for Pantera in the late 1990s. The band released NOLA in reference to the band's hometown, New Orleans, Louisiana, and played 13 shows. Eventually, the album sold 500,000 copies and was certified Gold by the RIAA. Soon after, Anselmo returned to Pantera while Crowbar continued, and the two bands partnered up for tours in 1996. As a result, Strange, Windstein, and the rest of Crowbar appear in Pantera's "Home Videos 3" in the credits, and Windstein and the band are seen in scenes including the clip of Windstein dressed up as the Hulk. This event is also included in Crowbar's 1996 home video "Like Broken", but contains slightly different footage.
By the time Down reformed and Crowbar recorded "Sonic Excess in its Purest Form", Strange dropped completely out of music. For several years afterwards, he worked as a machine repair tech in River Ridge, Louisiana.
In June 2016, after Crowbar's bassist Jeff Golden was fired from Crowbar, Windstein announced Strange's return to the band.
In 2018, Strange took a break from Crowbar to focus on spending more time with his family, though he is still a band member for Crowbar. Shane Wesley has filled in for Todd as a substitute bass player for the band.
Pantera was an American heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas, formed in 1981. The group's best-known lineup consisted of the Abbott brothers—drummer Vinnie Paul and guitarist Dimebag Darrell—along with vocalist Phil Anselmo and bassist Rex Brown. In addition to their development and popularization of the groove metal subgenre, Pantera is credited for being part of the second wave of thrash metal scene from the late 1980s to early-to-mid 1990s. Pantera is regarded as one of the most successful and influential bands in heavy metal history, having sold around 40 million records worldwide, and being nominated four times at the Grammys.
Down is an American heavy metal supergroup that formed in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1991. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist Phil Anselmo, guitarist Pepper Keenan, guitarist Kirk Windstein (Crowbar), bassist Pat Bruders (Goatwhore), and drummer Jimmy Bower.
Darrell Lance Abbott, best known by his stage name Dimebag Darrell, was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist of the heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan, both of which he co-founded alongside his brother Vinnie Paul.
Far Beyond Driven is the seventh studio album by American heavy metal band Pantera, released on March 22, 1994 by EastWest Records. Pantera's fastest-selling album, it peaked at number 1 on the Billboard 200 and was certified Platinum by the RIAA. The album was also certified Platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association. Far Beyond Driven is the first album by Pantera where the band's guitarist Darrell Abbott is credited as "Dimebag Darrell", having changed his nickname from "Diamond Darrell" soon after Vulgar Display of Power was released. The Japanese and the Driven Downunder Tour '94 Souvenir Collection editions contain a bonus thirteenth track, "The Badge", a Poison Idea cover. This cover was also featured on The Crow soundtrack.
Philip Hansen Anselmo is an American heavy metal musician best known as the vocalist for Pantera, Down, and Superjoint Ritual, amongst other musical projects. He is the owner of Housecore Records.
Superjoint, formerly known as Superjoint Ritual, was an American heavy metal band formed by Phil Anselmo, Joe Fazzio, and Jimmy Bower in the early 1990s, later to be joined by Hank Williams III, and Kevin Bond. They were founded by Anselmo parallel to his membership in Pantera, but became a full-time endeavor a few years later after Pantera's dissolution.
Crowbar is an American sludge metal band formed in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1990. Through infusing a slow, low-keyed, brooding doom metal sound with the aggression of hardcore punk, they pioneered a style known as sludge metal – albeit frontman Kirk Windstein admitted a mild dislike to the term – alongside other bands of the New Orleans heavy metal scene such as Eyehategod, Soilent Green, Acid Bath, and Down.
Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow is the second studio album by American band Down, released on March 26, 2002. The subtitle "A Bustle in Your Hedgerow" is borrowed from the lyrics of "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin.
Rex Robert Brown is an American musician and songwriter, best known as the longtime bassist for heavy metal band Pantera (1982–2003). He is a former member of Down (2001–2011) and the former bassist for the band Kill Devil Hill. He released his debut solo album Smoke on This… in 2017. For the first time in Brown's career, the work features him not only as a bassist but also as lead vocalist and guitarist.
Eyehategod is an American sludge metal band from New Orleans, Louisiana who formed in 1988. They have become one of the better known bands to emerge from the NOLA metal scene. Throughout the years, their core lineup has remained, with the exceptions of the bassist, a slot in which several musicians have played, and the death of drummer Joey LaCaze in 2013. As of 2021, the band has released seven studio albums.
Pepper J. Keenan is an American guitarist and vocalist, best known for his work with heavy metal bands Corrosion of Conformity and Down. He joined Corrosion of Conformity in 1989, but did not become the lead singer until the recording of Deliverance in 1994. In 1991, Keenan formed Down with Phil Anselmo of Pantera, Jimmy Bower of Eyehategod, and Kirk Windstein and Todd Strange of Crowbar.
Kirk Windstein is an American guitarist and singer. He is a founding member of the sludge metal band Crowbar, and a founding member of the heavy metal supergroup Down, playing with them from 1991 to 2013 and later rejoining the band in 2020. In 2005, Windstein formed Kingdom of Sorrow with Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed. Their debut album was released in 2008. Windstein began his musical career in 1985 as a guitarist for a cover band called Victorian Blitz, and in 1988 joined a hardcore punk band called Shell Shock as a vocalist and guitarist.
Crowbar is the second studio album by American sludge metal band Crowbar, released on October 12, 1993. It sold 100,000 copies on the now defunct independent label Pavement Music. The singles "All I Had " and "Existence Is Punishment" were played on MTV and received international attention. Crowbar was recorded in New Orleans in 1992 and produced by Phil Anselmo, a childhood friend of Crowbar's founder Kirk Windstein and former singer of Pantera.
CraigNunenmacher is an American musician, best known as the former drummer for heavy metal bands Black Label Society and Crowbar. He joined BLS in July 2000 while playing for Crowbar, who were touring with BLS at the time. The original BLS drummer, Phil Ondich, left the band mid-tour and, to keep the tour on the road, Nunenmacher filled in for Ondich, playing for both Crowbar and BLS for the rest of the tour. A few weeks into the tour, he was asked to join the band permanently.
Broken Glass is the fourth album by American sludge metal band Crowbar, released on October 29, 1996.
Kingdom of Sorrow is an American heavy metal band that features Kirk Windstein of Crowbar and Down, along with Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed.
Equilibrium is the sixth studio album by American sludge metal band Crowbar, released in March 2000. It was original bassist Todd Strange's final album with the band.
3 Vulgar Videos from Hell is a DVD by American heavy metal band Pantera, released in 1999 and re-released in 2006. It combines all three of the band's previous home videos and features music videos, live performances, appearances, interviews, and footage of the band on tour and in the studio from mid-1989 to early 1997.
Phil Anselmo is an American vocalist and songwriter who is best known as the frontman of heavy metal bands Pantera, Down, and Superjoint.
Down IV – Part I is the first EP by American sludge metal band Down. It was released on September 18, 2012. It is the first album featuring bassist Pat Bruders due to the departure of former bassist Rex Brown in 2011, and the last to feature guitarist Kirk Windstein, who left in 2013.
