FROM THE CRYPTS - CELEBRATING PAST ALBUM RELEASES in the HISTORY of HARD ROCK & HEAVY METAL…
On October 25, 1985, Corrosion of Conformity released their second full-length studio album, Animosity via Enigma/Death Records. The album cover art was done by artist Pushead.
Background:
Corrosion of Conformity was formed in Raleigh, North Carolina, by bassist and vocalist Mike Dean, guitarist Woody Weatherman, drummer Reed Mullin (R.I.P.), and singer Benji Shelton in 1982. They were influenced by Heavy Metal bands like Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Scorpions, and Judas Priest, as well as by Hardcore groups like Black Flag, Bad Brains, The Circle Jerks, Minor Threat, Discharge, and The Germs.
They released tracks on the No Core cassette tape compilation on the label of the same name along with other North Carolina punk bands in 1982 as well as on the Why are we here? 7" compilation in 1983, also on the No Core label. Shelton quit the band in 1983 and COC first recruited Robert Stewart to sing but he stayed only for about a month, so they recruited Eric Eycke from fellow Raleigh band Colcor to be the new singer. They recorded their first album, Eye for an Eye, with Eycke.
Their Hardcore Punk-oriented 20-track debut Eye for an Eye —the only album featuring Eycke— was initially released in 1984 and later re-released by Caroline Records in 1989. Soon after, Eycke left the band and COC continued as a three-piece with Dean and Mullin sharing vocal duties on 1985's follow-up Animosity.
Side A of Animosity opens with Loss For Words, which begins with a roll across some roto-toms and a quick succession of palm muted 16th notes, immediately telling the listener this will be a progression from previous COC records. After some effective start-stop-start Thrashing, the band drop into a heavy mosh riff that sounds like something Suicidal might have written. It’s got the same party-mosh beat that Suicide’s An Alternative cultivated, but with a much more menacing atmosphere and a deeper groove.
COC doesn’t sound like speed freaks, they sound like pot-heads, and that’s meant to be a compliment. If there’s any doubt in your mind just wait til they shift down to first gear again to Sabbath type sludge, and a gloriously loose atonal solo, that sounds like the 2nd cousin of a classic Greg Ginn run. If there’s such a thing as Stoner-Thrash, this has to be it. Mike Dean’s vocals howl and growl their way into paranoid, angry oblivion with worlds more expression than previous “singers”, Eric Eycke and Benji Shelton, sounding absolutely sinister and disturbed. If more crossover bands had been able to display the kind of versatility that COC does just in the first 5 minutes of Animosity, maybe it wouldn’t have died such a quick death as a subgenre.
Next up is Mad World, a reworking of a song originally on the No Core comp with a more rocked out delivery, and more manic vocals. Guitar player Woody Weatherman (great name!) tears a wild solo sure to make the likes of Bubba Dupree proud (or jealous) and Reed Mullin keeps the pace under control playing a little behind the beat for a more savage feel. Consumed is track 3 and it opens with a heavy call response section between the bass and guitar before taking off with the main riff. Holier and Positive Outlook move things along well with some good gang back-up portions, and mind-melting riffs-a-plenty.
Side B of the album is in some ways an entirely different beast. Specifically, it’s from a very different sounding recording session, and while both sides have a heavy sound, Side-B is much more raw. The drums and vocals particularly have a lot of added distortion, the vocals even sound like they were probably sung through a distortion pedal. It’s sort of crazy to think that think that a record released on Enigma/Death records in 1985, that was trying to appeal to a wider audience would have had this sound for the b-side, but there it is. Things open with the album highlight Prayer which has Dean at his most demonic sounding, and one of the most menacing breakdowns ever with Dean and some backup shouters repeating the line: Pray, pray, pray for power against a riff half way between Pentagram and Discharge.
The next song, Intervention, starts with some unaccompanied growls and rasps, sounding like someone spitting blood up, and then enters into a circular noodling bassline which eventually gives way to the full band. Most of the songs on this side sound like they were probably written before the songs on the A-side as they are a little bit simpler, and dirtier in their presentation. It makes me wonder if there might be an entire lp’s worth of tunes from this session. Kiss Of Death and Hungry Child flesh out this distort-o nightmare version of COC, and definitely cement Animosity, Side-B, as their most crazy sounding material. The album closes with an instrumental title track, a heavy dirging jam on a couple of sludgy endless riffs. It’s a good way to finish things out.
Reviews from the time tend to complain about the more metallic and “heavy” elements that COC introduced on this album, and I’m sure there are some purists today who still feel their best work is their first lp, Eye For An Eye.
Looking retrospectively at their career and where this album fit into the larger Hardcore and Metal landscapes though, I’m fairly certain that this is their most original work. Eye For An Eye is a good Hardcore album, but Animosity is just a great album. You could call it Hardcore or Crossover, or maybe even Metal, but I just know it’s extremely ferocious and brutalizing. An added bonus to this album is that it features early Pushead art.
Critical Reception:
In a review for AllMusic, Vincent Jeffries wrote;
“Released in 1985, this second full-length Corrosion of Conformity offering features Mike Dean (bass and vocals,) Reed Mullin (drums), and Woody Weatherman on guitar. Just as the N.C. group's lineup constantly shifted, so did their music. While still plenty hyper, Animosity has a bit more metal mixed in with the hardcore punk of the band's debut, Eye for an Eye. Weatherman's guitars and Mullin's drums get a more sophisticated studio treatment, creating a thicker sound that reflects a mid-80s thrash influence. C.O.C. weren't following any trends, they just incorporated all the things they liked about thrash, punk and '70s metal originators Black Sabbath into their constantly evolving brand of down-home hardcore. The politically charged lyrics that marked the group's early-career progressive outspokenness are very evident on tracks like Mad World and Intervention. With its thematic and sonic improvements to their successfully established punk, Animosity secured Corrosion of Conformity's artistic and commercial credibility.”
Note:
• Metallica, longtime fans of Corrosion of Conformity, performed the song Holier at least twice live in concert (Los Angeles and Donington).
• Monster Voodoo Machine covered the song "Holier" on their 1998 release Direct Reaction Now! (it was the hidden track).
• Severed Head of State covered Prayer on their 2002 EP release No Love Lost.
• Mr. Bungle covered Loss for Words several times during their Disco Volante tour and released their version on The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo in 2020.
• A cover of Hungry Child appears on Agoraphobic Nosebleed's compilation album Bestial Machinery (Discography Volume 1).
• All Out War covered Mad World as a hidden track on their 1998 LP For Those Who Were Crucified.
Note: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells
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