They came onto my radar from various interviews other artists did and they mentioned how CoC is one of the current bands they are listening to. The guys from Pantera, Bach and Hetfield come to mind.

Deliverance

It came out in 1994, but I didn’t get into it until I came across a guitar tab for “Albatross” from the Guitar mags I purchase. As soon as I sat down and attempted to play it, I was all in. It’s heavy, it has groove and it’s probably the best Sabbath riff that Tony Iommi didn’t write in the 90’s.

“Heavens Not Overflowing” is a great title and a great way to open an album with.

What a concept.

Let’s merge our love of Southern Rock, Delta Blues and Black Sabbath into a track.

And the lyrics.

“I’ve seen your rising son fall in your mama’s eye / and now the cops got a medal but he calls it a prize”.

Doesn’t it sum up the state of the world, when the police who are meant to protect the citizens take em out like a hunt.

“Clean My Wounds” is more like Thin Lizzy in the verses and I like it.

“Help me Jesus, help me clean my wounds / He said he cannot heal that kind”

Even the mighty Lord has biases. The final juror to pass judgement.

“Without Wings” is a nice short acoustic piece with synth strings, similar to the little acoustic songs that Black Sabbath would incorporate on their albums.

Now “Broken Man” is the song in my opinion that crossed over between the sounds of Pantera and the heavy sounds of Seattle from Soundgarden and Alice In Chains and CoC’s normal groove sludge rock. Because if you liked Pantera, there was no way you could ignore CoC. If you liked Alice In Chains or Soundgarden, there was no way you would ignore CoC.

And how good is the exotic sounding lead break?

“Now I’m a broken man in a broken land… / And don’t they wish they were blessed like you”

If you think that person is winning or popular, behind the surface they are probably troubled or lonely. Read any rockstar bio and you see why they turn to drugs and alcohol.

Time away on the road leads to loneliness and then they get those highs on stage which they try to keep going after the show and drugs end up being found in abundance because everyone is preying on them, to make a dollar and to leech from their success.

“Senor Limpio” is basically ZZ Top all metalled up. Just listen to the riffs.

It moves into “Mano De Mono”, another short instrumental that is sad and heartfelt with a bit of blues and Mexicana chucked in.

“Seven Days” plods along like a person carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders. Then there is another short instrumental, “#2121313” before “My Grain” kicks in.

And how good is that interlude/solo section in “My Grain” inspired by “The Real Me” from The Who. As soon as the chords kick in and the bass solo starts, you know straight away which band inspired it.

Then the title track kicks off with a nod to “Back In Black” before the sleazy riff kicks off.

And how good is “Shelter” a sombre acoustic ballad with some country licks thrown in. The closer “Pears Before Swine” reminds me of the band, Sanctuary. It’s perfect.

Overall “Deliverance” is a perfect hard rock and metal album. And here is a post from Mike Ladano that I totally agree with.

Wiseblood

It came out in 1996 and it kicks off with the excellent titled “King Of The Rotten” and the vocals on this one are very James Hetfield influenced. Track 2, “Long Whip / Big America” reminds of ZZ Top “La Grange” era. Its got that spirit.

“Wiseblood” and “Goodbye Windows” sound like the influences to Black Label Society. And how good is that harmony solo section in “Goodbye Windows” with the vocals over it.

And the bluesy Sabbath like tunes continue, along with the excellent song titles, like “Born Again For The Last Time”, “Drowning In A Daydream” and “The Snake Has No Head”.

Then there is “The Door” and “Man Or Ash”, cuts that would not be out of place on a Metallica “Load” or “Reload” album. And if the vocalist sounds familiar on “Man Or Ash”, it should, it’s none other than James Hetfield.

Then there is the excellent titled “Redepmtion City”.

“Fuel” is a thrash-a-thon and I had to keep telling my friends at the time that it’s not a cover of the other “Fuel” that appeared on “Reload” even though this one came out before.

And post “Wiseblood”, the band got dropped from Columbia Records because “Wiseblood” was seen as a commercial failure and Sanctuary Records picked em up.

In 2000, “America’s Volume Dealer” came out and disappointed the new label in sales. They went on hiatus and reformed, releasing another three more albums, a couple of EP’s, a live album, worked on side projects like “Down” and an compilation album, the most recent album being “No Cross No Crown” in 2018.