Kirk Michael Windstein[2] (born April 14, 1965) is an American musician. He is the frontman, vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and sole constant member of the sludge metal band Crowbar. He is also a founding member of the heavy metal supergroup Down, playing guitar 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.
Windstein played guitar for the cover band Victorian Blitz in 1985.[3] Other members included Sid Montz (with whom Windstein would play again in Crowbar), Kevin Noonan, and Danny Theriot.
Having left Victorian Blitz, Windstein joined the New Orleans' hardcore punk band Shell Shock as their guitarist and vocalist.[3] 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-guitarist lineup. After finishing the recording of a new album called No Tomorrow, guitarist Mike Hatch committed suicide.[3][4] Kevin Noonan replaced him for the final Shell Shock show in 1988, and the band became what is now Crowbar.[5]
After the collapse of Shell Shock in 1988 due to the suicide of 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 Wrequiem 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 The Slugs, and after a demo in mid-1990, the band collapsed. Windstein considered becoming the guitarist for Exhorder but he and Strange reformed the band, with Craig Nunenmacher as the drummer and Kevin Noonan on guitar. The band renamed themselves to Crowbar in mid-1991.
Crowbar was originally signed by Mark Nawara to Pavement Music and released their debut album, Obedience thru Suffering, in 1991. Windstein's childhood friend Phil Anselmo (who at the time was with 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, they partied heavily, and footage of these events appears on Pantera's third home video and Crowbar's "Like Broken" video, in which Windstein dressed up as Hulk.
In 2001, Crowbar went on hiatus because Windstein concentrated on other bands. Upon Windstein's return, Crowbar released Lifesblood for the Downtrodden in 2005, and two years later released a live DVD called Live: With Full Force. The band went on to release Sever the Wicked Hand in 2011, Symmetry in Black in 2014, The Serpent Only Lies in 2016, and their latest, Zero and Below, in March 2022.
Down released their debut album NOLA via Elektra Records in 1995 with Windstein on guitar and bass, Anselmo on vocals, Pepper Keenan on guitar, and Jimmy Bower (Crowbar, Superjoint Ritual, 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 its 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 Windstein to record Crowbar's Lifesblood 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 early 2005.
In 2007, Down released the album Down III: Over the Under. They released an EP titled Down IV – Part I in September 2012. In late 2013, Windstein announced that he is leaving Down to concentrate on Crowbar full-time because of the band's 25th anniversary in 2014.[6] In 2020, he rejoined Down.
In 2005, Windstein teamed up with vocalist 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, through Relapse Records. It debuted at No. 131 on the US Billboard charts and sold 6,000 records in its first week of release. The album was recorded at Planet Z with producer Zeuss, known for his work with Shadows Fall and many others.
In January 2020, Windstein released his first solo album, Dream in Motion.[7][8]
Windstein married Robin Windstein in 2013 and has a daughter.[9] He is a Christian.[10]
