Corrosion of Conformity

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Corrosion of Conformity
Background information
Origin Raleigh, North Carolina, United States
Genre(s) Heavy metal, Crossover thrash
Years active 1982 – present
Label(s) Sanctuary Records
Columbia Records
Metal Blade Records
Relativity Records
Caroline Records
Associated
acts		 Down
No Labels
Leadfoot
Website http://www.coc.com
Members
Pepper Keenan
Woody Weatherman
Mike Dean
Jason Patterson
Former members
Reed Mullin
Karl Agell
Phil Swisher
Simon Bob Sinister
Eric Eycke
Robert Stewart
Benji Shelton

Corrosion of Conformity also known as C.O.C. is an American heavy metal band from Raleigh, North Carolina formed in 1982 and are still active.

Contents

[edit] History

C.O.C. started as a hardcore punk band in 1982 in Raleigh, North Carolina, with original members Reed Mullin on drums, Woody Weatherman on guitar, Mike Dean on bass and Benji Shelton on vocals. COC were pioneers of the crossover thrash genre in the 1980s.

They were featured on the "No Core" compilation tape and made their vinyl debut in 1983 on the "Why Are We Here" 7" compilation with other North Carolina area bands like Blood Mobile, Stillborn Christians, and No Labels.

Benji soon departed and was replaced by Eric Eycke in time for the "Eye for an Eye" LP in 1984. While still very much a hardcore punk record, this was the band's first dabbling in the heavy metal and they began to play more gigs with straight up metal bands like Slayer.

Soon after, Eric left the band and COC continued as a three piece with Mike and Reed sharing the vocal duties on the 1986 follow up LP "Animosity", considered to be one of the classic records in the "cross-over" genre. "Animosity" got rave reviews in punk and heavy metal fanzines across the globe.

In 1987, COC recruited Simon Bob Sinister away from their fellow Carolina band and Death Records labelmates, Ugly Americans. The band's 1987 release, Technocracy featured the hectic thrash musicianship of COC with a cleaner vocal style than they had in the past.

Mike Dean departed in 1987 and Simon Bob soon followed, leaving COC in a state of flux for a couple of years. The remaining members re-tuned the line up and searched for a new vocalist, even posting a classified in Flipside Fanzine for a singer similar in sound to "James Hetfield or Ozzy Osbourne" to go with their new metal sound. Caroline Records released some old tracks with Mike singing during this time with the aptly named "Six Songs With Mike Singing" EP.

After much searching, Karl Agell was recruited on vocals, Phil Swisher on bass and Pepper Keenan on rhythm guitar. COC gravitated towards a more straightforward heavy metal sound. By 1991's Blind they had become a heavy metal band. Blind was the first COC album to receive mainstream attention. The video for Vote With A Bullet received airplay on MTV and the album cracked the Billboard Heatseekers chart in early 1992. The album has sold around 250,000 copies in the US to date.

In 1993, Agell and Swisher left the band and formed the band Leadfoot, Dean returned and Keenan took over lead vocals. The following year COC signed to Columbia Records, and the release of Deliverance saw the band move toward Southern metal, a sound that they also carried onto the Wiseblood and America's Volume Dealer albums.

Deliverance was the band's biggest selling album. This was mainly due to the singles Albatross and Clean My Wounds becoming Top 20 hits on rock radio and the album managed to spend almost 4 months on the Billboard Top 200, peaking at No.155. On the Heastseekers chart, it peaked at No.5 and lasted almost a year on that particular chart. US sales for the album were just over 440,000 by the end of 2005 and this album should be eligible for Gold status within the next few years.

Wiseblood was released in October 1996. Despite producing a Top 30 radio hit with Drowning In A Day Dream and a worldwide tour with Metallica, the album failed to match the sales set by the previous album. Total US sales to date are just over 150,000.

COC was nominated for a 1998 Grammy Award in the "Best Metal Performance" category for the song "Drowning in a Daydream" off Wiseblood. Soon after that, Columbia dropped COC, who then moved to Sanctuary Records. The band released its first album for its new label, America's Volume Dealer, in November 2000. The album was even more of a commercial failure than Wiseblood not even managing to make the Billboard Top 200. However, the single, Congratulations Song, did give the band another Top 30 hit. No videos were made from the album. Mullin left the band in 2001. Since then the band has worked with a series of drummers: Jimmy Bower of Down, Stanton Moore of Galactic and Jason Patterson, who previously played drums in the Raleigh-based rock band Cry of Love.

