Jimmy Kay from Canada’s The Metal Voice spoke to guitarist of Corrosion of ConformityWoody Weatherman at this years Heavy Montreal festival 2019.
Weatherman spoke about touring with Zakk Wylde, plans for the next album and the upcoming Megacruise.
Watch the interview here
When asked about touring with Zakk Wylde
“Zakk is a jokester, which is cool, he also does play guitar (laughs). We kept on asking him to give us a lick of the day and he would show us something, Pepper and I don’t know what we are doing (laughs). One thing I can say about him is he will joke around all day but when it comes time to go on stage to play his guitar, he is on it, no messing around.”
When asked about an update to any potential new album
“No Cross No crown has been out a year and a half and we are still on the road but we are starting to ponder about the next one. Nothing recorded really but there is always riffs. The last record we didn’t have anything really before we went into the studio and we wrote it and recorded it as we went along and we may kind of adopt that approach again. You go in the morning there is nothing then you leave at the end of the day and there is something. Musically we always like to do something different but we are not going to come out and be the Jonas Brothers.”
With their Success of their Queen cover are they planning on doing more cover songs
“That is the topic of discussion at the moment, I don’t know about a whole album, but we have been tossing around some ideas. We had a great time doing that Queen song.”
CORROSION OF CONFORMITY celebrated the return of frontman Pepper Keenan with the release of their latest studio album »No Cross No Crown«, on January 12, 2018 (Nuclear Blast). Since then the group has been touring around the globe relentlessly, and now the band is set to return to European shores in June & July 2019 – roughly a year after their last visit. On the forthcoming trek, the quartet will not focus on their latest offering but on songs from their classic record »Deliverance«, which saw the light of day 25 years ago, and was their first studio album featuring Pepper Keenan as frontman. A few select festival appearances will round off C.O.C.’s journey across the continent. All dates can be found below, tickets are on sale now!
CORROSION OF CONFORMITY‘s long anticipated No Cross No Crown full-length, released on January 12th via Nuclear Blast Entertainment, toppled Billboard charts upon its first week of release earning #67 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart, #12 on the Billboard Top Current Albums Chart, and #3 on the Top Hard Music Albums Chart making it the highest charting album of the band’s career!
“To all the free thinkers and beer drinkers, we couldn’t do this without you,” issues the band. “Thanks so much for your undying support and loyalty all these years. Up the hammers! See you on the horizon. Love and respect – CORROSION OF CONFORMITY.”
Captured in North Carolina with longtime producer John Custer, No Cross No Crown marks the first studio recording with vocalist/guitarist Pepper Keenan in over a decade and has reaped critical accolades from fans and critics alike both stateside and abroad.
No Cross No Crown is available on CD, digital, vinyl, and cassette formats. Various order bundles are available at nuclearblast.com/coc-nocrossnocrown.
If you missed it, check out the band’s recently-released new video for “The Luddite” HERE as well as their animated clip for “Wolf Named Crow”HERE.
CORROSION OF CONFORMITY is currently in the midst of a massive North American live excursion supporting Black Label Society. The tour commenced in Denver, Colorado December 27th and will make its way through nearly four dozen cities upon its conclusion on February 27th in Los Angeles, California. Additional support is being provided by Eyehategod and Red Fang on select shows. See all confirmed dates below.
CORROSION OF CONFORMITY w/ Black Label Society, Eyehategod (12/29 – 1/20; 2/11 – 2/27), Red Fang (1/26 – 2/09):
1/26/2018 Jannus Live – St. Petersburg, FL *
1/27/2018 House Of Blues – Myrtle Beach, SC *
1/28/2018 The Ritz – Raleigh, NC *
1/29/2018 The Fillmore Silver Spring – Silver Spring, MD *
1/31/2018 PlayStation Theater – New York, NY *
2/01/2018 The Palladium – Worcester, MA *
2/02/2018 Aura – Portland, ME *
2/03/2018 Electric Factory – Philadelphia, PA *
2/05/2018 Town Ballroom – Buffalo, NY *
2/06/2018 The Goodyear Theater at East End – Akron, OH *
2/07/2018 Stage AE – Pittsburgh, PA *
2/08/2018 Eagles Ballroom Club Stage – Milwaukee, WI *
2/09/2018 Myth Live – St. Paul, MN *
2/11/2018 O’Brians Event Centre – Saskatoon, SK ^
2/12/2018 The Ranch Roadhouse – Edmonton, AB ^
2/14/2018 Commodore Ballroom – Vancouver, BC ^
2/16/2018 Bowes Event Center at Revolution Place – Grande Prairie, AB ^
2/17/2018 MacEwan Hall – Calgary, AB ^
2/19/2018 Showbox SoDo – Seattle, WA ^
2/20/2018 Roseland Theater – Portland, OR ^
2/21/2018 Ace Of Spades – Sacramento, CA ^
2/23/2018 House of Blues – Las Vegas, NV ^
2/24/2018 The Marquee – Tempe, AZ ^
2/25/2018 Sunshine Theater – Albuquerque, NM ^
2/27/2018 The Fonda Theatre – Los Angeles, CA ^
^ w/ Eyehategod
* w/ Red Fang
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”, set to be released on January 12th via Nuclear Blast Entertainment! “No Cross No Crown” is 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: http://www.nuclearblast.com/coc-nocrossnocrown
Pre-order »No Cross No Crown« digitally and receive ‘Cast The First Stone’ immediately or stream the track, here: http://nblast.de/COCCastTheFirstStone
Listen in NB Novelties Playlist: http://sptfy.com/2zZF
»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
Nuclear Blast Entertainment is pleased to announce the worldwide signing of metal legends CORROSION OF CONFORMITY.
