Corrosion of Conformity
In the Arms of God

THE REVIEW

Let one thing be clear right from the start: the band's best works are to be found in the deadly trilogy they released in the nineties. Starting with Blind in 1991, moving to the absolute masterpiece Deliverance in 1994, and concluding the dirty affair with Wiseblood delivered to posterity in 1996. Three albums of HardRockBluesStoner played with the energy and fury that have always been a characteristic of Corrosion of Conformity.

In The Arms Of God was released in 2005 and unfortunately features the defection of the historic and well-established drummer Reed Mullin, replaced by the unknown, at least to me, Stanton Moore, who was only hired for the recording of the album. This is the only slightly out-of-place note in the album, with drumming far too predictable and straightforward compared to what the North Carolina boys had accustomed us to in their glorious past.

But Pepper and Woody's two guitars and Mike's bass take care to pour fuel on the fire regarding the overall quality of the twelve songs, for over an hour of solid listening. Massive doses of Heavy Fuzz that abound in every track; a concentrate of Sludge Metal and Southern Rock played with rage and ferocity at times completely out of control. A "thick," dirty album, produced raw as the proposed genre demands. They allow themselves only a few rare controlled passages, complete with acoustic guitar, as in "Rise River Rise"; otherwise, it's a torrential waterfall of notes with abundant use of downtuned tones on the two guitars and a distortion pedal used mercilessly.

They are eager to play what they believe necessary mainly for their pleasure; they invent nothing and look to the past with excellent results. The initial five minutes of the Sabbathian "Stone Breaker" show us their heaviest side, with a Blues start so slow and massive that it almost brings them closer to Doom Metal. Then the track takes a more conventional but still incisive Hard sound direction, thanks to the devastating entry of a riff played by Pepper, who is also the raw and torn voice of the Corrosion.

It continues with the endless "Paranoid Opioid," full of drugs, desertic and Stoner enough to get close to the masters Kyuss; then moving to my favorite track, the eight minutes of "Never Turns To More," where they turn their gaze towards the best records I've already mentioned at the start. Heavy sonic blows thrown down by the quartet, with slowdowns and re-starts that rage until the end of the reckless run.

Just a fraction below the top rating.

Coherent, uncompromising, rigorous...massive C.O.C...INFINITE WAR...

Ad Maiora.