In April 2005, COC released In The Arms Of God to much critical acclaim. The album performed much better than their previous effort, debuting at No.108 on the Billboard Top 200 and even topping the Heatseekers chart. This was achieved without even one radio hit from the album. A video was made for the song Stonebreaker which saw airplay on MTV2's recently revived Headbanger's Ball. The band spent the rest of the year touring the US and Canada. They were the opening acts for Motörhead and Disturbed and also went on headlining tours with Crowbar, Fu Manchu, Alabama Thunderpussy and Danko Jones all providing support. A European tour was scheduled for September/October 2005 but was later cancelled. A co-headlining UK tour with Clutch commenced in January 2006.

In recent years COC has mixed elements of stoner rock with their metal sound. They have also collaborated with a number of other artists: James Hetfield of Metallica contributed vocals to the song "Man or Ash" on Wiseblood; Warren Haynes of the Allman Brothers' Band and Gov't Mule played slide guitar on "Stare Too Long" on America's Volume Dealer; and Stanton Moore of Galactic played drums on In The Arms of God.

Members of COC have also participated in collaborations: Keenan plays guitar with the metal supergroup Down, and Dean contributed vocals to a track titled "Access Babylon" on former Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl's Probot project.

[edit] Members

[edit] Former members

  • Reed Mullin – drums (1982–2001)
  • Karl Agell – vocals (Blind)
  • Phil Swisher – bass (Blind)
  • Simon Bob Sinister – vocals (Technocracy)
  • Eric Eycke – vocals (Eye For An Eye)
  • Robert Stewart – vocals (performed live, never recorded)
  • Benji Shelton – vocals (original vocalist)

[edit] Collaborators

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Album Cover Date of Release Title Label Chart positions US sales
1983 Eye for an Eye Caroline Records
October 1985 Animosity Metal Blade Records
1991 Blind Relativity Records
November 27, 1994 Deliverance Columbia Records 155
October 12, 1996 Wiseblood Columbia Records 104
October 10, 2000 America's Volume Dealer (Available as Dualdisc) Sanctuary Records
August 7, 2001 Live Volume CD, DVD and DVDA Sanctuary Records
April 5, 2005 In the Arms of God Sanctuary Records 108

[edit] EPs

Album Cover Date of Release Title Label Chart positions US sales
1987 Technocracy Metal Blade Records
1989 Six Songs With Mike Singing: 1985 Metal Blade Records

[edit] Compilations

  • No Core tape (1982, No Core)
  • Why Are We Here? 7" (1983, No Core Records, "Poison Planet", "Indifferent", "Too Cool")
  • Cleanse the Bacteria LP (1985, Pusmort Records, "Kiss of Death")
  • Thrasher Skate Rock Vol. 3 LP (1986, Thrasher/High Speed Records, "What", "Not For Me", "Citizen")
  • Empty Skulls Vol. 2 LP (1986, Fartblossom Records, "Center of the World", "Eye for an Eye", "Negative Outlook")
  • Complete Death LP (1986, Death Records, "Loss for Words")
  • Life is a Joke Vol. 2 LP (1986, Weird System Records, "Eye for an Eye")
  • Flipside Vinyl Fanzine Vol. 3 LP (1987, Gasatanka Records, "Intervention")
  • Rat Music for Rat People 3 LP (1987, CD Presents Records, "Bound")
  • "Clerks" Soundtrack LP (1994, Columbia Records, "Big Problems")
  • Nativity In Black: A Tribute To Black Sabbath LP (1994, Columbia Records, "Lord of This World")
  • Duke Nukem: Music To Score By LP (1999, RED Interactive, "Land Of The Free Disease")

[edit] Music videos

  • "Vote with a Bullet" (1992)
  • "Dance of the Dead" (1992)
  • "Albatross" (1994)
  • "Clean My Wounds" (1994)
  • "Wiseblood" (1996)
  • "Drowning in a Daydream" (1996)
  • "Stonebreaker" (2005)

[edit] External links

Corrosion of Conformity
Pepper Keenan • Woody Weatherman • Mike Dean
Reed Mullin • Karl Agell • Phil Swisher • Simon Bob Sinister • Eric Eycke • Benji Shelton
Discography
Albums: - Eye for an Eye • Animosity • Blind • Deliverance • Wiseblood • America's Volume Dealer • Live Volume • In the Arms of God
EPs: - Technocracy • Six Songs With Mike Singing
Music Videos: - Vote with a Bullet • Dance of the Dead • Albatross • Clean My Wounds • Wiseblood • Drowning in a Daydream • Stonebreaker
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