On their eighth studio album,
Corrosion of Conformity
let their punk roots bubble closer to the surface, reintroducing the world to their old selves with a self-titled release 30 years into their career. Featuring the same lineup that delivered the 1985 crossover thrash classic
Animosity
, the album finds the band returning to the power trio format in the absence of
Pepper Keenan
. While this lineup may be slimmed down, it lacks none of the fury and aggression that listeners have come to expect from
C.O.C
., combining a raw, almost grimy guitar sound with a songwriting approach that hearkens back to their more hardcore-influenced days. This combination gives the album a decidedly retro feel, but there's just enough of the more modern version of the band in there to keep it from feeling like an out-and-out rehash of their old stuff. Acting as a kind of crossroads between the old
. and the new,
feels more like a distillation of their career than an evolution of their sound, combining the best parts of three decades of metal into one document that fans of any era of the band's career can get on board with. ~ Gregory Heaney