CORROSION OF CONFORMITY Drummer Talks New Album, Upcoming Tour In Video Interview

Jo Schüftan of Horns Up Rocks! conducted an interview with drummer/vocalist Reed Mullin of Raleigh, North Carolina legends CORROSION OF CONFORMITY after the band's December 30, 2011 concert at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey. You can now watch the chat below.

CORROSION OF CONFORMITY will embark on a U.S. headlining tour this March. Set to commence on March 1 at the Gramercy Theatre in New York City, the trek will hit 15 cities — including two performances at this year's SXSW (South By Southwest) music conference in Austin. The band will be joined by TORCHE, VALIENT THORR and A STORM OF LIGHT.

Commented CORROSION OF CONFORMITY vocalist/bassist Mike Dean: "We think the lineup of music on this tour is really compatible without every band doing the same thing. We're really proud to be on this bill and touring on a new album."

As a precursor to the tour, the band will play one-off show with HAIL!HORNET at the Orange Peel in Asheville, North Carolina on January 22. The special performance will coincide with a screening of "Slow Southern Steel", the long-anticipated southern metal documentary produced by RWAKE vocalist CT.

Candlelight Records has set a February 28 North American release date for the self-titled new album from CORROSION OF CONFORMITY. Recorded at Dave Grohl's Studio 606 in Northridge, California, the CD was produced by the band in cooperation with longtime collaborator John Custer. It was mixed by John Lousteau (FOO FIGHTERS) and features artwork by Seldon Hunt (MELVINS, HIGH ON FIRE).

"Corrosion Of Conformity" will be available on standard CD, deluxe digipak, and two exclusive vinyl formats.

Featuring the esteemed "Animosity" lineup of vocalist/bassist Mike Dean, guitarist Woody Weatherman, and drummer/vocalist Reed Mullin, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY's album closes a six-year recording gap and completes over a year of concentrated writing and recording for the band.

Reflecting on the past year and the album's recording process, Dean notes, "We tracked the songs at Studio 606, then headed for Europe, toured the U.S., and returned to Europe. We then did some vocals at home in North Carolina. but not where we originally planned; the studio was flattened by a system of spring tornadoes. We made our way back to 606 about seven months later and mixed twelve songs in ten days. The whole time we were out there, we were living in the onion fields of Ventura County and had to drive over the Santa Susana Pass to the San Fernando Valley every day. That was some fuel intensive time to reflect."

He added, "As a whole, the album was an inspired and efficient collaboration.

"John Custer told me he thought we were all working together as one organism; which is an apt description."

"Corrosion Of Conformity" features eleven new songs, with the deluxe digipak and vinyl formats set to include two additional tracks. Vinyl collectors will want to seek out both formats of the record; the European configuration is confirmed as a double 180-gram clear vinyl, and the American version will feature a single 180-gram black-and-white splatter vinyl with a limited seven-inch single which will include the album's bonus songs. Both versions will feature a gatefold sleeve.

Comments Dean: "We like the idea of pressing this music on vinyl because so much of our inspiration comes from music that precedes the digital era. It's also cool to have that large format for the artwork and the lyrics and the credits. It's such a tangible physical product you can hold in your hands. In Europe, the vinyl will include a CD so you can get the files into your digital realm. In the U.S., a download card is included."

"Corrosion Of Conformity" track listing:

01. Psychic Vampire
02. River Of Stone
03. Leeches
04. El Lamento De Las Cabras
05. Your Tomorrow
06. The Doom
07. The Moneychangers
08. Come Not Here
09. What We Become
10. Rat City
11. Time Of Trials
12. Canyon Man (deluxe/vinyl only)
13. The Same Way (deluxe/vinyl only)

Mullin co-founded CORROSION OF CONFORMITY in 1982 as a hardcore punk act alongside Weatherman and Dean before leaving the band in 2001 amidst health concerns.

CORROSION OF CONFORMITY's latest album, "In the Arms of God", came out in 2005 on Sanctuary Records. The group's first collection of new material since 2000's "America's Volume Dealer" was produced by C.O.C.'s longtime collaborator John Custer.