Corrosion of Conformity

Corrosion of Conformity (also known as COC) is an American heavy metal band from Raleigh, North Carolina, formed in 1982. The band has undergone multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with guitarist Woody Weatherman as the sole constant member. Weatherman, founding bassist Mike Dean, founding drummer Reed Mullin and vocalist/guitarist Pepper Keenan (who joined the band in 1989) are widely regarded as its 'classic' lineup.^[6] After a hiatus in 2006, Corrosion of Conformity returned in 2010 without Keenan, who had been busy touring and recording with Down, but announced their reunion with him in December 2014.^[7]

Corrosion of Conformity

COC^[1]

Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.

1982–1987
1989–2006
2010–present

Woody Weatherman
Mike Dean
Pepper Keenan
John Green

Reed Mullin
Karl Agell
Phil Swisher
Simon Bob Sinister
Eric Eycke
Robert Stewart
Benji Shelton
Jimmy Bower
Jason Patterson

They started as a hardcore punk band but later moved towards a slower and blues-tinged heavy metal sound. To date, the band has released ten studio albums, four EPs, one compilation, and one live album. Their first three studio albums―Eye for an Eye (1984), Animosity (1985) and Blind (1991)―attracted the attention of Columbia Records, who signed the band in 1993. Corrosion of Conformity found success with the release of their 1994 fourth studio album, Deliverance, which peaked at number 155 on the Billboard 200 and spawned the hits "Albatross" and "Clean My Wounds".^[8] Their 1996 follow-up Wiseblood was also successful, and at the time, it was the band's highest-charting album in the United States, peaking at number 104 on the Billboard 200.^[8] Their latest album, No Cross No Crown, was released in 2018 and became the band's first album to enter the top 100 on the Billboard 200, where it peaked at number 67.^[8]

Collaborations and side projects[edit]

They have also collaborated with a number of other artists: James Hetfield of Metallica contributed vocals to the song "Man or Ash" on Wiseblood; Warren Haynes of the Allman Brothers' Band and Gov't Mule played slide guitar on "Stare Too Long" on America's Volume Dealer; and Stanton Moore of Galactic played drums on In the Arms of God.

Members of COC have also participated in collaborations: Keenan plays guitar with the metal supergroup Down, and Dean contributed vocals to a track titled "Access Babylon" on Dave Grohl's Probot project. Pepper also appears on Metallica's Garage Inc. cover record, playing guitar and singing the second verse of the Lynyrd Skynyrd song "Tuesday's Gone". He appears in the documentary Some Kind of Monster, auditioning to be Metallica's replacement for Jason Newsted.

Woody Weatherman – lead guitar, backing vocals (1982–present)

– bass, keyboards, co-lead vocals (lead 1984–1986 and 2006–2015, backing otherwise) (1982–1987, 1993–present)

Mike Dean

– rhythm guitar, lead vocals (lead since 1993, backing until 1993) (1989–2006, 2015–present)

Pepper Keenan

John Green – drums (2020–present, touring substitute 2018–2020)

Current members