Eye for an Eye Stands the Test of Time

Corrosion of Conformity is an interesting band, in that they have two distinctly different sounds. While some of their records have all the aspects one would expect from a stoner metal album, with cleanish vocals and a grooving instrumental track, you can put on another album and hear the chaotic, discordant screams ripped straight from a Black Flag album. No sound is better than the other, and they take on hardcore punk as easily as they do metal, as seen in this reissue of their 1984 debut record, Eye for an Eye.

The first track, “Tell Me,” starts out in such a doom-y manner, that it makes the eventual entrance of punk drumming and vocals a jarring, and pleasant, surprise. With all the energy and anger of their ’80s punk  colleagues, Eye for an Eye is a classic hardcore record through and through. While some songs, like “Coexist,” bring out riffs that are quite indicative of riffs to come, this album is chock full of short, fun and purely punk tracks such as “L.S.” and “College Town.” Eye for an Eye ends as any great punk record should, with a short, angry song that is not trying to end the album in an explicitly ‘conclusive’ way.

The reissue of Eye for an Eye is a great way for fans of Corrosion of Conformity’s more recent stoner metal albums to get a glimpse of their hardcore beginnings while still providing some familiar groovy riffs, as well as giving hardcore fans a chance to check out a band that they may have otherwise ignored. Any fan of old school hardcore punk with dashes of some groovier metal should pick this album up immediately.