Whenever CORROSION OF CONFORMITY releases a new album, folks take notice. But their latest is a true event. It’s been a dozen years since CORROSION OF CONFORMITY recorded new material with vocalist/guitarist Pepper Keenan at the helm. In that time, there have been rumors, whispers, and outright allegations that the legendary Southern rock outfit would reunite to blow the doors off the whole damn scene again. In 2014, after nearly a straight decade traversing the globe as a guitarist with New Orleans supergroup DOWN, Keenan reconnected with the core CORROSION OF CONFORMITY trio of Woody Weatherman, Mike Dean, and Reed Mullin to hit the road hard. “Reed called me and mentioned maybe playing a couple shows,” Keenan recalls. “I said, ‘Let’s just go to Europe and see if it works.’ So we went to Europe and then ended up going back four times in one year… We toured for a year and then started tracking about ten or eleven months ago.”
And now, the long wait is over. CORROSION OF CONFORMITY returns with »No Cross No Crown« – an album that somehow sounds as though no time has passed between 2005’s »In The Arms Of God« and today. As well as launching pre-orders today, the band are also premiering the first track from the forthcoming release. Listen to ‘Cast The First Stone’, here:
Recording in North Carolina with longtime producer John Custer, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY cut »No Cross No Crown« in about forty days over the course of a year. “We took our time and didn’t put any pressure on ourselves,” Keenan says. “I’d go up from New Orleans and we’d do four or five days at a time, just hacking away at it. It was fun because we did it like a demo, but in a studio. We were writing and putting it on tape at the same time. We took what parts we thought were great from the old days and weren’t scared to go backwards. It kinda wrote itself that way.”
Some of these new jams sound like could’ve easily been on »Wiseblood« or »Deliverance«, two of CORROSION OF CONFORMITY‘s most revered records. On »No Cross No Crown«, beefy Southern stompers like ‘The Luddite,’ ‘Little Man,’ and ‘Forgive Me’ are interspersed with melancholy guitar interludes like ‘No Cross,’ ‘Matre’s Diem,’ and ‘Sacred Isolation’ – just like SABBATH used to do in the ’70s. “We started doing that on »Deliverance«,” Keenan points out. “My theory on that is that if you’re trying to make a record flow, you need to break it up a little. When you need a breather, write an interlude. I like writing those mellow pieces just to space things out and make the next thing come in heavier.”
The album’s iconic title comes from a recent tour stop in England. “We were playing this old church from like the 1500s that had been turned into a performing arts center,” Keenan recalls. “The dressing room had stained glass windows and one of them showed this poor fella being persecuted. Underneath it said, ‘No cross no crown.’ So I just took that idea. We’re not trying to be on a soapbox, but we used it as a catalyst to write songs around.”
Which is to say that »No Cross No Crown« has a lot less to do with politics or religion than its title implies. “I think everyone needs to get away from that mindset in general,” Keenan offers. “It just seems to be a mess out there nowadays. We need to get back to being humans and taking care of each other and simple things like that. For us, the terminology ‘No cross no crown’ is a theme. It’s mentioned in like three songs throughout the album. We just weaved it through as we went.”
»No Cross No Crown« stands as irrefutable proof of CORROSION OF CONFORMITY‘s ability to overcome. “CORROSION OF CONFORMITY and the prior records I’ve done with them didn’t just go away,” Keenan observes. “It’s an honor to be back out there and have an opportunity to do it again in a real way and not some washed-up reunion thing. Even before we wrote the record, we were out there for a year seeing there was a demand for it and that there was a void that we could fill. That’s been CORROSION OF CONFORMITY’s deal from day one. We’re not chasing anybody around. We’re not gonna worry about what the new trends are. CORROSION OF CONFORMITY is CORROSION OF CONFORMITY.”
»No Cross No Crown« will be released via Nuclear Blast Entertainment worldwide on January 12th, 2018 on CD, digital, and vinyl formats. Various preorder bundles are currently available, here.
Pre-order »No Cross No Crown« digitally and receive ‘Cast The First Stone’ immediately or stream the track, here.
Listen in NB Novelties Playlist
No Cross No Crown- Track Listing:
01. Novus Deus
02. The Luddite
03. Cast The First Stone
04. No Cross
05. Wolf Named Crow
06. Little Man
07. Matre’s Diem
08. Forgive Me
09. Nothing Left To Say
10. Sacred Isolation
11. Old Disaster
12. E.L.M.
13. No Cross No Crown
14. A Quest To Believe (A Call To The Void)
15. Son And Daughter
In advance of the release of »No Cross No Crown«, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY will join BLACK LABEL SOCIETY for a mammoth North American live takeover. The tour begins December 27th, 2017 in Denver, Colorado and will wind its way through nearly four dozen cities, the journey coming to a close February 27th, 2018. Additional support will be provided by EYEHATEGOD and RED FANG on select shows. See all confirmed dates below.
w/ BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, EYEHATEGOD
27.12. USA Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre*
29.12. USA Sioux City, IA – Anthem at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
30.12. USA Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theater
31.12. USA Sauget, IL – Pop’s Nightclub
—
02.01. USA Omaha, NE – Sokol Auditorium
03.01. USA Chicago, IL – House of Blues
04.01. USA Indianapolis, IN – Egyptian Room at Old National Centre
05.01. USA Detroit, MI – The Fillmore
07.01. USA Clifton Park, NY – Upstate Concert Hall
08.01. CDN Montreal, QC – M Telus
09.01. CDN Toronto, ON – Rebel
10.01. USA Grand Rapids, MI – 20 Monroe Live
12.01. USA Oklahoma City, OK – Diamond Ballroom
13.01. USA Dallas, TX – Bomb Factory
14.01. USA Austin, TX – Emo’s
15.01. USA Houston, TX – House of Blues
17.01. USA New Orleans, LA – House of Blues
18.01. USA Nashville, TN – Marathon Music Works
19.01. USA Cincinnati, OH – Bogart’s
20.01. USA Atlanta, GA – Center Stage
*no EYEHATEGOD
w/ BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, RED FANG
26.01. USA St. Petersburg, FL – Jannus Live
27.01. USA Myrtle Beach, SC – House of Blues
28.01. USA Raleigh, NC – The Ritz
29.01. USA Silver Spring, MD – The Fillmore
31.01. USA New York, NY – PlayStation Theater
01.02. USA Worcester, MA – The Palladium
02.02. USA Portland, ME – Aura
03.02. USA Philadelphia, PA – Electric Factory
05.02. USA Buffalo, NY – Town Ballroom
06.02. USA Akron, OH – The Goodyear Theater at East End
07.02. USA Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE
08.02. USA Milwaukee, WI – Eagles Ballroom Club Stage
09.02. USA St. Paul, MN – Myth Live
w/ BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, EYEHATEGOD
11.02. CDN Saskatoon, SK – O’Brians Event Centre
12.02. CDN Edmonton, AB – The Ranch Roadhouse
14.02. CDN Vancouver, BC – Commodore Ballroom
16.02 CDN Grande Prairie, AB – Bowes Event Center at Revolution Place
17.02. CDN Calgary, AB – MacEwan Hall
19.02. USA Seattle, WA – Showbox SoDo
20.02. USA Portland, OR – Roseland Theater
21.02. USA Sacramento, CA – Ace of Spades
23.02. USA Las Vegas, NV – House of Blues
24.02. USA Tempe, AZ – The Marquee
25.02. USA Albuquerque, NM – Sunshine Theater
27.02. USA Los Angeles, CA – The Fonda Theatre