The band will enter the studio late this winter/early spring with longtime producer John Custer. Custer has recorded such prior C.O.C. classics as “Deliverance”, “Wiseblood”, “America’s Volume Dealer” and “In The Arms Of God”. The as-of-yet-untitled-album will mark the band’s studio reunion with vocalist/guitarist Pepper Keenan and their first full-length record since 2005.
Says Keenan about the new partnership: “To all the C.O.C. fans worldwide, Mike, Reed, Woody and I are proud to announce that we are starting our next sonic adventure with Nuclear Blast Entertainment! We are honored and psyched to be a part of the Blasted Family, both professionally and artistically. After all these years, it‘s truly inspiring to reawaken the chemistry that the four of us have. We are seriously fucking with our pants off now! We do not take this journey lightly and cannot wait to return to the studio to drop Ze’ Hammer! All of this would not be possible without the global support of all you free thinkers and beer drinkers. Much love and respect and look forward to to seeing you soon.ʺ
President of Nuclear Blast Entertainment, Monte Conner adds: “I love all the incarnations of C.O.C. over the years but the Pepper-fronted version has always been the definitive line-up of the band for me. Ever since hearing Pepper take charge on 1991’s ‘Vote With A Bullet’ I was dying to hear him sing more with the band. This line-up’s 1994 debut Deliverance, with its signature tracks ‘Clean My Wounds” and ‘Albatross,’ was an instant classic and is still one of my all-time favorite albums.ʺ
ʺIt has been a long 10 years since their fourth album – the highly underrated »In The Arms Of God« – and as a fan, I am dying to hear what these guys come up with next. I know it will be a monster. The fact that it is coming out on Nuclear Blast is very fulfilling for me and many others on the Nuclear Blast team as we finally get to work with one of our favorite bands.ʺ
A fall 2016 release is expected. In the meantime, catch CORROSION OF CONFORMITY on tour this fall on the following dates:
C.O.C. emerged from hibernation as a trio and released 2012’s self-titled album and 2014’s IX to wide acclaim, but many hardcore fans have been eagerly and patiently awaiting the return of Pepper Keenan.
The band was originally an influential hardcore punk/heavy metal crossover act before reaching critical success with a then new lineup on 1991’s “Blind” album. That trajectory continued with wider appeal as Keenan took over as the group’s primary vocalist on “Deliverance” (1994) and “Wiseblood” (1996).
These two recordings in particular fused the raw energy of their previous albums, with some great strides forward in classic rock inspired songwriting and more spacious production and execution. Since then the band has often been copied but rarely equaled.
This juggernaut gained mass and momentum with relentless touring alongside such greats METALLICA, CLUTCH, EYEHATEGOD and many more.
Eventually, following the release of “In the Arms of God” in 2005, Keenan decided to focus all his energy on his hometown band DOWN… until now.
Vice Magazine’s music portal, Noisey, presents the second episode of NOLA: Life, Death And Heavy Blues From The Bayou, a seven-part series examining the people and the culture that helped spawn bands like Down, Eyehategod, Crowbar, Acid Bath and so many others.
In part two, Mike IX Williams discusses finding kindred spirits in Jimmy Bower and Joey LaCaze and creating a band, “that’s like Sabbath, but a punk band,” with Eyehategod. Enduring hardships like drugs and Hurricane Katrina, Eyehategod persevered into 2013, only to have tragedy strike yet again.
Skirting the NOLA Under-Underground Starring: Members of DOWN, Pantera, Eyehategod, Crowbar, Corrosion of Conformity, Goatwhore, and Acid Bath amongst others, including Philip H Anselmo, Mike “IX” Williams, Jimmy Bower, Kirk Windstein, Pepper Keenan, and Sammy Duet.
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