Corrosion of Conformity and eyehategod, two of the titans of sludge-y, Southern-based hard rock returned to Los Angeles for a show at the Henry Fonda Theatre. In the opening slot New Orleans’ own eyehategod played their trademark brand of patient, unapologetic metal as the crowd filled in to the venue. After a serious health scare in 2016 where lead singer Mike IX Williams needed a full liver transplant, he recently returned to his longtime band and touring. Williams and founding member Jimmy Bower rock the stage with a minimum of posturing. This is all about intense, forceful focus. There are moments of higher bpm where the sludge turns to thrash, but generally eyehategod is at their most effective when they sit comfortably in a morbid, turgid mood. They let chords ring out and smacks of drums reverberate while Williams snarls in an inimitable rasp, howling colorful lyrics that eschew comfort in favor of vivid, brutal descriptions. About halfway through Williams shrieks “Sisterfucker!” as the band launches into early career track “Sisterfucker (Part I).” The L.A. crowd, while engaged, appears unsure of how to interface with this doom-y brilliance. Perhaps sensing as much, before the set’s closing number Williams curiously states, “We’ve got one more and then we’ll be out of your hair. You won’t have us to pick on anymore.”

Corrosion of Conformity followed with a thrilling set spanning choice cuts from their early ‘90s material all the way through their new album, No Cross No Crown. After a short hiatus ten years back, the band reformed as a trio, reuniting original members guitarist Woody Weatherman, bassist Mike Dean and drummer Reed Mullin in a throwback to their early hardcore sound. After a few years, they were rejoined by ‘90s era vocalist Pepper Keenan and have returned to their groove-based hard rock sound. We’re all the happier for both incarnations, but with Keenan back on lead guitar and vocals, this four-piece is a force to be reckoned with. They opened with instrumental song “Bottom Feeder (El Que Come Abajo)” off the 1996 Wiseblood album, each member taking the stage individually and slowly layering new instruments into the mix. They followed that with their only new song of the night, the more aggressive cut “The Luddite.” They dipped into their landmark album Deliverance for “Seven Days” but then went back to a song from the first album Keenan joined the band for, “Vote With a Bullet” off the now twenty-five year old Blind.

Continuing with “Long Whip / Big America,” what comes into stark relief is how incredibly skilled the three musicians from the original three-piece are coupled with how powerfully Keenan works as a front man, bouncing off the band’s instrumentation and darting around it like he’s having a ball. The band morphs from doom-y swagger into boogie with obvious weed call-out, “Who’s Got the Fire,” where Keenan effectively elicits the night’s first singalong. The show ends perfectly using three of the strongest tracks from their breakthrough Deliverance. First, they play the charging “Broken Man” where the crowd finally opens up into a joyous circle pit. Then, they end with the double shot of “Albatross” and “Clean My Wounds.” The crowd goes wild at the mere mention of “Albatross” and the entire performance is a wild display of nimble vocal melodies and fretwork from Keenan. “Clean My Wounds” ups the ante even further. The band evolves the song into an acid-soaked jam before returning to a guitar-less final verse. The majesty in this song is in that while a casual listener could call this metal, somehow it feels immensely vital and urgent far beyond the actual pace the song flows in. Just a few simple melodies, a couple of adlib guitar flourishes and a couple well-placed backing vocals and the song is just perfection.

The only negative here, and literally the only negative, is that C.O.C. may just have started as a band in the wrong decade. When they hit the airwaves, scores of rock bands of every variety were finding footing. There was variety everywhere and to spare in the early ‘90s. The atmospherics of big beat and the gloss of mega pop were still years away. At that point, there was just more solid talent on display than anyone could possibly consume. If the band had started in the early 2000’s, right now we would have an arena sell-out band. It’s curious beyond belief that just over a week ago, Queens of the Stone Age was headlining the massive L.A. Forum, being joined by Mark Ronson for a cover of an Elton John song. While there’s no denying QOTSA’s ascendancy, it’s hard not to wish Corrosion of Conformity could enjoy the same level of success. They sure deserve it.

All photos by Raymond Flotat