Corrosion of Conformity - America's Volume Dealer (Sanctuary)

Oh dear, oh dear. What we have here is the musical equivalent of getting ideas above your station. This is what happens to a band who think they're somebody else, who have been hanging around Metallica far too long for them to think that they ARE Metallica, and therefore lose all musical credence by releasing an album so similar to their heroes that you really have to wonder what the hell were they thinking?

And it pains me to say that for I really love COC, they've released some cracking stuff in the past, from "Blind" to "Deliverance", not to mention their hardcore days with "Eye for an Eye" and "Technocracy"… but this?! Pompous, stadium so-called Rock anthems, which is fine if you are a band of Metallica's calibre, but on their own COC play clubs, dreaming of arena success. And while there's nothing wrong with that, I think they ought to go back to basics and work their way there, not hoping they'll get a free ride all the time just 'cos they're fucking Metallica's buddies!

Because quite frankly, with songs like 'Over Me', 'Stare too long' and '13 Angels', they don't deserve it.

Ken Blackmore