Corrosion of Conformity - Good God/Baad Man

Man, I love COC.  If you can stoop snickering long enough to listen to their 11th full-length album, “Good God/Baad Man", then you too can join in on that love.  I doubt Corrosion of Conformity needs an introduction at this point but a quick recap:  they are badass.  Review over.  

Ok second review starting now.  COC has been around since 1982 (one year before I was born, damn!) and began as a punk band that morphed into some kind of Southern fried version of metal that includes many different elements from doom/sludge and everything else in between all the way to hard rock.  Members have come and gone; some have even passed away, including original drummer Reed Mullin.  But the founder of the band, Woody Weatherman, has kept the band going through the decades and doesn’t seem content on doing anything but continuing to be badass.    

Pepper Keenan is at the helm once again, the guitarist who joined the band on their classic 1991 full-length album, “Blind.”  He quickly became their vocalist, although even he has come and gone over the years.   I’ll be honest, I don’t really care for anything before “Blind.”  It certainly isn’t bad but sorry, I’m just not a punk rocker. 

But in 2026, all is right with the world.  Ha, not really.  But at least we have Corrosion of Conformity still putting out urgent and potent albums.  

“Good God/Baad Man,” is a double album with two distinct feels.  The “Good God,” side is their fully vetted tried and true but never boring take on Southern style metal.  If you have been following the Pepper era of the band, this one will feel right at home.  There wasn’t anything wrong with “No King, No Crown,” but this one feel way more urgent with pep in their step—a stampede of rabid bulls' kind of pep.  Yeah, I know bulls can’t get rabies but throw me a bone here. Quick google search reveals that bulls can actually get rabies—it is just very rare, so shut up. 

“Baad Man,” isn’t too far removed from their sound but I suppose it might be considered more “laid back” compared to the first part.  With that being said, it is still filled to the brim with riffs, riffs, and more riffs.  This side of the album actually reminds me of Clutch, if they were a metal band, and even COC’s own “America’s Volume Dealer,” but with way more attitude.  Which side do I like the best?  Why not both?  Each one has great songs and that is all that really matters.  

“Good God Final Dawn,” opens with a western type of vibe but quickly builds up a solid tempo thanks to Stanton Moore’s stupid good drumming.  You might remember him from COC’s “In the Arms of God,” and he still has the chops and then some.  Bobby Landgraf’s (Down) bass rumbles with the best of them, perfectly at ease with the exuberant drumming and Pepper/Woody’s groovy riffs.    The highlight of the song has to be the jam session passage beginning at “2:46,” with Pepper shouting “I’m a reality mover.”  Indeed. 

“Gimme Some More,” is pure head banging filth—and the drummers are a barn fire of burning fuel.  The rapid-fire riffs and Pepper’s accompanying throat damage is classic (at least to me) COC with a devil-may-care attitude and the balls to back it up.  This is definitely one of their more aggressive songs released lately and it has a couple of trippy solos that are icing on the cake.

My favorite song on this first side is “Run for Your Life.”  The opening is slow and doomy, with a catchy groove front and center.  The drums and bass have their own way of walking around. The synergy of this lineup is incredible.   Pepper’s vocals have a slight echo to them, and it is just perfect to convey is hazy and cool but expressive performance.  I find this sound strikes a perfect balance between heavy and psychedelic elements—a new classic COC song is born! 

The second part of this double album opens with, of course, “Baad Man.”  Pepper delivers an exciting opening before the band runs together in an opus of laid-back grooves and a swagger that only Corrosion of Conformity.  This is a catchy banger, reminding me a lot of “Whose Got the Fire?” from the aforementioned “America’s Volume Dealer.”   Catchy COC?  Sign me up.  This song has been on repeat a lot.  

“Asleep on the Killing Floors,” is nearly as intense as anything on the first side, or anything the band has done in general.  The bass is funky, groovy yet ferocious in its own right.  And those riffs?  Pure power, instinct forged through the decades by a band who still has so much to say.  With songs this powerful, they will never go quietly into the night.  

“Forever Amplified,” is the final song on this second side.  Again, this isn’t exactly all that different from the band’s history of heavy moments.  In fact, the opening riff is downright SINISTER.  The drums build up a lot of tension and then at the 2:53 it is released with a performance that nearly blew my headphones off my big head.  This song is everything that is great about this band!    

Ultimately, Corrosion of Conformity’s “Good God/Baad Man,” is a double album with no filler and among their best works in recent years.  This is probably my favorite COC album since "America’s Volume Dealer"—and that says a lot because I don’t think any of the albums in between were bad at all.    

Rating:  Excellent