Review by Phil Rozier for MPM
So, it’s mid week on a slightly sunnier than usual day in mid March. Work calls, the inbox is multiplying like gremlins after midnight, and the room temperature remnants of this morning’s coffee are doing absolutely nothing to improve the situation.
Yawn. Time for a quick scroll.
Stop the bus. Shut the front door.
Are there any other equally witty remarks I can throw at the fact that Nuclear Blast Records have just lobbed a mid week present straight at our riff hungry faces?
Because yes, North Carolina’s bourbon infused gravel merchants, Corrosion of Conformity, have dropped another track from their very hotly anticipated next album. And after the punk charged adrenaline shot that was “Gimme Some Moore”, this new one, “You or Me”, drags us right back into that tar thick, swamp groove territory that only COC can conjure. It’s that sound again. The one they’ve been perfecting since the Reagan administration.
At nearly six minutes, this is no quick hit single. It’s a slow burning, riff driven belter.
The track opens with a riff so instantly hummable you’ll be head banging before you realise you’ve done it. It’s metal, grunge, sludge, stoner, hardcore. All the flavours of the COC spice rack, stirred into one big, dirty cauldron.
Held together by the awesomely steady drums of John Green, the beat keeps pace as that riff rides over the top like a biker rolling into town with no intention of behaving. Pepper Keenan’s vocals? Still the same bourbon and sandpaper snarl that somehow manages to overpower the guitars without ever drowning them.
The accompanying music video is a riot. Palm trees, religious iconography, gladiators, and a kaleidoscopic 70s haze that makes you question whether someone spiked your lunch. It’s trippy, chaotic, and absolutely perfect for the track’s swaggering weirdness.
Tradition says: verse, chorus, solo, chorus, done.
COC say: nah, let’s get weird.
Around the two thirds mark, the whole thing collapses into a psychedelic crawl. The instruments fall away, leaving space for Pepper to bark out “What’s wrong with you…” over an eerie, echoing backdrop. It’s unsettling in the best possible way.
Then, somewhere past the four minute mark, the band slam back in with a Sabbath-esque riff so heavy you can practically hear Bill Ward smashing the tubs in the background. It’s a different tempo, a different mood, a different song, almost.
And then, just as you’re settling into that groove, they whip you back to the opening riff for one final punch.
Corrosion of Conformity have never strayed far from their roots. They’ve evolved, sure, from hardcore punks to groove metal pioneers. But they’ve never abandoned the core of what makes them them. That’s why they’re still relevant. And that’s why fans old and new are circling this upcoming album like vultures over a desert highway.
From their early days in the 80s crossover scene, through the Pepper fronted 90s golden era, to their modern resurgence, COC have built a career on authenticity and groove.
This track is classic COC: Instantly recognisable. Impossible to forget. Heavy without being overproduced. Weird in all the right ways
Mid week just got a whole lot better.
Listen to CORROSION OF CONFORMITY‘s single for ‘You Or Me‘ HERE
Find all Good God / Baad Man album pre-orders at THIS LOCATION
CORROSION OF CONFORMITY:
Pepper Keenan – guitar, vocals
Woody Weatherman – guitar
Stanton Moore – drums
Bobby Landgraf – bass
