Corrosion of Conformity
Blind

THE REVIEW

I retrieve the album from the section of my music collection where the most precious gems are kept; I extract the black vinyl from the sleeve and place it on side B at the third track. A few seconds of silence with the usual "crackling" sound of the needle searching for the initial groove. And then comes the flood, the gray storm, the first intense and powerful notes of Vote with a Bullet, the only track in the collection featuring Pepper Keenan on vocals, in his debut with Corrosion. Let's forget about the Hardcore-Thrash-Punk of the previous two records. In Blind, the band makes a turn, steering towards a more controlled, massive sound, as heavy as a boulder. We're in the realm of Stoner-Hard-Sludge, with the two guitars dominating, carving a bleeding groove followed closely by the other instruments. Overflowing, feverish, continuous riffs. Never stopping, not even in the spaces the guys dedicate to three brief instrumentals for a bit of catching breath, of thinking. Like Black Sabbath sinking into the swamps of Louisiana; mud and distortion everywhere. Feverish sonic assaults that lash out, as happens in the only track I've mentioned so far, against American society and an overly permissive use of firearms. The drumming by the late Reed Mullin is powerful, one of the most furious "bashers" I've ever had the chance to hear in action. A concentrated blast of energy delivered without too many frills, without any kind of technicality. Honest, angry, hard and pure, to put it briefly. The only so-called off-key note of an otherwise perfect album is the vocal performance of singer Karl Agell; a voice that in many passages is too strained, unable to compete with Pepper, who indeed from the next album, the total masterpiece named Deliverance, will take his place definitively and fittingly. This explains the "only" 4 stars which is my rating for the album. No other track to mention; that's enough for today.

Ad Maiora.