Corrosion Of Conformity - s/t (2012)

Well, the 'fans' are moaning because weed king Pepper Keenan seems to be more interested in Down, but the true fans will argue that this is C.O.C.'s best ever record, the band now existing as they did in the beginning, as a trio consisting of Woody Weatherman (guitar), Mike Dean (bass/vox) and Reed Mullin (drums/vox). I personally think that despite a few decent tracks here and there, C.O.C. were on the gradual slide after the brilliant 'Wiseblood', for me 'Blind', 'Deliverance' and 'Wiseblood' being the bands greatest batch of albums. Even so, C.O.C. have always been a tad frustrating, taking the word 'cult' to new heights in the sense that whilst they were always cool as fuck and pretty much better than most bands, they never got the credit and certainly not the success they deserved despite such monstrous tracks as 'Clean My Wounds', 'Vote With A Bullet' etc. C.O.C. gave us a gargantuan hybrid of the bands we loved as kids - Sabbath, Metallica, etc. However, in their early days C.O.C. were considered more brash, records such as 'Technocracy' bridged a gap between metal, punk and hardcore, and on their new opus I'm hearing the same.

I don't think C.O.C. will ever lose their swampy doom riffs, 'Come Not...' a prime example of their ability to create Sabbath-inspired monolithic doom, but this time round everything is done at a much faster pace, the dope-induced journeys seem few and far between except for a few lumbering riifs strewn here and there. In general, 'Corrosion Of Conformity' reminds me of the fast paced experimentalism of Bad Brains, circa say, 'Quickness', upping the riffage to levels of angst, particularly on 'River Of Stone' and the punkoid 'Leeches'. Fans expecting those lucid, doom-laden slabs will be disappointed, and vocally Keenan's suave drool may be sorely missed, but the facts are, C.O.C. will always exist in some form, and in 2012 it's the aggressive sneer of 'What We Become' and the rock 'n' roll thrash up of  'Rat City'. Personally, I'd give anything to hear the 'Blind' line-up again, because whilst I'll always have great respect for C.O.C. the current incarnation I'm finding a little bland round the edges. I haven't lost complete faith, because as I said earlier, I'm still stuck on the glory days of the trio of albums I already mentioned, but judging by the reaction of fans, most seem happy with this more aggressive direction, but in the world of C.O.C. we'll just have to wait and see what happens next.

7/10