Corrosion Of Conformity - Good God/Baad Man Review

Corrosion Of Conformity‘s eleventh album Good God/Baad Man comes after a period of change for the band. Longtime drummer Reed Mullin passed away and was replaced with Stanton Moore, and Mike Dean departed which helped bring Bobby Landgraf to the fold. The new members bring experience from prior COC and Down stints. The new record is presented as a double LP, but a relatively modest one at just 67 minutes, but that doesn’t mean it’s a consistent one.

The album starts with some very Pepper Keenan riffs on “Good God Final Dawn” and “Gimme Some More” chugs along at a pace that feels both old school and new school. “Bedouin’s Hand” serves as a long intro to the even longer “Run For Your Life,” a questionable choice as COC’s music is best served as four and five minute songs of high intensity groove with underlying blues. This section bloats the album and waters down the run time substantially, ending the Good God half of the record on a bit of a low note.

Both “Baad Man” and “Lose Yourself” could have justified being b-sides to 1996’s Wiseblood. Instead, they act merely as a bridge to the past. The entire Baad Man half of this could very easily have been a late ‘90s era LP on its own. The transition of “Mandra Sonos” only seems to serve some as a reference to ZZ Top’s “Manic Mechanic,” but otherwise is unnecessary breaking up the flow that was being established on this half.

“Asleep On The Killing Floor” does some capable heavy lifting to bring the album back into focus, only to see things slow down and get drawn out on “Handcuff County” and “Swallowing The Anchor.” The latter attempts to play into rock sensibilities but loses some points for an ill timed use of ‘90s talk show era bleeps and overall feeling like a poor use of a six minute long song.

Corrosion Of Conformity appear to be suffering from having to record everything they have written in the last eight years and the result is a bloated record without very clear direction and nearly 20 minutes of fluff. This could have used a firmer hand in the studio. Good God/Baad Man has some great highs that show the band still has it, but is too long for its own good, as it asks too much of the listener to keep them entertained for the duration. Here’s to the next one.

(released April 3, 2026 on Nuclear Blast)