With their first release being in 1984, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY is a band who has made significance impact in not one but two sub genres of music (Hardcore punk and Stoner rock). Therefore, it shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone at how excited the metal community was when it was announced that C.O.C. would be reuniting with Vocalist/ Guitarist Pepper Keenan for a new album! It’s been a dozen years since Corrosion of Conformity recorded new material with Keenan at the helm. Pepper made his exit to spend more time performing with his other band Down which has included Phillip H. Anselmo (Pantera, Superjoint), Jimmy Bower (Eyehategod), and Pat Bruders (Crowbar, Goatwhore) and also former members included Kirk Windstein (Crowbar, Kingdom Of Sorrow) and Rex Brown (Pantera). While Pepper was away Corrosion Of Conformity pumped out two albums with bassist Mike Dean taking over vocal duties the same as he did on 1985’s ‘Animosity’. The band has a sound that truly has no competition tip toeing into several genres like stoner rock, heavy metal, punk, crossover, southern rock and various others. In that time, there have been rumors, whispers, and outright allegations that the legendary southern rock outfit would reunite to blow the doors off the whole damn scene again. In 2015, after nearly a decade traversing the globe with Down, Keenan reconnected with the core Corrosion of Conformity trio of Woody Weatherman, Mike Dean, and Reed Mullin to hit the road hard. The band released their newest album ‘No Cross No Crown’ in January of this year via Nuclear Blast. the first to feature Pepper on vocals since 2005’s ‘In the Arms of God’. Corrosion Of Conformity’s chemistry was still there and the songs ring out as if there has been no days off since Pepper last fronted the band.
Woody Weatherman, co-founder and lead guitarist of the highly revered act Corrosion of Conformity, a name that has been a pivotal figurehead in the realms of heavy-metal since their origins in 1982. Woody talks about how the band is a riff oriented band, and also how he uses an old school radio shack cassette tape recorder which he keeps in his barn to record his riff ideas. Woody says his favorite thing about being a musician is about getting to travel and see cities and meet new people. He also talks about the bands festival appearance in Europe when Pepper was playing with Down on the same day, and he joined the 3 piece version of Corrosion of Conformity on stage and sang a few songs, and that was really what got the band talking about recording a new album with Pepper. He also talks about performing while on tour with Megadeth at the famous Cobo Arena where Kiss ‘Alive’ was recording in 1975. Woody also talks about the time James Hetfield came and contributed some lyrics possibly on the Wise Blood record, but he didn’t want his name on the record or any credit for it. Corrosion Of Conformity is also preparing for a Latin American tour and leave for Chile, Mexico and Brazil and Woody adds that Santiago, Chile is an amazing city. You can hear the entire conversation below.
