Call me crazy, but I tend to think or at least hope that no matter which Corrosion of Conformity lineup a fan prefers, we can at least all be glad the band are continuing to make good more than 30 years after their inception. As announced from the stage the other night on their current tour with Clutch and The Shrine, the Pepper Keenan-fronted four-piece version of the band has signed to Nuclear Blast and will release a new album next year through the label. It will be the first time that all four players in this lineup — Keenan, bassist/vocalist Mike Dean, guitarist/vocalist Woody Weatherman and drummer/vocalist Reed Mullin — have all played on the same album since 2000’s America’s Volume Dealer. No minor happening, in other words.

The band just yesterday unveiled a previously-unreleased Lynyrd Skynyrd cover of “On the Hunt,” that you can stream below. They’re also on tour into Dec., still out with Clutch, dates with Mastodon, and then on a headlining run with Brant Bjork, Saviours and Mothership.

And, of course, the PR wire makes it official:

CORROSION OF CONFORMITY sign to Nuclear Blast Entertainment!

Nuclear Blast Entertainment is pleased to announce the worldwide signing of metal legends CORROSION OF CONFORMITY.

The band will enter the studio late this winter/early spring with longtime producer John Custer. Custer has recorded such prior C.O.C. classics as Deliverance, Wiseblood, America’s Volume Dealer and In The Arms Of God. The as-of-yet-untitled-album will mark the band’s studio reunion with vocalist/guitarist Pepper Keenan and their first full-length record since 2005.

Says Keenan about the new partnership:
“To all the C.O.C. fans worldwide, Mike, Reed, Woody and I are proud to announce that we are starting our next sonic adventure with Nuclear Blast Entertainment! We are honored and psyched to be a part of the Blasted Family, both professionally and artistically. After all these years, its truly inspiring to reawaken the chemistry that the four of us have. We are seriously fucking with our pants off now! We do not take this journey lightly and cannot wait to return to the studio to drop Ze’ Hammer! All of this would not be possible without the global support of all you free thinkers and beer drinkers. Much love and respect and look forward to to seeing you soon.”

President of Nuclear Blast Entertainment, Monte Conner adds:
“I love all the incarnations of C.O.C. over the years but the Pepper-fronted version has always been the definitive line-up of the band for me. Ever since hearing Pepper take charge on 1991’s ‘Vote With A Bullet’ I was dying to hear him sing more with the band. This line-up’s 1994 debut Deliverance, with its signature tracks ‘Clean My Wounds” and ‘Albatross,’ was an instant classic and is still one of my all-time favorite albums.

“It has been a long 10 years since their fourth album – the highly underrated In The Arms Of God – and as a fan, I am dying to hear what these guys come up with next. I know it will be a monster. The fact that it is coming out on Nuclear Blast is very fulfilling for me and many others on the Nuclear Blast team as we finally get to work with one of our favorite bands.”

A fall 2016 release is expected. In the meantime, catch CORROSION OF CONFORMITY on tour this fall on the following dates:

CLUTCH, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY, THE SHRINE
Thu/Oct-15 Grand Rapids, MI @ Orbit Room
Fri/Oct-16 Sauget, IL @ Pop’s Nightclub
Sat/Oct-17 Lincoln, NE @ Bourbon Theatre
Sun/Oct-18 Fargo, ND @ Scheels Arena
Tue/Oct-20 Billings, MT @ Shrine Auditorium
Thu/Oct-22 Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory Concert House
Fri/Oct-23 Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory Concert House
Sat/Oct-24 KNOTFEST
Sun/Oct-25 COC Headline show Las Vegas @ Vinyl Hard Rock

CLUTCH, MASTODON, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY
Mon/Oct-26 Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theatre
Wed/Oct-28 Austin, TX @ Austin Music Hall
Thu/Oct-29 Dallas, TX @ Gas Monkey Live
Fri/Oct-30 Houston, TX @ Bayou Music Center

MASTODON, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY
Sat/Oct-31 New Orleans, LA @ Civic Theatre
Sun/Nov-01 Birmingham @Iron City

CORROSION OF CONFORMITY, BRANT BJORK, SAVIOURS
Thu/Nov-12 Atlanta, GA @ The Loft **
Fri/Nov-13 Shreveport, LA @ Riverside Warehouse ##
Mon/Nov-16 Scottsdale, AZ @ Pub Rock
Tue/Nov-17 Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom
Wed/Nov-18 San Francisco, CA @ Slim’s
Fri/Nov-20 Vancouver, BC @ Venue Nightclub
Sat/Nov-21 Seattle, WA @ Neumo’s
Mon/Nov-23 Denver, CO @ The Summit Music Hall
Tue/Nov-24 Kansas City, MO @ The Riot Room
Wed/Nov-25 Minneapolis, MN @ Mill City Nights
Fri/Nov-27 Racine, WI @ Rte 20
Sat/Nov-28 Cleveland, OH @ The Odeon
Sun/Nov-29 Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts
Tue/Dec-01 Toronto, ON @ Opera House
Wed/Dec-02 Flint, MI @ The Machine Shop
Thu/Dec-03 Pittsburgh, PA @ Altar Bar
Fri/Dec-04 New York, NY @ Gramercy Theatre
Sat/Dec-05 Allston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall
Mon/Dec-07 Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
Tue/Dec-08 Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel
Wed/Dec-09 Virginia Beach, VA @ Shaka’s Live
Thu/Dec-10 Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theatre
** YOB, Brant Bjork, Black Cobra
## Brant Bjork, local support

C.O.C. emerged from hibernation as a trio and released 2012’s self-titled album and 2014’s IX to wide acclaim, but many hardcore fans have been eagerly and patiently awaiting the return of Pepper Keenan.

The band were originally an influential hardcore punk/heavy metal crossover act before reaching critical success with a then new lineup on 1991’s Blind album. That trajectory continued with wider appeal as Keenan took over as the group’s primary vocalist on Deliverance (1994) and Wiseblood (1996).

These two recordings in particular fused the raw energy of their previous albums, with some great strides forward in classic rock inspired songwriting and more spacious production and execution. Since then the band has often been copied but rarely equaled.

This juggernaut gained mass and momentum with relentless touring alongside such greats METALLICA, CLUTCH, EYEHATEGOD and many more.

Eventually, following the release of In the Arms of God in 2005, Keenan decided to focus all his energy on his hometown band DOWN… until now.

CORROSION OF CONFORMITY is:
Pepper Keenan – vocals, guitar
Woodroe Weatherman – guitar
Mike Dean – bass, vocals
Reed Mullin – drums, vocals

www.coc.com
www.facebook.com/corrosionofconformity
http://shop.nuclearblast.com/en/shop/index.html
https://www.facebook.com/nuclearblastusa

Corrosion of Conformity, “On the Hunt” (Unreleased Skynyrd Cover)

Tags: C.O.C., Corrosion of Conformity, North Carolina, Nuclear Blast Records

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 15th, 2015 at 9:02 am and is filed under Whathaveyou. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.