Band:	Corrosion Of Conformity
Album:	Blind
Style:	Hardcore, Stoner metal, Crossover thrash metal
Release date:	1991
A review by:	BitterCOld

01. These Shrouded Temples...
02. Damned For All Time
03. Dance Of The Dead
04. Buried
05. Break The Circle
06. Painted Smiling Faces
07. Mine Are The Eyes Of God
08. Shallow Ground
09. Vote With A Bullet
10. Great Purification
11. White Noise
12. Echoes In The Well
13. ...Remain

Corrosion Of Conformity seem to have been a band in a long-time state of flux. They originated as a hard core punk band in the early 80's, then evolved to thrash, continuing to more traditional metal, southern-rawk flavored metal, and sludge. The band has also had a rotating cast of characters to coincide with stylistic shifts, going through vocalists like Spinal Tap went through drummers, only without the spontaneous combustion.

1991's Blind was the band's 3rd full-length, a more traditional metal affair with a southern rawk flair. It also unveiled yet another new line-up featuring Karl Agell, the band's fifth vocalist, along with guitarist Pepper Keenan, who not only served as a second axe man, but also shared in vocal responsibilities as well. (That would make him #6 for those keeping score at home. Apparently the position of fronting COC has a higher turnover rate than fry cooks at McBurgers or even fronting Anthrax. On that note, this would be Agell's last full-length with the band.)

Phew.

The album itself rocks. The new members blended in nicely to help catch some lightning in a bottle. Well, lightning on vinyl.

The album builds nicely with a short instrumental track, "These Shrouded Temples" before morphing into the proper opener, "Damned For All Time", a rollicking affair with some great hammering riffs, a nice crunchy slowdown towards the end? the vocalists are similar, but provide a nice 1-2 punch. Followed up another high energy track, "The Dance Of The Dead" it really kicks off in staggeringly good fashion.

The biggest issue I have with this release, and why it is an album that I have never been completely sold on is that despite the fact the substance of the album is great, the riffs crunchy, the vocals soulful and powerful, the drumming active and entertaining, and with a great groove overall, it suffers a bit from inconsistency. It kicks off with the force of vintage Mike Tyson in the boxing ring, but that momentum was simply not sustainable.

The stand out tracks - the intro and subsequent duo which kick off the album, the eMpTy-Vee played video track, "Vote With A Bullet," really stand out, they kick ass. Some of the remaining tracks, well, not so much. The components are there, but they have never completely held my interest. Whether it's at 21 when I first bought the album, or 16 years later, as I write this, and my tastes have, uh, matured. I still find it a long album to sit through, and I still find my attention wandering.

The re-issued version jumps the song count from 13 to 16, which surely doesn't help on that front.

All in all it's a good album, one with which the positive tracks have kept me coming back to it for repeated listens over the years, but one whose filler has managed to keep it from being a staple in regular rotation.

Apparently last year Agell started touring with a band named Corrosion of Conformity - Blind along with Reed Mullin, who spent 20 years with the band before bailing in 2001, and members of Leadfoot and Bad Brains?