CORROSION OF CONFORMITY レコード& CD

Review: Originally released in 2005 as the follow up to the more accessible, melodious alt rock endeavour that was 2000's America's Volume Dealer, the seventh full-length from Raleigh, North Carolina stoner/sludge legends Corrosion Of Conformity, boasting the epic title In The Arms Of God, would take a half decade of introspection and self-reappraisal to materialise. Rediscovering their incomparable knack for hefty trudging riffs that displace the Louisiana bayou blues to caverns of beer-soaked sludge, for many the album signalled a return to form with both critics and avid fans celebrating the band's more corrosive elements once again. The only project not to feature drummer Reed Mullin as this was during his sabbatical from the group, while most notably being the final work with primary songwriter and overall mastermind Pepper Keenan until his glorious return on 2018's No Cross No Crown.

Review: Originally released at the turn of the new millennium, America's Volume Dealer marked the sixth full-length from North Carolina sludging southern metal legends Corrosion Of Conformity, and would be the last to feature longtime drummer Reed Mullin before his return a decade later in 2010. Noted for being the band's most accessible or "radio-friendly" project due to the more polished production and increased reliance on melody, there's no denying that while the dank stoner-heft grooves of old are largely absent, the more alternative rock-leaning approach to their signature brand of metallic, southern blues, in hindsight, was a remarkable breath of fresh air within their back catalogue.