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By
Vinnie Apicella
"To all the freethinkers and beer drinkers, this one is for you." COC's
message to the fans on their latest live record to commemorate the successful
second phase of a career that's spanned nearly tweny years. C.O.C.'s
very name, the extended version-that's Corrosion of Conformity, rookie-had
as much to do with the attitude of a quickly rising Hard-Core movement
that saw them in the early '80s produce such socially outcast, politically
aggrandized arguments against the system-"Eye For An Eye," "Technocracy."
but in truth, today, different time, different band. About a decade
ago things changed in the form of one song-"Vote With A Bullet," from
'91s "Blind," and while the argument remained the same, the sound moved
in a much heavier, and frankly awkward direction and saw the addition
of current vocalist Pepper Keenan in what at the time couldn't have
been conceived as anything more than an accident. Well the Keenan-led
C.O.C.'s got their groove on soonafter and been thriving ever since
with their now trademark Heavy Blues-infused Metal style and it is here
where this live set begins and ends. On tour to support their "America's
Volume Dealers" release, the band grinds, stomps, and kicks a mud hole
in many of their past favorites-"Albatross," "Senor Limpio," and of
course "Clean My Wounds," from their monumental "Deliverance" release,
while "King Of The Rotten," and "Wiseblood," take the honors from their
"Wiseblood" follow up-down tuned and dirty, the sound they're getting
is nothing short of ferocious, forget the fact you can hardly make out
a word coming from Keenan's lips-they got the fire and plenty of balls
to back it up. Would've been nice to throw in "Man Or Ash," or "Redemption
City," from the "Wiseblood" release-the former title originally a duet,
ha, how's that sound, including James Hetfield but just a decent song
overall. The tunes seem oddly arranged nearing the end-fifteen in all,
I question some of the choices to follow "Vote With A Bullet," which
would be the expected set stopper or encore, but why are we and where
are we getting "Shelter," and then "Zippo," from the last record. "Clean
My Wounds" ends the set and clears up any previous confusion but again
just an odd mix for what was a one evening event. For anyone who thought
the band softened up a bit on last year's studio release, however, which
would be hard to argue against anyway, needs to hear this live set for
a true sense of this "volume" dealing in which they previously boast.
More Ear Busters
© 2001, BBHrdRpt
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