markendust90's Full Review: In The Arms Of God by Corrosion of Conformity
This review is long overdue and I was supposed to do it last summer when it came out but I never got around since I was too busy having fun. Since summer is coming around the corner again, I better get this done before I'm swamped with summer fever and will want to do nothing but have fun. Last summer was also when I first became a fan of Corrosion of Conformity. The Wiseblood record was what bit me and opened the door for me to this band. The southern fried riffs and Pepper Keenan's awesome voice grabbed me by the ears and pulled me in. After a five year break from 2000's America's Volume Dealer, they returned last year with this wonderful album. While it doesn't match Wiseblood, it is quite a keeper in itself.
The blusey lead that starts off "Stone Breakers" will make you follow. Pepper and Woody Weatherman than turn up the distortion, allowing the riffs to sear. Both are a great guitar duo and the kiddies need to hear them more than the guys in Slipknot or Bleeding Through who are both rubbish bands. It has an almost marching like rhythm, especially how the riffs go: Dun dun dun dundun! The drumming sounds different than past CoC records. They are still heavy and pounding like the older records but their tone sounds primitive and un-metallic, like a jazz record. This is also what the band wanted. I appreciate it since it's something different and it doesn't grate your nerves. The chorus will likely become a CoC anthem, "Just ask the stone breakers!".
"Paranoid Opioid" begins with moody and droning riffs, from start to finish. Pepper shouts good and loud like he's actually paranoid. "Close your eyes, another sun rise! Now it's over! Burned by the spoon, now your dying too soon!" When he sings the title, it's pitched shifted to sound like he's under water. "It Is That Way" has soaring verses and choruses, especially when Pepper sings "It is that way because it is!". Mike Dean gets to grace the intro with his bass in "Dirty Hands, Empty Pockets (Already Gone)" and Pepper talks in a low, gravelly voice. It seems to reference the war in Iraq.
"There's a righteous fool among the weak
Where a fallen man is bittersweet
And with his soul he defecates
Into this world we fill with hate
All his lies turn to logic and you've got nothing in your pockets
Who? You!
The truth is hard to find when you've got survival on your mind
If you promise not to tattle, I'll bring your son back home from battle
Keep you floatin on your feet, so you feel alive but you're really asleep
Who? You!"
You observed it from the start, now your a million miles apart
As we bleed another nation so you can watch your favorite station
Now your eyes pop out your sockets with dirty hands and empty pockets
Who? You!"
It has a stonery and blusey vibe though it strives to break out after the "Who? You!" lines and the softness is interrupted by distortion bursts. The song than becomes hard charging after three times of that. Pepper sings a fantastic chorus "One day you will see when your six fee down like me! Remember me, when you are safe at home! Yes, I'm already gone!". You have to be crazy to dislike this song, I tell ya.
"Rise, River, Rise" makes all other modern acoustic songs hang their head's in shame. It's not all gloomy or sappy like a Staind or Saliva ballad. It has a unique atmosphere that makes you feel like you are out in a desert or a canyon. There are small hints of electric leads here and there as well. Pepper's singing in the chorus is so powerful and uplifting that you will never want to hear any other acoustic song from any mainstream band ever again
"River rise from tear drops without warning!
Float away while flooding yesterday!
I'll be gone, I won't be back by mourning!
So rise river rise!
Wash this place away!
Clean my dirty soul
So I can save it
For judgement day!"
"Never Turns To More" has dozens of grooves and hooks that grapple your brain and you can't help but move to them. "Infinite War" has Woody taking the lead vocals and the music is very up tempo and wild. I like how Woody and Pepper sing off each other. Woody shouts "INFINITE WAR!" and Pepper sings back "DEAFINING SOUND!".
"So Much Left Behind" wins as my favorite for this album. It starts with a rumbling drum roll, than the southern fried leads slowly build up and they soon get injected with sunniness. The verses are nice and slow with a lot of feeling. Pepper sings softly but when he shouts "SO MUCH LEFT BEHIND!", the heaviness kicks in. Though it becomes harder, the sunny feeling still resides.
"Drifting away reality!
Follow the hollow river!
Fusion dreams will never be!
Never mean forever!
And the path is hard to find
When there's so much left behind!"
The outro has a cool solo and I love hearing Pepper sing "Gotta keep on movin! Gotta keep on movin! Yeahyeyah! Gotta move on!". It perfectly describes the outro as well as the beat just moves on into the horizon. Every little bit of this song must be heard as it's too great for words. Not even this description is enough.
"Back Slider" has soaring choruses and "World on Fire" is good and heavy. "Crown Of Thorns" is a short acoustic song with clean country singing by the band which leads into the title track. The title track, however, is a different story. It's the most heavy and aggressive CoC song they have done in this decade. Tons of searing and surging southern fried wah-wah riffs, angry shouts, pounding drums and no place for rest. There is no way any trendy band could make a song this forceful and powerful. They can't even come close.
"Sleep tight my friend, you're in the arms of God!"
There is no doubt CoC are the best band you are not listening to. When I first heard them, I immediately felt I was missing something. They were a band I just had to know about and I sought out their albums. Starting on Wiseblood, I became a CoC monger and I will forever be. Though that was my starting point with the band, pretty much any of their albums you can start with and become a fan. This one may be the easiest to find as their older records are somewhat tough to get (Though I got Deliverance and America's Volume Dealer at the store. Wiseblood I had to order. This album I found easily at the store since it's their newest one), I suggest getting this as soon as you can. This album was among the best for 2005 and CoC needs to be heard by all ears.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.