Corrosion Of Conformity – No Cross No Crown
Release Date: 12th January 2018
Label: Nuclear Blast
2018 marks 36 years as a band for Corrosion Of Confirmity. They’ve been a band for longer than most people that go to their gigs have been alive and have seen more fashion trends come and go than they would probably care to admit. In 2010 when Pepper Keenan returned to the band to bring them out of hiatus it felt like a big win for music as a whole and now somehow it is eight years later and No Cross No Crown is almost upon us. Have CoC got anything left to offer?
For anyone that has heard ‘Cast The First Stone’, the first single from the album, on any form of radio/streaming service the answer is a massive yes. As a single it has airs of Motörhead from the ‘Kiss Of Death’ album, though Pepper Keenan’s vocals are stronger than Lemmy’s despite not being as iconic.
No Cross No Crown is the first new music to feature Pepper since 2005 and with 10 full length tracks plus 4 intro/interludes we’re really getting the CoC fix that has been missing after the previous couple of efforts didn’t really scratch the itch. The best thing about this album? It goes deep. A lot of albums struggle to make it past the first quartet of tracks before a dip in quality hits. No such problem here though as the duo of ‘Nothing Left To Say’ and ‘Sacred Isolation’ followed by ‘Old Disaster’ after a quick break is as good as anything that is going to be released this year.
It’s early 2018 so it’s difficult to know how this album will sit in 11 months time but there is so much to enjoy here from track 1 to the closing track with the catchy title of ‘A Quest To Believe (A Call To The Void)’. Consider the itch scratched people. This album has everything you want from CoC. It’s heavy, the vocals are powerful, the riffs are dirty. It’s never really been in doubt but despite being in their 4th decade as a band CoC still mean business.
Recommended Track: Cast The First Stone
Rating: 8/10
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