Corrosion of Conformity: Animosity Lineup Releases New 7" on Southern Lord

The years go quickly as 2010 makes the 25th anniversary of Corrosion of Conformity's cross-over album Animosity. The Animosity lineup of Corrosion of Conformity recently reunited and released a two-track 7" on Southern Lord which will be followed by a full-length of new material sometime next year.

While not as raw as the Animosity tracks, "Your Tomorrow" is a return to the band's punk roots in that it combines punk-style guitar riffs with a galloping rhythm section. Mike Dean's voice has held up well over the years and he delivers his raw vocals in a melodic punk fashion which leaves the two tracks sounding like bit like Iron Maiden from the Paul Di'Anno era.

For anyone who thinks Dean's vocals are getting soft, check out this live performance from the band's recent show at Highline Ballroom.



The two tracks on "Your Tomorrow" are just two different takes on the same song but the band has been including a handful of new songs in their live set. In a recent interview with Maximum Threshold, guitarist Woody Weatherman said "Man, the new stuff we're writing is pretty crazy. I'm not gonna say that it floats all the way back to the super-, super-old-school stuff, but it's definitely heading in that direction."

The band is currently off the road but will be playing the Maryland Deathfest next May (exact date is still TBD).

Links:
Corrosion of Conformity

Righteous Fool: Debut 7" out now on Southern Lord (w/ Mike & Reed from Corrosion of Conformity)

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.