Corrosion Of Conformity

Live Volume (Sanctuary)
by Martin Popoff

If anything can (over)correct for the processed meat that was America’s Volume Dealer, it is a gangly, spider-fingered groove-doom live shoot ’em up. Ergo, here’s Corrosion Of Conformity (no more COC?) pounding ’em down in Detroit, a well-regarded live band hammering hard songs that translate well live, especially “Señor Limpio,” “My Grain,” “Clean My Wounds,” and crowd fave “King of the Rotten,” each demonstrating the jazzy confidence of a rhythm section that consists of Mike Dean and new drummer Jimmy Bower from Eyehategod. Pepper is just Pepper, excelling on the loud stuff, a little wobbly when pushed to stand alone. And the sound quality rules, lots of bass, mid, enough treble, a potent mix for this utterly cool band of stoner-core stalwarts. Complaints: The new songs still sound forced, there are too many slow ones and there’s perhaps a bit too much caveman jamming.
(www.coc.com)