America's Volume DealerCorrosion Of Conformity |
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Wow, when's the last time you've ever thought of COC and melody in the same sentence? Well here we are just a few seconds in and they've gone out and added a little touch of "class" shall we say to their trademark groove! Very interesting indeed… the tune's called "Over Me" and right off I can hear this being the first single to make a heavy dent in rock radio rotation. Keenan's smoky vocs, smothered and bathed in reverb, at the forefront of this intransigent rocker. You know the little periods that separate the letters are missing-did you notice? What's it mean? Probably nothing… or maybe, gasp, more songs like this! It's not bad actually but I'm not sure if we've got a general pattern developing here to make a closing case for mainstream acceptance… of course if that's so, why not go for it, Metallica did and look where it got them. It cost 'em dearly in many cases but COC isn't one to be confused with the force that is and was Metallica in the first place. But since Pepper took over on vocals back in the days of "Deliverance," COC's been clearing their own path through the cluttered woods getting closer and closer but never having yet reached that clearing that spells commercial success. Well I think two songs in, there's a definite light peering in through the trees. "Congratulations Song" is actually the first single if I'm not mistaken and either way they both work. "Stare Too Long" is an almost country-fied tune, full on with vocal harmonies and acoustic twang… my oh my, there's something serious taking place here! To call this their most widely diverse creation would be pretty close to the mark… to call this some other band would be dead on the money! I'm opening up to the possibilities but, even considering the gone by days of something like "Technocracy…" remember when? Or even "Blind," this is a far reach from where even "Wiseblood" left off! Musically the songs are good and so that's where the rest of my opinion will be based. Old Woody and boys are riding a big time effectual wave here and never more has this been present than on "Diablo Blvd," a cool swaggering tune that basically hollows out the guitar for that extra aural presence… in fact this "hollowing" that I've just harbored from my freshly opened mind, seems to stand at the forefront of most everything here. Their groove still intact, its been tweaked and twisted and really broken up in favor of some interesting temporal arrangements-"Doublewide," "Zippo…" which features a strong seventies' vibe, letting their Southern shine through most prominently. They're freewheeling, dealing and surprisingly dazzling, this made in the U.S.A. brand of roots-rock and jive known as simply "America's Volume Dealers." Yesterday's Sabbath sludge has moved to the side to make way for a new retro-fitted and re-inventive style that at times appears uncomfortable, often unyielding and yet still highly flammable. Released by Metal-Is Records Review by Vinnie Apicella [va85@columbia.edu] |
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"Live Volume" Corrosion of Conformity |
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To all the freethinkers and beer drinkers, this one is for you COC's message to the fans on their latest live record to commemorate the successful second phase of a career that's spanned nearly tweny years. C.O.C.'s
very name, the extended version-that's Corrosion of Conformity,
rookie-had as much to do with the attitude of a quickly rising Hard-Core
movement that saw them in the early '80s produce such socially outcast,
politically aggrandized arguments against the system-"Eye For
An Eye", "Technocracy", but in truth, today, different
time, Well the Keenan-led C.O.C.'s got their groove on soon after and been thriving ever since with their now trademark Heavy Blues-infused Metal style and it is here where this live set begins and ends. On tour to support their "America's Volume Dealers" release, the band grinds, stomps, and kicks a mud hole in many of their past favorites-"Albatross", "Senor Limpio" and of course "Clean My Wounds" from their monumental "Deliverance" release, while "King Of The Rotten" and "Wiseblood" take the honors from their "Wiseblood" follow up-down tuned and dirty, the sound they're getting is nothing short of ferocious, forget the fact you can hardly make out a word coming from Keenan's lips-they got the fire and plenty of balls to back it up. Would've been nice to throw in "Man Or Ash" or "Redemption City" from the "Wiseblood" release-the former title originally a duet, ha, how's that sound, including James Hetfield but just a decent song overall. The tunes seem oddly arranged nearing the end-fifteen in all, I question some of the choices to follow "Vote With A Bullet" which would be the expected set stopper or encore, but why are we and where are we getting "Shelter" and then "Zippo" from the last record. "Clean My Wounds" ends the set and clears up any previous confusion but again just an odd mix for what was a one evening event. For anyone who thought the band softened up a bit on last year's studio release, however, which would be hard to argue against anyway, needs to hear this live set for a true sense of this "volume" dealing in which they previously boast.
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