Maximum Metal Rating Legend
5 Excellent - Masterpiece. A classic.
4.5-4 Great - Almost perfect records but there's probably a lacking.
3.5 Good - Most of the record is good, but there may be some filler.
3 Average - Some good songs, some bad ones at about a half/half ratio.
2.5-2 Fair - Worth a listen, but best obtained by collectors.
1.5-1 Bad - Major problems with music, lyrics, production, etc.
0 Terrible - Waste of your life and time.

Note: Reviews are graded from 0-5, anything higher or not showing is from our old style. Scores, however, do not reveal the important features. The written review that accompanies the ratings is the best source of information regarding the music on our site. Reviewing is opinionated, not a qualitative science, so scores are personal to the reviewer and could reflect anything from being technically brilliant to gloriously cheesy fun.

Demos and independent releases get some slack since the bands are often spent broke supporting themselves and trying to improve. Major releases usually have big financial backing, so they may be judged by a heavier hand. All scores can be eventually adjusted up or down by comparison of subsequent releases by the same band. We attempt to keep biases out of reviews and be advocates of the consumer without the undo influence of any band, label, management, promoter, etc.

The best way to determine how much you may like certain music is to listen to it yourself.
Band
Corrosion Of Conformity
Title
No Cross No Crown
Type
LP/EP
Company
Nuclear Blast
YOR
2018
Style
Doom/Stoner
1/5/2018 - Review by: Eric Compton
Heavy, Sabbath doom stroked in the fires of North Carolina's southern rock
Corrosion of Conformity are back to loading with full metal jackets. Pepper has reunited with Mike, Reed, and Woody to place the band firmly in the arms of God--heavy, Sabbath doom stroked in the fires of North Carolina's southern rock. Pepper's return to the fold pulls the band back into the realms of heavy metal, loosening the punk chains that have restrained the band for the last six years. 'No Cross No Crown' is the ultimate COC version, melding the brick-breaking riffage of 'Deliverance', 'Wiseblood' and 'In the Arms of God' into a surefire album of the year nominee as we sit here in January of 2018. In simplistic terms...this is a fucking beast.

Like a victorious cry that celebrates the band's newfound unity, "The Luddite" proclaims to "Grind down the iron gears!". It's a steadfast lyric that is a testament to the album--fight, protest, destroy while citing 19th Century English textile workers and their war with modernization. With one of the band's most persevering riffs (think Iommi's menacing bite on 'Born Again'), "The Luddite" is a phenomenal opening track that shows the band in top form. The album's lead single, "Cast the First Stone", follows with a mid-tempo to faster track that has a hint of punk's restlessness while maintaining some twin guitar harmony and Pepper's poetic nuances--"forget the war is won, said the God behind the sun, desperate hold him down, beware the cross and crown". "Old Disaster" continues the push into more metallic realms, a slow burn with a beefy block of groove and distorted vocals. "E.L.M." pushes the envelope, exploring what I have always loved about this band; the seemingly reincarnation of Thin Lizzy in construction and sound. That same approach injects a host of melodies into "Wolf Named Crow" and the hard rock strut of "Little Man".

'No Cross No Crown' is the record we desired and required in 2018. It's loud, melodic, bombastically heavy and scrapes the back gravel roads in the pursuit of tenacity. There's some career potholes and a fragmented regime in the rearview, but Pepper is back and this band has "A Quest to Believe". I'm anxious to see what the band does with their newfound magic and power--take over the world or just the city?
  • 1 :REVIEW COUNT
    4.5 :AVE RATING

ALL REVIEWS FOR: CORROSION OF CONFORMITY
TITLE
DOR
COMPANY
REVIEWER DATE MADE RATING
In The Arms of God
2005
Sanctuary Records
Susan Wright3/17/2005
-
IX
2014
Candlelight
Vinaya Saksena1/7/2015
4
No Cross No Crown
2018
Nuclear Blast
Eric Compton1/5/2018
4.5

ALL INTERVIEWS FOR: CORROSION OF CONFORMITY
INTERVIEW INTERVIEWER DATE TAGLINE
Woody WeathermanSusan Wright3/8/2005


<< back >>