Corrosion Of Conformity
Deliverance

THE REVIEW

To my great astonishment, while browsing Debaser, I realized that no one had taken the trouble to review an album by Corrosion Of Conformity!

How can that be? There are reviews of Gatto Panceri and yet no one ever thought of this band, which is fundamental for the modern evolution of hard-heavy rock? Okay, the Corrosion were never front-page stars, but precisely because of this, working in the background, they have significantly contributed to the birth of not one but two musical subgenres!! In the '80s, they were among the first to give birth to the crossover movement between hardcore and metal, and in the early '90s, after a gradual change in style, they pointed the way to stoner by reviving the '70s atmosphere of the old Sabbaths. Formed in 1982 as a hardcore band, thanks to three albums with a metallic impact and social lyrics such as "Eye For An Eye" (1983), "Animosity" (1985), and "Technocracy" (1987), Corrosion is part of the group along with D.R.I., Suicidal Tendencies, Crumbsuckers, and SOD who dared to mix different genres, giving rise to the crossover current that would mark the '90s in heavy music.

But just when Crossover becomes public domain, Corrosion changes its skin. First with "Blind" from 1991, still tied to THRASH but which already shows '70s hard rock references, and then the complete transformation with this "Deliverance" in 1994. From this album, the singer and guitarist becomes Pepper Keenan, and his charisma significantly marks the band's progression. With Woody Weatherman on guitars, the eccentric Mike Dean on bass, and the talented drummer Reed Mullin (who left the band in the early 2000s), COC recorded their masterpiece. They enriched the heavy Thrash metal of the previous album with significant nods to the early '70s doom-Sabbath style, with Keenan echoing the old OZZY in some tracks (ALBATROSS and SEVEN DAYS). The album travels through songs with heavy blues riffs and '70s vibes like the opening HEAVEN'S NOT OVERFLOVING and BROKEN MAN to more lively and Southern rock episodes like CLEAN MY WOUNDS, which sticks in your head, SENOR LIMPIO to more hard-psychedelic episodes like SHAKE LIKE YOU or the concluding PEARLS BEFORE SWINE.

There's also a mention for the acoustic and almost country SHELTER and for the hypnotic title track DELIVERANCE sung by bassist Mike Dean, all interspersed with brief acoustic interludes (WITHOUT WINGS, MANO DE MONO, #2121313) as Tony IOMMI loved to do on old Black Sabbath vinyl records. In short, an album that opened the doors to the Stoner movement but which no one will ever recognize as such. An album that Metallica tried to emulate in vain with their "Load" and "Reload," not coincidentally COC was called to open the "Load" tour, an album that Zakk Wylde must have listened to exhaustively.

Corrosion Of Conformity later released "Wiseblood" in 1996, a step below this one, "America's Volume Dealer" from 2000, a lighter and more purely hard rock and southern album, and the recent "In The Arms Of God" (2005) returning to doomy heaviness. Note the importance of Pepper Keenan's presence in the DOWN project put together with Phil Anselmo and various members of Crowbar.

No need to recommend the album if you love heavy metal in all its forms.