When they initially formed in the early 80’s, North Carolina’s Raleigh rockers CORROSION OF CONFORMITY were very much influenced by the big hitters in the hardcore punk scene, with the likes of BLACK FLAG and MINOR THREAT being among the bands that inspired them, but over the years, they’ve somewhat mellowed into a more stoner based syndicate as they’ve gotten older, and despite their seemingly revolving door policy for members, the original core line up of Woody Weatherman, Mike Dean, Reed Mullin and a returning Pepper Keenan have come together once again in early 2018 to deliver “No Cross No Crown”, their tenth studio album…having accepted these terms and conditions, let’s check it out.
The album gets underway with “Novus Deus” which roughly translates as “Revived God” which ties in nicely with the album title conceptually…the track itself is merely an intro at just under a minute and a half but it’s sludgy, doom-inspired tones echo early BLACK SABBATH efforts…there’s a coarseness to it and it builds up nice and slowly to first track proper “The Luddite”. The transition is a smooth one as it blends in almost immediately, picking up the pace considerably; the southern metal style prominent throughout, rich in groove but it’s got a heaviness to it within its riffs that sets it apart from most southern inspired bands. Lead single “Cast The First Stone” is much more energetic slab of music it has to be said…with its thrashing, up-tempo approach it’s a lot more comparable to their earlier work, with its ballsy, no fucks given attitude, in ways fans of GWAR could easily appreciate this one, an album highlight.
Speaking of highlights, we can’t ignore the similarly up-beat rip-ride of a track “Forgive Me”…with the stoner influences shining through a fine dose of hard rock, coupled with some truly infectious hooks and guitar licks, it’s a wonderfully enjoyable track and provides the albums peak. Highlights don’t necessarily mean bouncy and energetic mind you, as the band prove on the title track…a chilling slab of doom-inspired despair with a social/political pot-shot at the west, while “Nothing Left To Say” incorporates an emotive, soul-based tone, fully embracing southern blues heritage. The main faults with this album, if any really, are interludes…there are three of them, taking the whole track listing up to fifteen in total and, really there’s absolutely no need. “No Cross” comes across as filler from a low-budget horror movie score, “Matre’s Diem” or, “Mother’s Day” is a random little acoustic instrumental and “Sacred Isolation” is again, no more than filler. Overall though the rest of the tracks make up a decent stoner-rock record, and COC are showing no signs of corrosion after all this time. [7]
The album gets underway with “Novus Deus” which roughly translates as “Revived God” which ties in nicely with the album title conceptually…the track itself is merely an intro at just under a minute and a half but it’s sludgy, doom-inspired tones echo early BLACK SABBATH efforts…there’s a coarseness to it and it builds up nice and slowly to first track proper “The Luddite”. The transition is a smooth one as it blends in almost immediately, picking up the pace considerably; the southern metal style prominent throughout, rich in groove but it’s got a heaviness to it within its riffs that sets it apart from most southern inspired bands. Lead single “Cast The First Stone” is much more energetic slab of music it has to be said…with its thrashing, up-tempo approach it’s a lot more comparable to their earlier work, with its ballsy, no fucks given attitude, in ways fans of GWAR could easily appreciate this one, an album highlight.
Speaking of highlights, we can’t ignore the similarly up-beat rip-ride of a track “Forgive Me”…with the stoner influences shining through a fine dose of hard rock, coupled with some truly infectious hooks and guitar licks, it’s a wonderfully enjoyable track and provides the albums peak. Highlights don’t necessarily mean bouncy and energetic mind you, as the band prove on the title track…a chilling slab of doom-inspired despair with a social/political pot-shot at the west, while “Nothing Left To Say” incorporates an emotive, soul-based tone, fully embracing southern blues heritage. The main faults with this album, if any really, are interludes…there are three of them, taking the whole track listing up to fifteen in total and, really there’s absolutely no need. “No Cross” comes across as filler from a low-budget horror movie score, “Matre’s Diem” or, “Mother’s Day” is a random little acoustic instrumental and “Sacred Isolation” is again, no more than filler. Overall though the rest of the tracks make up a decent stoner-rock record, and COC are showing no signs of corrosion after all this time. [7]
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