Corrosion of Conformity - Blind (LP)

Double vinyl LP pressing. Corrosion landed a deal with sizable indie Relativity and approached local producer John Custer to redefine C.O.C.'s sounds of sedition. C.O.C.'s iconic spikey skull was about to make the move from iconic hardcore logo to something much more profound. Recorded in the dead heat of a New York Summer with Keenan literally wheelchair bound (after a femur-shattering stage diving mishap while watching future Down bandmate Phil Anselmo peel paint with Pantera), Blind was nothing short of a complete re-ignition. Under Custer's guidance, guitars were stacked on top of guitars like Queen on a Black Flag bender with a maddened Roy Thomas Baker at the board. Essentially, the rulebook was set on fire. From the opening pound of "Damned for All Time" and "Dance of the Dead" to the album's Kennan-voiced centerpiece and C.O.C.'s first bona-fide "hit", "Vote with a Bullet", this was the work of a band bursting beyond the scene that had birthed them. While Blind kicked down many doors for C.O.C., as the band toured non-stop with bill-mates from Iron Maiden to Rollins Band, plenty of the f***-you vibes of their song remained the same. Underlying their Sabbathy grooves was the insurgent heart of a hardcore punk band born in the American South, combating racism on songs like the still relevant "White Noise". Think what Ozzy and Iommi spelt out on "War Pigs", reflecting on Viet Nam; now shift that to the 90's and the Bush era. Blind is literally the soundtrack to a country ripping itself apart - a sentiment no less relevant now. Even the artwork by celebrated comics artist Bill Sienkewicz (New Mutants, Elektra: Assassin) brims with that sense of overwhelming angst and ennui.