Corrosion of Conformity: Eye for an Eye/Six Songs With Mike Singing

Corrosion of Conformity: Eye for an Eye/Six Songs With Mike Singing

1984

Candlelight Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Tell Me  2. Minds Are Controlled  3. Indifferent  4. Broken Will  5. Rabid Dogs  6. L.S.  7. Rednekkk  8. Coexist  9. Excluded  10. Dark Thoughts  11. Poison Planet  12. What?  13. Negative Outlook  14. Positive Outlook  15. No Drunk  16. College Town  17. Not Safe  18. Eye For An Eye  19. Nothing's Gonna Change  20. Green Manalishi  21. Eye for an Eye  22. Center of the World  23. Citizen  24. Not for Me  25. What?  26. Negative Outlook



I actually  grew up with the thrashier,  metallier early 90's C.O.C albums like "Blind" and "Deliverance" without being fully aware of how much more ass these guys used to kick...

This shit is outta control with nary a trace of the Pepper Keenan era groove...Full on hardcore that distinguishes itself from the rest of the loud/fast pack with a thicker, sludgier feel and garage-band fidelity...It falls more on the punk spectrum as far as 80's crossover goes, but they're not afraid to add a little Sabbath to the breakdowns...

Eric Eycke might not be the most colorful vocalist in hardcore history or anything, but he sounds suitably frazzled, barking out lyrics in a hoarse grunt while the band kicks up a cloud of dust behind him...Just try and read along to the lyric sheet on songs like "No Drunk."

 Individual songs don't matter much, it's all about the rush, but a few do rise their ugly heads above their others...The title track has a...gulp...catchy chorus if your ears are attuned to hardcore punk, and "What?" is packed with nifty riffs...



They also toss in a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "The Green Manalishi," although I think it's safe to say they're covering Judas Priest's cover of it, which probably gives a pretty good indication of where their heads were at...

Let's check out "Eye for an Eye" (with Eric Eckye singing) by Corrosion of Conformity...Eat it...




I have the 2012 reissue that includes the "Six Songs With Mike Singing" ep, where the band switches vocalists (which would end up becoming a regular occurrence with these guys)...

It's hard to say if Mike Dean (the band's bassist) is an improvement or not...His style is less guttural and more screamy than Eric's. Honestly both sound fine to me, although listening back to this again, I might give the edge to Mike, mainly because he's the one that sings "Not For Me." Hot damn, that song rips...

One thing's for sure. the band does tighten things up musically on this EP. Even though most of the songs are repeats, the feel is different enough to keep them interesting...

So yea, give this a shot if you've worn out your Black Flag records...It's fun as hell to flail around to...Hell, I might even break some furniture... Let's check out "Not For Me" by Corrosion of Conformity (with Mike singing...) Drink it...