Corrosion Of Conformity – Good God / Baad Man

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · Published April 25, 2026 · Updated April 25, 2026

Corrosion Of Conformity Is a hard rocking and pioneering heavy metal band from Raleigh, North Carolina. They formed in 1982 and started as a hardcore/ punk band, ultimately helping create a new genre called crossover. The original lineup featured guitarist Woody Weatherman, bassist Mike Dean, and drummer Reed Mullin. With other bands like DRI, Cryptic Slaughter, SOD, etc, emerging, the crossover scene was born as a hybrid of hardcore and heavy metal. The band’s first three albums: 1983’s Eye For An Eye, 1985’s Animosity, and 1987’s Technocracy, COC had a sound that was always evolving and changing into its own thing. When the landmark album, 1991’s Blind was released, the Corrosion Of Conformity sound totally shifted to a heavier form of Sabbath worship riffs and a more metal focused approach. After the album, the vocalist at that time, Karl Agell left the band and guitarist Pepper Kennan took over on the lead vocal duties. They then released: 1994’s Deliverance, 1996’s Wiseblood, 2000’s America’s Volume Dealer, and 2005’s In The Arms Of God with Woody, Pepper, and returning bassist Mike Dean. The band’s sound changed drastically when Pepper left for a long moment and they went back as a trio. The records 2012’s Self Titled, and 2014’s IV, were stripped down and gritty with a nice raw rocking tone. They were almost crossover but with more interesting changes and transitions. Then Pepper came back for 2018”s No Cross No Crown and the band drifted off for nearly eight years.

Original bassist Mike Dean left the band and they now have Bobby Landgraf stepping in. He played in Honky and was a technician for Down also. After the untimely passing of original drummer Reed Mullin in 2020, the band went back with jazz drummer Stanton Moore to record on their next record. Stanton played drums on COC’s 2005’s In The Arms Of God album and was brought in to make the band’s first album in nearly eight years. Essentially a double album, entitled Good God/ Baad Man, it was released on April 3rd 2026 on Nuclear Blast Records. It exceeds the one hour mark with fourteen tracks total.

“Good God?/ Final Dawn” is a psychedelic explosion of metal and hard rock! The beautiful strums of a clean sounding guitar begin the song and the music soars right into an airy riffing of heaviness. Corrosion Of Conformity are back in true form with their trademark sound that is both massive and expansive. The guitar melodies and dense rhythms are enveloped in a psychedelic haze of cosmic fuzz. The casual talk start of “You And Me” is a psychedelic head trip that erupts into fantastic rocking grooves. The bizarre and trippy middle part is haunting and equally captivating. They crush into some fuzzed-out tones that are raging too. The first three songs float into one another as “Gimme Some More” is pretty raw, angry and viscous. The hardcore influences are expressed, as well as the metal crunching riffs. The band sounds super tight and exuberant. Pepper’s voice is aggressive on this track as it rips through the speakers with such ruthless aggression. Pissed off and as expressive as ever! The time is right for the triumphant return of COC. They thrash through the riffs and really make a statement with this record.

The fourth track is called “The Handler” and it’s another banger! The groove is more reasonable with a slower doom approach. The vocals explore a nasally Ozzy style singing that is cool. The riffs are menacing and constant. “Befoulin’s Hand” is a tribal enhanced psychedelic jam session that is so mesmerizing. The song has a strong and powerful rhythmic pulsing that flows right into the nine minute behemoth, “Run For Your Life “. This is a really heavy song lyrically and the simple swagger to this is the perfect touch. The bluesy riffs and Pepper’s emotive voice is amazing. The song has a seamless and easy groove that invites the electrifying leads to full harmony. The hypnotic rhythm holds everything together as the guitars plays scrabble on the fretboard. The song has a strong Sabbath pull and an interesting segment of samples spoken over a marching snare drum. COC are never glued to a certain style of heavy music and often explore any sonically interesting tones. More heavy psych is placed into the music, adding a new layer to their already dynamic sound. This is one hell of a track to conclude the first part of this double album.

Part two perks up with “Baad Man” and it’s an upbeat audio assault. The funky vibes and rocking grooves are in full force with this one! It’s exciting and fun and also shows a band that has enormous talent. “Lose Yourself” is a bouncy number that gets the body moving and the adrenaline flowing. The next musical passage is called “Madra Sonos”. It’s a short interlude of nice clean strumming guitars that goes right into the bass fuzz groove of “Asleep On The Killing Floor”. It’s a bombastic and full of energy song that is rocking and catchy! More incredible heavy psych parts are also present which further augments the overall vibe. Corrosion of Conformity has never been a one dimensional band. The music has always taken a ride wherever it needs to go, full of hard rocking fury with bluesy and mellow undertones. The swanky “Handcuff County” is a southern fried joy ride of dirty riffs and obliterated tones.

“Swallowing The Anchor” is definitely an interesting song, full of attitude and funk. The bouncy rhythms, scorching leads, and low spoken tones from Keenan, has the righteous groove to keep this party alive. The thirteenth track is called “Brickman”, and it’s another classic in the making. It’s an acoustically driven and soulful number that extends the band’s talents in another direction. The vocals and lyrics are deep, and ride shotgun comfortably with the mellow and alluring music. The final track on Good God/ Baad Man is entitled “Forever Amplified”. A magnificent gem of a song to complete this amazing album, it has many musical layers to unravel. The song builds upon its repetition and collects sonically enthralling effects that ultimately fade away into a flatline of one long extended beep. Corrosion Of Conformity are back with a strong album of the year contender with the terrific Good God/ Baad Man opus. Time did not slow COC down one bit and neither did age. These songs are heavy, dense with melodies, deep with intellect, and will absolutely rock your world! Corrosion Of Conformity have returned to rule once again.