Formed in 1985, Tungsten hail from Crowbar territory (Louisiana), and that band is a decent starting reference for describing Tungsten's early sound. On albums such as 193.85* and *74 the classic NOLA trademarks of hardcore vocals and slow, sludgy guitar riffs are in evidence, Tungsten thus being a prime NOLA band. By the time of their third album, The Tungsten Survival Kit, the band had diversified a bit, showing a bit more depth and maturity in the songwriting while retaining the brute heaviness of the earlier albums.

Six years after Survival Kit, Tungsten released their fourth album, The Abuse. In an interesting move, the band themselves made all of the album tracks downloadable from their web site, as a response to all the press about downloading music. The style on The Abuse is different than their past material, as much of the anger is gone, replaced with a more rock feel and more introspective lyrics. They are still a heavy band, and even more diverse than before, but now play a melancholic, mid-paced hard-edged metal, with Al Hodge now singing in a clean style, which fits their current music much better. The Abuse is a pretty original-sounding album, and a welcome diversion from the multitude of bands that stick to a rigid formula. Tungsten is playing music on their own terms.