Review by Phil Rozier for MPM
COC return with a track so heavy it should come with a medical disclaimer.
I fell for Corrosion of Conformity the moment “Albatross” hit the airwaves back in 1994, the lead single from their landmark album Deliverance. It became one of their biggest hits, climbing to No. 19 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart . That record, their first with Pepper Keenan on lead vocals, dropped in September 1994 and has since been hailed as a “true 90s classic” . The tours that followed were momentous: loud, sweaty, swaggering celebrations of a band who had just found their definitive voice.
And yet, “Albatross” wasn’t even a traditional COC track. Because COC have never been traditional anything. They’ve always been old school, loud as hell, hardcore punk meets stoner metal geniuses; too metal for punk, too punk for metal, too sludgy for the mainstream, too smart to care. They didn’t rise to the fame of some of their peers because, frankly, they invented their own lane and refused to budge from it.
When they hit the scene in their earliest incarnation, it was Marshall amps, pimped Gibson SGs, and a thundering bass tone that set them apart. With Pepper stepping up front to become one of the most distinctive voices in heavy music.
Tonight I’d been reviewing a handful of tracks from new bands. Fresh faces, modern sounds, the next generation shaping their craft. And honestly, I love it. I love hearing the influences, the experimentation, the hunger. There’s real talent out there.
Then I take a break. Stick the kettle on. Scroll my feed.
Hang on… what’s this?
COC have dropped (see, I’m hip), or for the older reader, released, a brand new track.
“Gimme Some Moore.”
And fuck me.
Stop the bike. Pull over.
This thing hits like a brick.
“Gimme Some Moore” is everything COC do best, distilled into a single, snarling, riff heavy punch to the chest.
It’s metal, it’s rock, it’s stoner, it’s sludge, it’s punk infused attitude. It’s whatever the hell you want to call it. Labels don’t matter when something sounds this alive.
It’s hardcore, angry, loud, raw, raucous, and magical.
It’s the sound of a band who’ve been doing this longer than most of today’s newcomers have been breathing and still doing it better than almost anyone.
Sorry, new music, for all your polish and precision, you simply cannot touch the masters when they decide to wake up and throw down.
I’m left in awe, honestly. Not much to say beyond this: You have to hear it.
Buy it. Stream it. Steal your mate’s headphones. Whatever your method, just get this track into your ears now.
Pepper and the gang have raised absolute hell with this release, and if “Gimme Some Moore” is a taste of the upcoming album, then we’re all in for a treat.
And probably a trip to A&E.
Pre-order new album Good God / Baad Man HERE.
CORROSION OF CONFORMITY:
Pepper Keenan – guitar, vocals
Woody Weatherman – guitar
Stanton Moore – drums
Bobby Landgraf – bass
