- Photo courtesy of the band
- Crazy face: COC
As a band, Corrosion of Conformity have hardly been the most stable. Some 13 members have cycled through COC in the last nearly three decades. Still, the steady turnover didn’t stop the COC from becoming one of the South’s most influential loud rock acts—inspiring then-nascent hardcore and metal scenes. At the nexus of the two genres, 1985’s Animosity stands as perhaps COC’s proudest achievement. So naturally, excitement was high when the trio behind Animosity-era COC reformed last year—as COC3, differentiating itself from COC BLiND, which reassembled the line-up of 1991’s Blind. They subsequently cut a 7-inch single and played a handful of shows around the country.
Well, Woody Weatherman, Mike Dean and Reed Mullin haven’t let up. The trio is preparing to embark on a busy summer of touring. It will kick off at Cat’s Cradle May 26 with D.C. hardcore favorites Scream. (For trivia fans, Scream was Dave Grohl’s pre-Nirvana band. We don’t expect Grohl will be performing this gig, though.) They’ll then head to Baltimore for the hesher heaven of Maryland Death Fest. COC will hit Europe for the Hellfest, Getaway and Graspop festivals, before joining Clutch for the remainder of the summer.
The reanimated COC is also promising a new full-length album, a follow-up to last year’s no-worse-for-the-wear Your Tomorrow 7-inch. No details about the new album—except that it’s this trio’s first since Animosity—are available yet, so stay tuned.