It's been two years since pioneering sludge-metal outfit Corrosion of Conformity reunited with vocalist Pepper Keenan for an extensive run of European and North American tour dates. Turns out their link-up wasn't a one-time deal: The band have just announced No Cross No Crown, their first LP with the Down co-founder over in 12 years. The follow-up to 2014's IX hits shelves January 12th via Nuclear Blast. To accompany the big announcement, Keenan and Co. have unveiled the album's first single, a surly, southern-fried ripper called "Cast the First Stone."
Corrosion of Conformity cut No Cross No Crown last year with longtime producer John Custer, who famously manned the boards on the band's 1991's breakthrough, Blind. "We took our time and didn't put any pressure on ourselves," Keenan says of the recording process. "I'd go up from New Orleans and we'd do four or five days at a time, just hacking away at it. It was fun because we did it like a demo, but in a studio. We were writing and putting it on tape at the same time. We took what parts we thought were great from the old days and weren't scared to go backwards. It kinda wrote itself that way."
Keenan parted ways with Corrosion of Conformity shortly after releasing 2005's In the Arms of God to resume recording and touring with Down. (He never officially left the band.) The remaining members spent the rest of the aughts on hiatus before reforming in 2010. Bassist Mike Dean took over lead vocal duties for their last two albums, 2012's Corrosion of Conformity and the aforementioned IX. The current lineup comprises Keenan on guitars and lead vocals, Mike Dean on bass, Reed Mullin on drums, and Woody Weatherman on guitars.
"Corrosion of Conformity and the prior records I've done with them didn't just go away," Keenan insists. "It's an honor to be back out there and have an opportunity to do it again in a real way and not some washed-up reunion thing. Even before we wrote the record, we were out there for a year seeing there was a demand for it and that there was a void that we could fill. That's been Corrosion of Conformity's deal from day one. We're not chasing anybody around. We're not gonna worry about what the new trends are. Corrosion of Conformity is Corrosion of Conformity."
You can pre-order No Cross No Crown here, and scroll down for the album artwork and track listing.
Corrosion of Conformity - No Cross No Crown track listing
1. "Novus Deus"
2. "The Luddite"
3. "Cast the First Stone"
4. "No Cross"
5. "Wolf Named Crow"
6. "Little Man"
7. "Matre's Diem"
8. "Forgive Me"
9. "Nothing Left To Say"
10. "Sacred Isolation"
11. "Old Disaster"
12. "E.L.M."
13. "No Cross No Crown"
14. "A Quest To Believe (Call to the Void)"
15. "Son and Daughter"
