Import pressing of their 1996 album that is unavailable in the US. As one of the horizon expanders who brought us thrash music, Corrosion of Conformity fell heavily onto the punk side of song styling with riff sculpting ta... more »ken from the book of doom bands such as Black Sabbath or Saint Vitus.« less
Import pressing of their 1996 album that is unavailable in the US. As one of the horizon expanders who brought us thrash music, Corrosion of Conformity fell heavily onto the punk side of song styling with riff sculpting taken from the book of doom bands such as Black Sabbath or Saint Vitus.
"I was first introduced to COC with 1994's "Deliverance" album and the only knowledge I had had of any kind of hardcore COC past was on the remastered "Blind" album. When I had heard "Technocracy" later on, I realized I had been missing out. Then not too long later, I came across COC's "Animosity" in a bargain bin, and I was so surprised when I heard the utter musical anarchy of this album. Before Pepper Keenan ever reared his head, this lineup featured Mike Dean singing and playing bass, Reed Mullin drumming and doing some lead vocals as well, and Woody Weatherman on guitar. All three churn out pure punk/thrash/hardcore metal at a frenzied pace (the album clocks in at just under half an hour long) and while Dean and Mullin's venom spewing voices are an acquired taste, "Animosity" is still one fine album. "Loss For Words", "Mad World", "Prayer", and "Kiss of Death" are personal favorites of mine, and if you can find this album I strongly suggest snatching it up."
No use in listening to any other COC.
Chris Astier | Las Cruces, NM | 01/02/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Short, sweet and simple. The lineup on this album smokes, the compositions on this album smoke, the playing on this album smokes. You should get this disc."
When can we expect a remastered version?
Petar Ticinovic | Vancouver, British Columbia Canada | 03/27/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This was arguably THE "crossover" album of the 80s, one of the crucial slabs of vinyl(remember those?)that "brought punks and metalheads together". It seemed like metalheads heard the S.O.D. album and went right out and grabbed this along with D.R.I.'s "Dealing With It", another "crossover" classic(that word always bugged me). What you get here is basically fast Black Sabbath with a healthy dose of heavy, rhythmic Black Flag action. You can bet Lars Ulrich was listening to Reed's drumming and wondering if he(Lars) had arthritis, and I remember fanzines proclaiming this record to rival Slayer or even top them(their most recent piece at the time was "Hell Awaits", so that's definitely fair comment, and remember C.O.C. were a three piece!). Anyway, the world and the human race is thirsting and hungering for this record to come back out, remastered with bonus tracks. If the first two Cryptic Slaughter albums get that kind of treatment, the Exploited, Broken Bones for crying out loud, why not Animosity?
P.S. you know if two or three popular regional hardcore bands stole their names from C.O.C. song titles, there's something good going on here. Yeah!"
An album way ahead of its time
Kevin Colbert | Akron, Ohio | 03/20/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I got the cassette for Christmas from my grandparents in 1987. I remember thinking, "How ironic it is that the most brutally intense hardcore album I own has been given to me by my grandparents." Oh well, it was on my list. I read about it in Thrasher a couple of months before.
Animosity was mind-blowing. Upon the first few listens, it was almost too crazy for my white, suburban 16-year old mind to handle. The guitar feedback, the way-over-the-top drumming, the distorted vocals (that a thousand bands would go on to copy in coming years) ... it was like I had discovered another country. At the time, it was all Whitesnake and Def Leppard on the radio and MTV. Even my collection of Dead Kennedys and Black Flag albums didn't hold a candle to this mayhem. And it was all done with talent to boot! I couldn't believe what I was experiencing.
And what an impression it's left on me. To this day, after I come home from work and my 10-month old starts fussing because he's hungry, the lyrics go running through my head ... "looking for answers laughed hungry child!" I mean, what does it take for a song to leave that kind of impression on you 20 years later???
Obviously I'm an old man, so this album may sound much differently to most of you reading this review. But I listened to it again recently and I've gotta' say -- it's stood the test of time for me. If you're into Mike Patton, Hatebreed, Snapcase, Fear Factory, Pelican, Mastadon, Killswitch Engage ... whatever it may be that led you here ... in my humble opinion, this is where it all began."
I can't believe it!
Shawn W. Harry | middlefield, oh United States | 08/01/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I've been on a C.O.C. binge lately. I drug out the old cassete tapes and decided to look for them on disc. It's a shame I can only find "animosity" on cd, It's probably their best recording but "Eye For An Eye" is just classic. It's the pre thrash, hardcore punk masterpiece that paved the way for DRI and all those other bands that had such an impact in the early 80's. C.O.C. was just that, dirty. I've sen them in 90's and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Old C.O.C. is something original, If you can get it, get it!"