Corrosion of Conformity
Corrosion of Conformity
Candlelight Records

Corrosion of Conformity’s 1985 Animosity line-up of Mike Dean, Woody Weatherman, and Reed Mullin made big news when they reunited in 2010 for a two-song EP, Your Tomorrow (Parts 1 and 2), mainly because Animosity‘s punk/thrash crossover made such a monumental contribution to heavy music and because it brought an end to C.O.C.’s five year hiatus after the release of In the Arms of God in 2005.* Of course, it’s the former point that garnered the most excitement, the belief that with Pepper Keenan still toiling away in Down, C.O.C. would lay aside its Southern metal sound and return to its influential, raucous, politico-skate metal roots. Well, gray hairs and lost years be damned because the new full-length, Corrosion of Conformity, finds the Raleigh, North Carolina trio in a fresh, aggressive, and loud way, chucking around thrashy riffs like empty beer cans. I’m sure it was never the band’s intent to recreate Animosity, which they don’t do by a long shot, but what they do do is spread their innate abrasiveness over several well-executed styles of metal to create a rush of dynamic anarchy. From the traditional blast of “Psychic Vampire,” “River of Stone,” and “Your Tomorrow,” to the motor-punk of “Leeches,” “The Moneychangers,” and “Rat City,” to the sludgy doom of “The Doom” and “Newness,” Corrosion of Conformity is utter mosh pit fodder, and Dean’s vocals are perfectly vile for such destructive enthusiasm. You know, it would have been totally reasonable to expect these bastard pioneers to be a bit out of step, but this is so on point that it’s worth your biggest broken-toothed grin…and a hell of a lot of spins.

*Even though it was the last recorded C.O.C. album, Mullin actually wasn’t part of the In the Arms of God line-up. In fact, that last time this trio appeared on an album together was 2000′s America’s Volume Dealer. However, Mullin and Dean do have another band called Righteous Fool.

Listen to “The Doom” from Corrosion of Conformity!

Griever
Inferior
Vitriol

Four-song EP from San Diego’s Griever (once Lewd Acts), who double down on the two-song single they released earlier this year. There’s actually more than one Griever out there, but this is the only one that deserves your attention, believe me, and even if you don’t think so, they’ll go ahead and take it from you anyway. Griever comes to the race with a hardcore gait but their strength actually lay in their ability to pace themselves with a sludgy, down-tuned melody, which means they’ll remind you more of Torche than they will Trap Them, but they could flank either of ‘em on the podium at the end of the day. “The Forgetter” and “Black Vinyl Clouds” are the two aggressively incessant songs here, loaded with groovy, volatile riffs, while “Stag Hymn” and “Home Again, Alone Again” showcase a gloomier Griever with a post-rock vibe. While heavy and loud, Griever keep you guessing, and that makes Inferior somewhat superior.

Listen to Inferior at Griever’s bandcamp page!

Barn Burner
Bangers II: Scum of the Earth
Metal Blade

Montreal’s booze-filled, flannel warriors return with their highly anticipated sequel (highly anticipated by me, anyway), Bangers II: Scum of the Earth, and it’s every bit the stoner metal riff-fest its predecessor was. What’s more is, Barn Burner seem to have upped the aggressive ante this time around without sacrificing their sense of party-hard humor, meaning you still get songs with titles like “Dark Side of the Barn,” “Keg Stand and Deliver,” and “Skid Marks the Spot,” but they’re thrown at you heavier and faster than ever before (no doubt due to better production this time around). I ate Bangers up like a plate of of rock n’ roll stew, traces of its slick licks dribbling down my bearded chin, thanks to its deliciously fraternizing nature; an album for bros by bros. Bangers II does not fail in drawing the denim-head scum together again, but the frothy, cursed, thunder-chuck that is now their glorious glue is more raging battle than raging kegger, is more broad sword than clenched fist, and will surely separate allies from enemies. And that’s the beauty of the Barn Burner way — whether killer or thriller, you’re always left bloody and smiling with your friends at the end.

Listen to “Keg Stand and Deliver” from Bangers II: Scum of the Earth!