CORROSION OF CONFORMITY – “CORROSION OF CONFORMITY”
CANDLELIGHT (2012)

Metal Church - The Present Wasteland
Corrosion Of Conformity are no an ordinary band. When they first formed in Raleigh/North Carolina back in 1982, they did so with the understanding that they were going to be a Hardcore Punk outfit – a direction that they did follow on their first two studio albums, of which the most celebrated was 1985’s “Animosity”.

Then, after a short hiatus, the band returned with a new line up and as a more Metal-orientated outfit, featuring in its ranks Pepper Keenan of Down fame. While gaining some momentum and a few awards along the way, the band went on a second short hiatus between 2006-10 and it was back in May 2010 that an announcement was made that the “Animosity” line up, with Keenan’s band status being open for much speculation and debate, was to start working on a new album. Well, that new album, “Corrosion Of Conformity”, is just about to be released, so let’s see what these fine Americans have in store for us.

It does not require a great level of intelligence to realise that the band’s original trio of Woody Weatherman (guitar/vocals), Mike Dean (bass), and Reed Mullin (drums) would look towards the early 80s for inspiration when creating the eleven new compositions that are on offer here.

What they also did, however, and which I am personally quite appreciative of, is that they did not forsake the mid-90s period of their career in the process – a time when slow groovy riffs were as integral to their sound as the more up-tempo Punk orientated material.

As a result, “Corrosion Of Conformity” is a pretty varied musical affair with, unfortunately, does not always come across as balanced and coherent as one might expect from a group of musicians who has been around for as long as these three lads. Even though the gap between the very good and the average compositions is quite wide, both those that are ‘good’ and those that ‘average’ are so honest in nature that you will not find it too difficult to enjoy “Corrosion Of Conformity” many times in its entirety – something that cannot be said for many new albums that are currently out there.

The challenging union of up-tempo Punk riffs and slow groovy melodies does not take place throughout the album but it is clearly audible in the high-energy opening track “Psychic Vampire”. On a similar note, but slightly more impressive and memorable, “River Of Stone” is terribly reminiscent of latter-day Voivod, especially with regards to the vocal performance, while “Leeches” is an unsophisticated short Punk tune.

I cannot understand what prompted the band to add an atmospheric Southern-sounding harmonic tune, such as “El Lamento De Las Cabras”, at this point to the album, thereby seriously undermining its cohesion, but all is forgotten and forgiven the moment the first Voivod-sounding groovy-tunes of “Your Tomorrow” are aired.

Listening to the slow mournful riffs of “The Doom” and seeing how well they combine with its Punk up-tempo breaks made me realise that there is certainly a place for an album like this in today’s music scene.

The band’s appreciation for Rock n’Roll rhythm is manifested in “The Moneychangers”, while the four minute “Newness”, the last real highlight of the album, could easily find a place on any Alice In Chains album. Fans of straight-forward Punk riffs will love “What We Become” and the duet “Rat City”/”Time Of Trials”, while full of energy and good intentions, cannot really compare with some of the material presented earlier on.

I was not really sure what to expect from “Corrosion Of Conformity” prior to committing myself to this review. What these eleven compositions have proven is that, regardless of the real purpose behind their comeback, Corrosion Of Conformity is a band that still has something interesting to say.

If what we have here is not a one-off but the beginning of a new productive phase in the band’s career, then I do hope that these guys will work towards ensuring that their next offering is slightly better balanced and more cohesive as the evidence here has shown that we could easily enjoy more great songs from them! Onwards and upwards, lads!

John Stefanis

Rating: ***1/2 (3.5/5.0)

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