![]() Reissuing this album comes out as a rather controversial decision. In fact, while not necessarily good either, Dean’s vocals do sound better, which is particularly noticeable if one compares both versions of the title track, “Eye For An Eye”, but his singing performance can only be heard in the very brief extra tracks, which altogether last for less than 7 minutes, and by the way, recording and production for these songs seem more elaborate. With that said, Eycke’s singing is really not my cup of tea, and that is the aspect of this album I enjoy the least. Vocals are delivered with anger and intensity, but very little technique (if any). ![]() The bass does some interesting things, drawing away from the straight forward pattern of the guitars, but then again it also seems a bit sloppy from time to time. Most of the songs are quite fast with occasional break downs and several dually recorded solos (not always in tune, for better or worse). Production is very raw, which for all we know might be intentional. Aggressive and crude, with relatively decent riffing and some hints of thrash metal here and there that would become more prominent in Animosity. The music does not stand out much from the many hardcore bands that arose in the 80s. In 2012 the album was reissued with the addition of six tracks sung by their bassist Mike Dean (still old recordings, from an EP they released in 1989, appropriately titled Six Songs With Mike Singing), who would also be the singer for their second record, Animosity, while the original release songs portray Eric Eycke on vocals. The cover artwork, the name of the band, and even the number of tracks (originally 20) make quite apparent that the record dwells in the realms of hardcore punk, and in this case looks do not deceive, as its sound follows all the patterns one would expect from the genre. While the band is best known for its stoner/sludge metal style, their first effort was quite different. did it better and I’m sure a bunch of other bands did too.It was 1984 when Eye For An Eye, the debut by Corrosion of Conformity was released. Perhaps the punks out there might dig it, but let’s face it: D.R.I. Thrash metal, with its variety of flavors and emphasis on musicality over message, easily fills the void scrappy, semi-aggressive punk fodder like this leaves in my musical predilection, with tons of material to spare. Maybe I don’t spend enough time cranking music like this to an extreme volume while getting hammered to grasp its purpose. Long songs, short songs, fast songs, mid-paced songs you probably won’t be bothered to remember any of ‘em by albums end. Albums like this probably gave the future members of bands like E.N.T their first raging hard-ons. ![]() Eye for an Eye is a terribly sloppy album (by punk standards even) and though it’s quite riffy at times and the instrumental aggression is occasionally there, the album is derailed by a half-hearted vocal effort (‘singer’ Eric Eycke would not be coming back for future albums), uneffective piecewise songwriting, and a rather flimsy guitar tone, perhaps adding to its frantic nature but robbing it of heaviness. respectively, and for instance) so effortlessly display. C.O.C, at this stage in the game, are children amateurs attempting to recapture the sound of their influences but without the finesse or raw passion that their siblings (Neurosis and D.R.I. But just like a young child dressing up in their parent’s clothes, there’s no mistaking them for what they really are. Heck, even their carefully alliterative moniker speaks to the punk movement’s rabid social discontent. One look at their image, their sketchy cover art, the abundance of tracks on their CD/LP. However you won’t find any traces of that sound here in their debut, because in 1984, there was no mistaking C.O.C. They get a reasonable amount of cred from future generations as one of the progenitors of the hardcore/thrash crossover style. Almost every child exhibits traits of both of their parents, but some of course seem to take after one much more than the other.Ĭorrosion of Conformity are a good example of this, clearly taking after their scummier, dirtbag parent. Thrash’s other less appreciated parent one might say its ‘deadbeat dad,’ was the hardcore variety of punk rock that by the early 80’s had found a home in slums all over the States. The NWOBHM movement was obviously one, itself a child of traditional 70’s heavy metal and hard rock. Thrash metal, like other complex, non-microbial organisms, is the child of two distinct parents.
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