Corrosion of Conformity formed in the early ‘80’s in Raleigh, North Carolina and can be considered the epitome of real, raw southern thrash metal.
Original lineup consisted of Reed Mullin (drums, vocals), Mike Dean (bass, vocals), Woody Weatherman (guitar), and Pepper Keenan (rhythm guitar/ vocals). Through the last 30+ years, the lineup changed as original members stepped away to pursue other avenues. Recently however, the stars re-aligned and the original founding members found themselves together again, ready to pick up where they had left off.
I was lucky enough to get to speak with one of those founding members, drummer Reed Mullin, about where the guys are currently regarding new music, the upcoming tour with Clutch and Lamb of God, and more
I see that you guys pick up in Wilmington tonight?
Yep. Yeah, we’ve always done pretty well here. It’s weird, I think it was like the early nineties there was a club down here- because Wilmington isn’t that big of a city- there was a place down here called Mad Monk and we would fuck that place up. So, we still have a pretty good following down here.
Do you have any favorite stops or favorite venues to play?
Yeah, I don’t know, I can’t think of any bad ones, really. Everything has been pretty packed out. I’m looking forward to the last show on this run which is Richmond, VA. Because, you know, Richmond is so close to Raleigh so we’ve played shows to fans in Richmond since we first started in ‘81- ‘82. So that show should be awesome. We’ve got Eyehategod with us on that one.
Tell me about what the vibe is like regarding this upcoming run with Clutch.
Oh this thing coming up with Clutch & Lamb of God! Oh man, if I wasn’t already playing the tour, I’d probably pay scalper prices to see that show! That show is gonna be sick! All three bands are really good at what they do. Clutch puts on such a phenomenal show- and I’ve never seen Lamb of God, but I’ve seen Randy perform, and yeah, he’s a monster. He’s one of the best front guys ever, I think. And Neil, too!
Yeah, I’m with you on that! Neil’s one of my favorites! I definitely consider him one of the best front guys ever.
Yeah! He really is! It’s gonna be super sick! And JP is also one of the most phenomenal drummers- he’s got more of that jazzy feel now, but yeah! We’re looking forward to it! Being out with Clutch and those guys from the old days. They did- I think it might’ve been their first or second show ever- opening up for us.
Really?
Yeah, so we know them pretty good.
That’s awesome! What’s the setlist looking like for these upcoming dates? Are you guys playing mostly off of the Wiseblood and Deliverance albums?
Well, yeah sets are comprised mainly of those two albums with a little Volume Dealer and a little Blind. I think anyone who is a CoC fan will be super into it and super stoked, but anyone who’s a Pepper Keenan era CoC fan- it will be mega- over the top.
Albatross
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Tell me what a typical “day of show” looks like for you guys when you’re out on tour.
Well, right now we haven’t been “touring” much, but you know, just your standard setup- hopefully you’re on a bus so you can get some damn sleep. Sometimes, depending on how much time we have, we try to get out and check out what’s around town, site see, depending where we are and what time allows. And this time around we’ll be trying to write songs which is something we haven’t really done before. We just got this record deal with Nuclear Blast and the goal is this year we’re gonna try to get an album out. So yeah, it’s gonna be a little difficult, but I think we’re all super motivated to get it going.
Well that should be a good time to focus in on writing when you’re on the road.
Yeah!
I know by crowd sourcing and asking fellow fans what they want to know about Corrosion of Conformity, the most popular answer was regarding new music. So I think the general consensus is just that fans are really excited for this lineup to be back together and they’re ready to hear some new stuff.
Oh yeah! We’ll be working on that!
So, the plan for after tour is to have some material ready to start the studio process?
Mmm hmm. Yep. Pep was talking about some studio out of Louisiana that he’s worked with before and that place sounds really cool. I know we’ll be working with John Custer again- he’s done all the CoC records since the Blind album. He’s not a “band” member, but he’s been with us for so long, he’s essential. He knows all of our idiosyncrasies and how to get the best takes out of each of us. He’s like another member of the band, so we’ll definitely be working with him. I think we’ll probably do some more demoing with him between now and the Clutch thing- because we’ve already done a couple of sessions of demos up in Raleigh where we’re from. So that’s what we’re shootin for, a lot of super slippery, heavy- good stuff. A lot of variety, a lot of flavors, a lot of different styles of “punk rock”, because you know, we like to drop the rock like no other brothers!
(Laughs). And that you do!
