CORROSION OF CONFORMITY Is Working On New Music With Drummer STANTON MOORE

CORROSION OF CONFORMITY is working on material for the follow-up to 2018's "No Cross No Crown" album. Earlier today, the band shared a short video of CORROSION OF CONFORMITY guitarist/vocalist Pepper Keenan playing in the studio with drummer Stanton Moore and included the following caption: "Tune writing sessions before the Spring UK/Euro Tour!!"

Last November, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY bassist/vocalist Mike Dean confirmed to MetalSucks that Moore, who previously appeared on the band's 2005's "In The Arms Of God" LP, will appear on the upcoming effort.

"History repeats itself all these years later," Dean said. "Stanton played on 'In The Arms Of God', and I think he's going to be working with us again for the next record. Having him aboard, I think you need to get a little nerdy to describe it because Stanton has got his own particular way that he wants to play. He wants to play kick drums in his jazzy way and likes to have the drums heads up front, so it's more of a traditional-sounding thing. And all of Stanton's fills are very second-line sounding, and he has these little phrases that are unique to him."

When asked if Stanton will join CORROSION OF CONFORMITY as a permanent replacement for Reed Mullin, who died in January 2020, Dean said: "Stanton is a different animal than Reed — we learned that back when we did 'In The Arms Of God' — and he brings an entirely new dynamic to the band. Stanton will take these straight, New Orleans-influenced, second-line things and throw them into a metal song; there's no stopping it. If you've seen Stanton Moore with GALACTIC, you'll know what I'm talking about. He's got his take, man. He's a character. But this isn't like Stanton joining the band per se, and I'm not sure that he would come out on the road and play with us because he's busy. It's more that Stanton is a good friend of ours, and we love working with him when we can when our schedules all sync up. Plus, Pepper and Stanton have known each other since they were little. It felt right to do another album with him because we loved what he did on 'In The Arms Of God', and we wanted to make this first record after Reed passed special. So, stay tuned, and we'll see how it all comes out."

Last October, Keenan told Guitar World that he still loves "No Cross No Crown". "It was a really fun experience to do and the last thing we did with Reed, unfortunately. So, it holds a special place in my heart. We're very happy with it."

Mullin died in January 2020 at the age of 53. The drummer, who co-founded CORROSION OF CONFORMITY in 1982 as a hardcore punk act alongside guitarist Woody Weatherman and Dean, had missed a number of shows in the preceding four years due to a variety of health issues, including an alcohol-related seizure he suffered back in June 2016.

Asked how Reed's passing affected him and the rest of CORROSION OF CONFORMITY, Pepper told Guitar World: "We lost our left arm. It was very hard to find a drummer. We have John Green [on tour with us], who is fantastic, but you just can't replace people like that. Other people have gone through it, too — but it's not easy. You spend decades with a person writing, and you don't even have to look at them; it just comes out. This was the first time we had to regroup in a long time and try to do it with a different drummer. We've got that figured out, so now we're getting ready to focus on that."

In 2014, after nearly a straight decade traversing the globe as a guitarist with New Orleans supergroup DOWN, Pepper reconnected with the core CORROSION OF CONFORMITY trio of Weatherman, Dean and Mullin to hit the road hard. "Reed called me and mentioned maybe playing a couple shows," Keenan recalled back in 2017. "I said, 'Let's just go to Europe and see if it works.' So we went to Europe and then ended up going back four times in one year... We toured for a year and then started tracking."

CORROSION OF CONFORMITY recorded "No Cross No Crown" in about forty days over the course of a year at a North Carolina studio with longtime producer John Custer.