Last week, Corrosion of Conformity announced No Cross No Crown, their first album in over 12 years with Pepper Keenan, who left the band in 2006 to pursue his duties in the seminal sludge outfit Down. Arriving January 12th via Nuclear Blast, the LP is the unexpected byproduct of the band's 2015 reunion tour, which found the guitarist/vocalist sharing the stage with Woody Weatherman, Mike Dean and Reed Mullin for the first time since his exit.
So how, exactly, did the reunion come to be? Look no further than the band's new interview with journalist J. Bennett for the answer, courtesy of Keenan himself. "I keep telling people you can't plan this stuff out," Keenan said of Corrosion of Conformity's latest chapter. "If the time's there, and it feels right, and everything's right, go for it."
Keenan went on to walk Bennett through the events leading up to the new LP. The frontman said he'd been in talks with the band about a new album since 2014; the group ultimately prioritized the following year's reunion tour over new material, approaching the shows as a test balloon by which to measure fans' interest. "We thought we'd do like 20 shows and see if we could get into something, and maybe do a record," Keenan explained. "It ended up being two years of that, which was a weird thing without having a record. It kind of tested that, and it tested positive," he concluded with a laugh.
Watch Corrosion of Conformity's interview with Bennett now. Check out the band's comeback single "Cast the First Stone" below, accompanied by the sludgy stalwarts' upcoming tour dates.
Corrosion of Conformity tour dates:
Dec. 27 – Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre
Dec. 29 – Sioux City, IA – Anthem at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Dec. 30 – Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theater
Dec. 31 – Sauget, IL – Pop's Nightclub
Jan. 02-18 – Omaha, NE – Sokol Auditorium
Jan. 03 – Chicago, IL – House of Blues
Jan. 04 – Indianapolis, IN – Egyptian Room at Old National Centre
Jan. 05 – Detroit, MI – Fillmore Detroit
Jan. 07 – Clifton Park, NY – Upstate Concert Hall
Jan. 08 – Montreal, Québec – Talus
Jan. 09 – Toronto, Ontario – Rebel
Jan. 10 – Grand Rapids, MI – 20 Monroe Live
Jan. 12 – Oklahoma City, OK – Diamond Ballroom
Jan. 13 – Dallas, TX – Bomb Factory
Jan. 14 – Austin, TX – Emo's
Jan. 15 – Houston, TX – House of Blues
Jan. 17 – New Orleans, LA – House of Blues
Jan. 18 – Nashville, TN – Marathon Music Works
Jan. 19 – Cincinnati, OH – Bogart's
Jan. 20 – Atlanta, GA – Center Stage
Jan. 26 – St. Petersburg, FL – Jannus Live !
Jan. 27 – Myrtle Beach, SC – House of Blues !
Jan. 28 – Raleigh, NC – The Ritz !
Jan. 29 – Silver Spring, MD – The Fillmore Silver Spring !
Jan. 31 – New York, NY – PlayStation Theater !
Feb. 01 – Worcester, MA – The Palladium !
Feb. 02 – Portland, ME – Aura !
Feb. 03 – Philadelphia, PA – Electric Factory !
Feb. 05 – Buffalo, NY – Town Ballroom !
Feb. 06 – Akron, OH – The Goodyear Theater at East End !
Feb. 07 – Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE !
Feb. 08 – Milwaukee, WI – Eagles Ballroom Club Stage !
Feb. 09 – St. Paul, MN – Myth Live !
