Corrosion of Conformity : "Good God / Baad Man"

Here is a new double album from the metal veterans that are taking things in a classic rock direction with more of an emphasis on the Sabbath side of the equation, as after the more rock opening track, which was pretty catchy, the Sabbath influence comes on hard and heavy, so that you can almsot pick out the fiffs they are drawing inspiration from. They said "Gimme Some Moore" was 80s punk rock, but it sounds more Clutch to me. They did pack some impressive riffs for this trip to the studio, but have also dipped them in ample amounts of high-energy chaos.

They claim their producer was calling these sessions the Dark Side of the Doom. This one, but the first song I hear any inkling of doom in is " The Handler" that finds the tempo dropping to add deliberate menace a bit."Beoudin's Hand" incorporates more melodic guitar tones, but is more of an instrumental jam interlude than an actual song. The first song that shows any Pink Floyd influence is "Run For Your Life." It's more about the phrasing of the riffs, with the vocals more like Lynyrd Skynyrd.  I had to dig back into the album and re-listen to the title track, which is likea funky version of "Sweet Riff." It falls somewhere between ZZ- Top and Queens of the Stone Age. 

"Lose Yourself" is not an Eminem cover, but another funky rock tune. A great deal of these funky shuffles are also in the ballpark of what Mastodon has been doing these days. To their credit, they are catchy. "Asleep on the Killing Floor". Finds the vocals dropping into a lower Captain Beefheart jive rap, before exploding out like a Jimi Hendrix-inspired Clutch song. Around the guitar solo, it gets jammy. "Handcuff Country" is driven by another grooving blues boogie. " Swallowing the Anchor" is another grooving blue jam that is more lyrically interesting than the previous song. This vibe is the dominant force of this album. 

"Birckman" is more of a rambling ballad, but at least it's a break from the Blues grooves. They go big to end things with 'Forever Amplified." It is a more Pink Floyd moment if we are talking about some of the more grandiose moments from The Wall. It's the best Clutch song that Clutch did not write. I will give this album a 9, as to why it's not "Blind", it's better than their more Metallica-like fare.

 

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