Corrosion of
Conformity – In The Arms of God
(Sanctuary, 2005)
Buy the album here
Let’s
start by addressing why this Corrosion of Conformity album, and not Deliverance or Wiseblood, is the topic of this post. When In The Arms of God made its long-awaited appearance I had been a
COC fan for nearly ten years, and I considered both their classic mid-90s
albums among my all-time favourites. Deliverance and Wiseblood are genre-defining albums that bridged the gap from heavy
metal to more MTV-friendly hard rock without sacrificing an ounce of the band’s
originality, credibility, or identity.
Their southern-fried metal-rock crossover is infused with politicised
anger, provocative lyrics, and cultured musicianship. They are important albums that continue to
dominate my thoughts and shape the music that I’m drawn towards. They are the albums that COC fans will
discuss and debate online to determine which is their best. But neither of them have quite captured my
imagination or challenged my preconceptions of the genre in the way of In The Arms of God. This is an album that intertwines the epic,
the personal, the domestic, and all things in between. It constructs for itself an aural atmosphere
that enhances the songs in the moment and the memory of your listening
experience after the fact. It is
impassioned song-writing laid down in surprising and exciting ways, and I have
no doubts that there are many more COC fans who consider it their favourite
record, whether consciously or not. I am
writing about this COC album because it is their best.
Flooding
in on a wave of organ, the opening solo sets out COC’s approach on this record:
they don’t give a shit what people expect.
This record is going to go where the hell it pleases, is going to ask
you questions you’ve never been asked, and isn’t really going to care what your
answer is. It is at times
catastrophically heavy but somehow never steps outside of the hard rock/metal
crossover for which COC are known.
“Stone Breaker” may have taken fans by surprise on first listen, but it
is a spine-tingling and dynamic song that plays with Led Zeppelin guitar epic
stylings, hardcore aggression, and gigantic, irresistible riffs that will have
people’s heads flying off their necks.
All that without even mentioning the stellar drumming performance of
stand-in drummer, Stanton Moore, who brings a depth of sound and drum fill
prowess that are impressive and memorable.
The seamless manner in which Mike Dean’s bass sound and Moore’s drum
lines work together is testament to their abilities and contributes to a
heavier overall sound. That heaviness
continues with “Paranoid Opioid” in which we are thrashed relentlessly by a
riff from COC’s hardcore days while being spun into confusion by the psyched-out
vocals. As strong as this opening duo
is, it’s third track “It Is That Way” that will have fans feeling at home. The train samples and echoed drums of the
intro give the impression the band are playing in some NOLA dirt patch, while
the slower paced bluesy guitar tones from Woody Weatherman and Pepper Keenan’s
welcoming drawl hark back to earlier work, and perfectly set up the listener
for the album’s most idiosyncratic and atmospheric passage.
“Dirty
Hands Empty Pockets/Already Gone”, like its title, is split: part rumbling bass
with gravelly spoken word, part giant riff explosions. It feels like pure COC, but is bold enough to
spend more time on building anticipation than on the catchy, headbanging
sections. It’s a decision that pays off
with each lunge into that riff being a highlight of the album. “Rise River Rise”
is another. Again displaying patience
and a willingness to stand out from its surroundings, this track takes the layered
atmospherics to the hilt with three guitar sounds flowing over one another. A thick electric sound forms the foundation
upon which an electro-acoustic riff slides, before squealing leads offer
accents and changes of direction. Pepper
Keenan’s hard rock clean vocal and the wailed and whispered backing vocals perfectly
complete the epic disaster atmosphere that ties so neatly into the biblical
feel of this album. It is a truly entrancing
song.
After
extended atmospherics “Never Turns to More” bursts to life with phenomenal drumming
and breakneck riffing. The long bridge
section is filled with beautiful guitar and vocal details and fully justifies
this track’s status as the album’s longest.
“Infinite War” is much quicker to get to the point. Blistering with hardcore aggro, tight riffing,
and pounding drumming, this song steps on your neck to ram home its simple
message. In the brief moments it eases
up the musicianship is astounding. Weatherman’s
leads, the weight of Moore’s drums feeling like 60s and 70s psych, and Keenan’s
vocals all bring unique qualities that enhance and diversify this brutal rager.
COC
introduce the album’s final passage with the classically mid-paced “World On
Fire”. Weatherman’s closing solo is epic,
and is the final moment of light before the melancholy of “Crown of Thorns” and
the utter devastation of “In The Arms of God”.
The former is upsetting with its cries of pain, distorted spoken word
samples, and eerie rocking chair sounds building a portentous atmosphere. The latter takes that atmosphere and throws it
in to the heavens with rumbling and cascading drum fills, escalating riffing,
and furious screams of Nietzschean angst.
It feels like every muscle is trying to tear itself from your bones as
you try to keep up with the desire to explode like the music you’re listening
to. At this moment the entire last hour
of music you have listened to feels like nothing more than precursor to this
insane riff epic. It is not without
interesting detail either, but the final feeling is one of pure heavy metal
exhaustion where every last bit of passion, energy, and anger has been spent in
releasing this built-up pressure.
In The Arms of God is breath-taking. It hits me on every level as hard now as it
did when it was released. There are no
faults to be found, no spare moments, and no wasted ideas. Everything contributes to the whole and that
whole makes each song better in return.
I might not convince every COC fan that this record is their best, but I
hope that everyone who reads this takes an hour in a room with a stereo turned
all the way up, and sets themselves In
The Arms of God.