Yes mam!
Tell me some of your personal favorites to play from the catalog. Is “Albatross” one of them? I know it seems to be a popular one for you to discuss.
Oh yeah! “Albatross” is one of my favorites. Me and Pepper wrote that one. That one is always fun. A big crowd favorite.
You think that the one that gets some of the best energy from the crowd, too?
Both “Albatross” and “Clean My Wounds”. Those are the big ones. They go pretty crazy for some of the different stuff too- because we’re always trying to switch it up. We had a pretty stable set last year, but we’re trying to add like 4 or 5 new songs on this one and add a little more variety to it.
Are there any songs you like to play off of the albums that you weren’t involved on?
A song that I really like to play- off of the only album I didn’t play on, “In the Arms of God”, a song called “Paranoid Opioid” and yeah- it’s super sick! That’s a great song! When we first got back together last year, the dudes wanted to do a couple of songs from that album and I was like, “Well, I mean, I don’t know guys”. Because some of the songs we were talking about were like 6, almost 7 minutes long, and live, that’s almost a quarter of a set. But then I came back and was like, “Alright, yeah, I’ll learn ‘em”, and then I liked playing the songs so much that we ended up putting both of them in the set. (Laughs). But yeah, “Paranoid Opioid” and “Stone Breaker”.
Stone Breaker
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How about “Drowning in A Daydream”? How often do you guys play it?
Um. Like- never. (Laughs). That’s one of those that a lot of folks like, that we don’t really like all that much.
(Side note for readers: Drowning in a Daydream was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 1998, which was lost to Tool- Anemia).
Aw!!
Yeah. That’s the one we got nominated for a Grammy for, but I don’t really think we’ve ever really played it- like maybe on one little tour or something.
Oh wow! Why is that?
Well, the back story with that song- and this is probably one of the reasons that I, speaking for myself, don’t like it, is because when we turned the Wiseblood record in at Columbia and we were like, “Hey, here’s our new album.”
They were betting on us having like a “Clean My Wounds” sort of- more “radio friendly” type of thing. So they were like, “Well, we don’t hear a single in there.” So, we were like, “Uh. Well, we don’t know what to tell you, this is what we wrote. We think it’s badass.”
And they said, “Well you guys gotta go back in the studio and record us a single.”
And we were like, “What the fuck are ya’ll talkin about?”
And they were like, “Yeah, no, you gotta do it or we’re not gonna release your album; we’re just gonna shelf it.”
So, of course, we were like, “What the fuck?” We were in a situation where they were telling us what to do, and you know, it’s not “that song,” it was just the “being told what to do.” Speaking for myself, it just left a bad taste in my mouth- but then again, the fans love it. I mean, it’s crazy, but yeah. That’s the backstory on that.
(Laughs) Yeah, I can see where that might leave a bad taste in your mouth! But it’s still a rad song!
Drowning in a Daydream (Video)
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I think that about concludes everything that I had planned to talk with you about. Is there anything else you might want to add? Anything you might think fans want to know- other than get out to a show when you come through?!
Oh yeah! Definitely get to a show! You’re gonna be at a show, right? Tulsa?
Yeah! I’ll be at the Tulsa show!
Right on! I’ll look forward to meeting you. Thanks for calling!
Absolutely! Thanks for taking the time to talk with us! We appreciate it!
On a personal note, the first time I remember hearing Corrosion of Conformity, like many other bands of the era, was probably on Beavis and Butthead around 1996 (I would’ve been a sophomore in high school), but I didn’t learn to truly appreciate them for their contribution to thrash/ southern metal greatness until around 2006. Their raw, sludgy riffs, super thrash beats, grimy vocals and killer writing can elude the inner stripper in the most refined of ladies. This will be the first time I get to see them live and I’m super stoked to get to see a band that, for awhile, many of us thought would never get to see in it’s “OG” form. Mega bonus- I get to see them with one of my all- time favorites, Clutch, as well as metal divinity, Lamb of God.
Check to see when you can catch Corrosion of Conformity in your area on the schedule below or follow the links to get your tickets here. Meanwhile, CoC fans can stay tuned to RockRevolt for updates and coverage!
Connect With Corrosion of Conformity:
By Summer Wait, RockRevoltMagazine Photographer
2016-04-29 London (Desertfest) GB
2016-04-30 Dublin (Button Factory) IE
2016-05-01 Belfast (Limelight 2) GB
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