Corrosion of Conformity help clean my wounds

On 15th June 2015 Corrosion of Conformity landed in the Limelight, Belfast with local support act Skypilot.

So this was my first proper full rock gig. What intrigued me was mainly that i had heard of them having listened to a song they played on a compilation album. Ironically, the compilation album was Nativity in Black, an album full of Black Sabbath covers. It was purely the fact they played ‘Lord of this World’ that piqued my interest.

So, I decided to jump in and go. Ever with Si, the man mountain in tow.

Also meeting up with the likes of Jonny Traynor and his entourage was a big help too. It was also the beginning of finding out how easy it was to bump into old acquaintances and make new ones. This is the real beauty of rock and metal gigs. Friendly, fun and adrenaline induced (though mostly by alcohol!).

 

The first of the night was  Skypilot, hailing from Doagh, Co. Antrim. A very solid act with good heavy riffage

Very tight group, though they didn’t move around too much. Once again I was impressed with the metal tunage local Northern Ireland bands were able to come out with.

They have a good number of tracks on Soundcloud and are well worth checking out.

Then came the main act. Corrosion of Conformity or CoC (hehehehe I said coc and I couldn’t stop thinking of Cthulhu). Wonderfully heavy, full on rumbling riffage, this is early Black Sabbath for the next generation. Pepper Keenan, Lead singer and guitarist, is just phenomenal. His voice clearly came through and is very distinctive.

I was absolutely blown away and my neck was going to hurt the next day. As Starfire would put it, I was well out of practice with the banging of the head. Much moshing was had which, I might add,  was incredibly cathartic.

The experience i was beginning to understand is the live atmosphere of a band right in front of you pumping out their craft with the audience feeding off the band energy whilst the band’s energy comes from the audience.

Its akin to a religious experience as you get wrapped up in the performance as a whole – nothing else matters at that moment, the music is link to that euphoric well hidden beneath the normal mediocrity of everyday life. The constant struggle to understand the social mores that one must abide by to get through the day. The weight that places on your shoulders is lifted by music, and live music in particular.

This realisation started dawning on me with Corrosion of Conformity. And wounds beneath the surface begin to heal a little.

Seriously, if you ever get the chance go see some CoC live. (hehehehehe i’m still laughing at that). And of course like me you may

make some very random friends who may turn out to have absolute hearts of gold even if they look more like they want to eat yours – while you’re still standing there.