Release Date: May 22nd 2026. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl
More Than This - Tracklisting
More Than This
Crows
Awake
The Bleed
Violet
Full Speed Ahead
Even Worse
I Am The Leaf
Members
Andrea (Guitar)
Federico (Vocals)
Alessandro (Drums)
Lorenzo (Bass).
Review
More Than This is the debut album from Stoner Metallers CROBU who add a menacing NOLA momentum to their music with the band inspired by the likes of DOWN, Corrosion of Conformity and Crowbar. The band offset this NOLA murky style of melody against the likes of KYUSS, Black Sabbath and SLEEP. Their debut album is quite a murky and unsettling affair which doesn’t skimp on the aggressive slabs of WEEDIAN based heaviness. CROBU excel in delivering a style of distorted, down tuned and fuzzed out musical passages which has a delicate level of pissed off aggression.
CROBU’s sound isn’t the most polished around with the band adapting a lo-fi quality to their music which allows More Than This to have quite an exciting and unpredictable aura of quality from the very start. The album does feel like a NOLA and SOUTHERN METAL album at first especially within the storming opening tracks of More Than This, Crows and Awake.
However, little by little, CROBU start adding traces of modern day Stoner Metal into the music which gives a record slightly drugged out aesthetic with some classic WEEDIAN musical interplay happening between, Andrea, Alessandro and Lorenzo providing the musical chops for Federico to inject his intense and grizzled musical persona into the mix.
The lyrics are quite grounded with a simple premise to them but they get the job done with CROBU becoming ever more confident with each passing moment. The grooves become more aggressive and super intricate with a grizzled determination exploding into fucked up FUZZ METAL instrumental solos. The music becomes even faster and quite psychedelic with the NOLA creative fumes taking a back seat on the later parts of the album.
You can detect a slight movement into European based Stoner Rock/Metal reminiscent of the likes of DOZER and ORANGE GOBLIN in places which gives a grittier style of melody to develop on tracks such as Violet, Full Speed Ahead and I Am The Leaf. CROBU have crafted quite a superbly entertaining debut album that covers a wide range of the whole modern day Stoner Rock/Metal scene while allowing themselves to play other areas of music such as Fuzz, Psych. Sludge and Grunge.
More Than This feels like CROBU have been around for the last thirty years of the whole Stoner Metal movement as this record has a timeless quality to it all. You’ll be surprised what CROBU has in store for you with this outstanding debut album. Add this great album to your collection at the earliest opportunity as these guys are the real deal. End Of!!!
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to CROBU f0r the promo.
More Than This will be available to buy soon on CD/DD/Vinyl.
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