UMUR "Eye for an Eye" is the debut full-length studio album by US hardcore/heavy metal act Corrosion of Conformity. The album was released through No Core/Toxic Shock Records in may 1984. The original release featured 20 tracks and a full playing time of 33:31 minutes, while later re-releases include the 6 tracks from the "Six Songs with Mike Singing EP" from 1988 (recorded in 1985). As the EP title suggests those tracks feature bassist Mike Dean on vocals, while the remaining tracks predominantly feature original Corrosion of Conformity singer Eric Eycke on lead vocals.

Stylistically the music on the album is aggressive and raw hardcore. It´s fast, unpolished, political themed (song titles like "Minds Are Controlled", "RedneKKK", and "Poison Planet", are a testament to that), and primal in expression. The band are obviously still a bit immature as the songwriting lacks a bit catchiness and the performances aren´t exactly sharp, but to those who enjoy their hardcore as unpolished and authentic sounding as possible (this sounds a lot like you are standing in the rehearsal room with the band playing), "Eye for an Eye" is sure to meet that demand.

The sound production is just as raw and unpolished as the tracks, so "Eye for an Eye" is an album where all the elements go hand in hand. Upon conclusion "Eye for an Eye" is not the most unique sounding hardcore release from the early- to mid-80s and it´s not the most memorable either, but Corrosion of Conformity did have a nice raw charm and an authentic primal aggression which have impact on the listener. It all equals up to a good but not great album and a 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

Time Signature Not safe...

Genre: hardcore punk

Corrosion of Conformity, or COC, are probably best known for their brand of sludge- and stoner-informed alternative metal, but they actually started out as a hardcore punk band, and journeyed through crossover thrash before they finally found the style that they have explored consistently since the mid 1990s. Their debut album Eye for an Eye from 1984 captures the band at the very early stages in their transition to becoming a metal band and is best characterized as a hardcore punk album with a few thrashy elements now and then.

If you think this sounds interesting, then this is your lucky year, because the album is reissued this November on Candlelight Records. But be warned, this is, as mentioned, all out hardcore punk and bears very little, if any similarity, with the music that the band is known for nowadays. Most of the tracks are uptempo and feature simple, and rather genre-typical, riffage. The average song length is 1:30 minutes, with some songs clocking it at 2 minutes, and other songs being micro-songs. Thus, the music is intense and compact, and with the raw production and, well, the level of musicianship of COC back then, it is also very chaotic. That being said, the drums are rather dynamic and rich in pretty awesome fills, and the bass has an organic bobbing sound which suits the overall sound of the album.

One thing that makes Eye for an Eye interesting is that it is the only album which features Eric Eycke on vocals... fortunately. While there is a certain charm to Eycke's singing, his voice is weak and not really special. I say this knowing that he has a large number of fans worldwide who prefer the early Eycke-fronted COC-material to their post-1985 releases, but personally, I think that his singing is the major turn-off factor of this album for my money. The reissue of Eye for an Eye also features the Six Songs With mike Singing-EP from 1985, and this makes Eycke look really bad, as Mike Dean's vocals have much more edge and much more aggression to them. Slightly similar to Blaine Cook's voice, Mike Dean's singing is full of attitude and power and suits the aggressive music much better. The six Dean-fronted tracks have been given a slight overhaul and most of them are now more crossover-thrashy than the versions on Eye for an Eye, and the performance is much tighter.

Sloppy ahd punky, Eye for an Eye is not for everyone, and I suspect that naby fans of more recent COC-material will actually not like it, but, if you are into dirty 1980s hardcore punk, of if you are just interested in experiencing this early incarnation of COC, then, by all means, check out this massive reissue.

(review originally posted at seaoftranquility.org)