Description

Corrosion of Conformity finally hit on the perfect lineup after a decade of shuffling members and knock out a bone crushing, yet astutely intelligent and passionate album. Wiseblood sounds not unlike its predecessor, Deliverance, with southern rock leanings and crushing Black Sabbathy riffs, but it's more methodical and deliberate and less adrenaline-hyped overload. The band lets the songs stretch out and breathe, allowing the listener to fully soak in the big rock vibe, without having it furiously hammered home. This is the Corrosion album that I return to the most. While the previous album, "Deliverance," has many great songs, it also has a modicum of filler material. On "Wiseblood" there is no filler, whatsoever. Their follow-up to this, "America's Volume Dealer," has no filler, but is also radio-ready, and grows tired after a few spins. But "Wiseblood" does not grow old. In fact, the more times I hear it, the more I appreciate the attempt at updating their influences with mid-90s studio production value. This band has freely admitted to using Black Sabbath as a template for their style, but every once in a while a Motorhead influence comes through. Just check out the riffs and no-nonsense attitude on the song ‘Wishbone(some tomorrow)’. Anyway, ‘Deliverance’ and ‘Americas Volume Dealer’ are splendid albums but ‘Wiseblood’ is their best. James Hetfield (Metallica) does backing vocals on ‘Man or Ash’. Track listing: 1. King of the Rotten 2. Long Whip/Big America 3. Wiseblood 4. Goodbye Windows 5. Born Again for the Last Time 6. Drowning in a Daydream 7. The Snake Has No Head 8. The Door 9. Man or Ash 10. Redemption City 11. Wishbone (Some Tomorrow) 12. Fuel 13. Bottom Feeder (El Que Come Abajo)