Corrosion of Conformity – In The Arms of God

artist website

publisher

impulse buy

Mayan Records
Produced by John Custer

A somewhat “return to form” for Corrosion of Conformity (COC) following the infinitely more commercial America’s Volume Dealer, this is their heaviest album since Blind, reinjecting that southern touch present on classic albums Deliverance and Wiseblood. There are two elements to the classic COC sound: southern groove and sludge. For my money, the most appealing of these is the southern groove. The overriding element on this album, however, is the sludge. This isn’t born out of the songs themselves though. They’re not written to be sludge songs as such. It’s the production/mix that has rendered it this way. The bass and drums are simply too prominent compared to the vocals and guitars. A metal album never benefits from buried guitars.

Opening with first single Stone Breaker is a very good move; the intro is magnificent. It starts with a keyboard/synth build-up, then a marvellously expressive solo from vocalist/guitarist Pepper Keenan before a killer riff kicks in. Paranoid Opioid doesn’t continue this potential. The main riff isn’t half as good, and the chorus has this weird effect on Pepper’s voice that makes him sound like he’s singing from the bottom of a swimming pool full of toothpaste. It Is That Way does continue the heavy riffing of Stone Breaker, but the bass and drums are really overpowering. There’s some amazing soloing going on throughout a lot of the song, in the background, particularly during the chorus, but it’s barely audible. Otherwise, it’s an excellent song, with a superb chorus.

Dirty Hands Empty Pockets (Already Gone) is an amazing song. The verses are just bass, drums and Pepper putting a bit of a growl into his voice and almost speaking the lines. There’s an undeniable groove and when the guitars kick in for the chorus and later for the last verses there’s some fantastic lead playing going on, including a guest solo from John Custer (who co-wrote some of the songs, including this one). The solos on this track (and there are at least two different ones) are amongst the best on the album. The finale is a fast paced affair (the first half of the song it quite slow) and benefits from the build up it’s received. But even this is bettered by the largely acoustic Rise River Rise, with its almost Spanish style melody and some heavy chords being struck in the background, coupled with Pepper’s most passionate delivery so far; this is a powerful, brilliantly written, soulful song. “Rise river rise, wash this place away, clean my dirty soul, so I can save it for judgement day”.

After the phenomenal pairing of Dirty Hands… and Rise River Rise it all gets a bit sterile for a while. There’s still some great moments amongst the next five tracks, like the riffs from The Backslider and Never Turns To More and the Clutch-isms of Infinite War, but otherwise they’re all pretty straight forward COC numbers. Crown of Thorns, the acoustic prelude to the title track is beautiful; Pepper’s delivery is superb. It’s all somewhat ruined by the sound effects, however. The title track itself is monumental. The most aggressive track on the album, with great riffing and soloing and powerful vocal delivery.

Many COC fans of old did not approve of the commercial direction taken on America’s Volume Dealer. The following years Live Volume brought them back around a bit, with crushing versions of old classics alongside new tracks which sounded a lot better in a live environment. Now, In The Arms of God will bring them all back, in droves. It’s a solid album and a firm step closer to a true return to form.

“ reinjecting that southern touch ”

Tracklist: Stone Breaker / Paranoid Opioid / It Is That Way / Dirty Hands Empty Pockets (Already Gone) / Rise River Rise / Infinite War / So Much Left Behind / The Backslider / World On Fire / Crown of Thorns / In The Arms of God

Written by Andy Lye
More: Albums, Southern, Corrosion of Conformity