CORROSION OF CONFORMITY – “No Cross No Crown” (2018)

Perhaps that’s why I did not give a new chance to the new albums. It was hard for me to accept that Pepper Keenan is no longer in the band. Perhaps that’s exactly why I was waiting for this album with such impatience. Like everyone else, I expected a lot. When the band announced his return and the new album expectations from all sides were getting bigger and bigger. After so many years, does the band have what it takes to fulfill them? Can they regain that power, spirit, and sound that the classics “Deliverance” and “Wiseblood” had?

“No Cross No Crown” did not outdo that two albums, probably it will not going to take the title of the classic, but without any doubt, it is probably the best album they made ever since. Twenty years later, they proved that they still know how and can do that. This album is a perfect extension of the golden era, and if we could somehow pretend that all those years didn’t pass, this album could proudly stand up to the best. The classic line-up, classic C.O.C. sound. The main star is, of course, endlessly charismatic Pepper Keenan, which is in a top form and sounds just the way it needs, we are used to, and, after all, we wish.

The album opens the instrumental “Novus Deus” and continues with “The Luddite.” Several instrumental breaks are something band insists throughout the whole album and this is something that every average 21st-century listener will skip but they shouldn’t as they have their purpose and fit perfectly into the context and increase the anticipation. And after each new C.O.C. explosion is waiting for you. First punch of the aggression comes with the intense single “Cast The First Stone”. Each instrumental interlude is followed by furious tracks “Wolfe Named Crow”, “Forgive Me”. The second half of the album is labeled with slower, sludgier songs such as “Old Disaster”, “A Quest To Believe” and, of course, moody but surreal melodic title track. There are moments that stand out compared to others, but “No Cross No Crown” is definitely an album that needs to be heard from the beginning to the end without interruption.

The new album is by no means an attempt to repeat or rewrite another “Deliverance” but a logical and perfect extension of the musical direction that the band started two decades ago. Though it will not leave such a powerful impression, “No Cross No Crown” has a huge plus, which is that every member of the band has brought to it all the experience gained over the years, which is especially heard and felt when it comes to technical possibilities and the way of writing songs. The album that every fan of the classic line-up will know to appreciate and will enjoy.

Written by Jadranka Balaš

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