Corrosion of Conformity
Corrosion of Conformity (also known as C.O.C.), was founded in North Carolina by guitarist Woody Weatherman in the early 1980s as one of the first punk-metal fusion bands. C.O.C. were known in their early years for their aggressive sound, their clever political lyrics and their willingness to turn away from hardcore and metal conventions. Their shift to a more essential and reduced sound (kind of a deep-South Black Sabbath) in the 1990s brought them closer to the alternative metal zeitgeist and gave them some favors within the mainstream scene.
C.O.C.’s debut was the 1983 thrashy and BLACK FLAG-influenced “Eye For An Eye”, which brought the lineup Weatherman, drummer Reed Mullin, vocalist Eric Eycke, and bassist Mike Dean to the screen for the first time. They laid the first stone of their cult after the 1985 release “Animosity”. However, their former label didn’t cope with the band’s internal instability – Eycke had to be replaced by Simon Bob – and gave them up after “Technocracy” (1987). It took several years until a new lineup could come together – with Weatherman, guitarist Pepper Keenan, Mullin, vocalist Karl Agell, and bassist Phil Swisher – but it finally resulted in the release of “Blind” (1991), a powerful, focused, metallic record which significantly increased their audience. Agell would be fired after this success, with Keenan becoming the full-time vocalist on the even more Sabbath-inspired “Deliverance” (1994) which also saw the return of original bassist Mike Dean. “Deliverance” would eventually go Gold in America (500,000 units sold) and be the band’s most successful album. In 1995, Keenan made a short detour to the southern metal supergroup DOWN (also featuring PANTERA’s Phil Anselmo and members of CROWBAR).
Thanks to a change in popular taste in favor of the ultra-heavy side of alternative metal which helped the band getting established, C.O.C. found a bigger fan base than ever before with the release of “Wiseblood” (1996), expanding their rock radio success even further. After a long break from recording and a tour with METALLICA, C.O.C. came back in autumn 2000 with a new album entitled “America’s Volume Dealer”.
Another break followed, and the band came back in April 2005 for the harsh and complex “In the Arms of God”. C.O.C. had another break (members were involved in several side projects) until 2010, when drummer Reed Mullin rejoined the band, reviving the lineup of “Animosity” while Pepper Keenan stayed with his other band DOWN. The remaining trio started to work on new material and released the eponymous eighth record “Corrosion of Conformity” in 2012. Their ninth album, wisely named IX, came out in 2014.
In 2018, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY returned with “No Cross No Crown” – featuring the return of the legendary “Deliverance” and “Wiseblood” era line-up of Keenan, Weatherman, Dean, and Mullin. The album received both critical and fan acclaim and charted at #67 on the Billboard Top 200 (their fifth album to chart in the Top 200). In 2020, tragedy struck the band as Reed Mullin passed away. Keenan, Weatherman, and Dean would continue on.
In 2024, Mike Dean decided to part ways with the band. Upon his departure, Keenan and Weatherman announced their promise to keep the COC legacy moving forward with a new album in 2025 and an active return to touring. In 2025, the band returned to the road supporting Judas Priest and Alice Cooper across North America. The new album was recorded during 2025 and is planned for release in early 2026 through Nuclear Blast.