Righteous Fool is the new project of Animosity-era COC veterans Mike Dean (bass/vocals) and Reed Mullin (drums/vocals) which includes guitarist/vocalist Jason Browning (COC Blind / HR [Bad Brains]). The band just released their self-titled debut 7” on Southern Lord.

Given the pedigree of the members, it is no surprise that the band plays bluesy groove-oriented metal. Dean describes the band as "a heavy rock trio that can chug along like a locomotive at high velocity, a la early Bad Brains or C.O.C., or inch forth with the density of an advancing lava flow. All three members sing, and the vocals end to be a bit more melodic than early C.O.C." The disc’s two tracks “Edict of Worms”/”Forever Flames” run for just over nine minutes and clear production brings out the recording’s solid bottom end. Similar to COC’s lyrical view of life, “Edict of Worms" takes some direct shots against the "sideshow savior[s]" within organized religion.



There is an additional track, "Asteroid", posted to Righeous Fool’s MySpace page and the band has announced plans for a full-length disc.

Righteous Fool is currently playing some dates with like-minded brethren Clutch along with opening up dates on the current COC Animosity lineup reunion tour.

Links:
Righteous Fool

Note: I had never heard of COC Blind prior to looking for some background for this review. For anyone who is curious, COC Blind is Karl Agell and Reed Mullin’s band that plays material from COC’s Blind LP.