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With a direct link to Pantera through singer/guitarist Pepper Keenan’s work with Phil Anselmo in Down, and connections to Foo Fighters, Slipknot, and Queens Of The Stone Age via original drummer Reed Mullin, Corrosion Of Conformity are bona fide metal legends.
This year they return with a new line-up and the double album Good God / Baad Man, mixing up elements of stoner rock, hardcore, and blues into a downtuned symphony of swirling psychedelic noise.
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“There’s psychedelic shit, heavy shit, acoustic shit, and then some shit-kickin’ hill country Mississippi blues shit,” Keenan tells GW. “One person told us it sounded like what would happen if a heavy metal band made [the Beastie Boys’] Paul’s Boutique. That made sense to me, because we’re all over the place on this record. We just went crazy.”
Keenan and founding guitarist Woody Weatherman wrote the majority of the music, before drafting in bassist Bobby Landgraf (currently Rex Brown’s bass tech in Pantera) and drummer Stanton Moore for the recording sessions. They describe the process as a true labor of love.
The mission for album number 11 was to see how far they could stretch their sound without losing their core essence. “We were the only two dudes there – no one else was around,” nods Weatherman. “It was nice to be able to bang heads and riff. We’ve never made a record like that, throwing ideas and completing the arrangements while drinking beers. It felt good.”
Alongside some of the meatiest pentatonic riffage you’ll hear this year, there are moments of wild experimentation – leading their Grammy-winning producer Warren Riker to label the album “Dark Side Of The Doom.” Second track You Or Me, for example, features two minutes of feedback, echoes, drones, and vibrations in the middle of its thunderous blues.
“That’s no keyboard you’re hearing, dawg, it’s a white Moog that The Bee Gees used on their world tours!” Keenan cackles.
“We tracked some guitars at Barry Gibb’s studio in Miami. The Moog was in there and we said, ‘Could you ask Mr. Gibb if we’re okay to use this?’ And we were told to go for it.”
You’re both highly respected down-tuned riff merchants. What can you tell us about the power of a good riff, and how do you know when you’ve found one?
Keenan: I think Ronnie Van Zant [Lynyrd Skynyrd] said this once – the best way to know is if you ain’t gotta put it on tape to remember. If you don’t have to stick it in on your phone, but you can still figure it out six months later, it’s probably a pretty good idea. The end of Forever Amplified was one of those riffs that haunt you. They stay in your brain until you exorcise them.
Weatherman: We wrote it on the board as ‘The Loudest Riff Ever Recorded By A Human’. Keenan plugged into some solid-state and it was the loudest thing I’d ever heard. We had to put the mic four feet away. With us and a lot of heavier bands, the riff is it. The song is nothing without the riff. We usually play in D standard and occasionally do Drop C for songs like Vote With A Bullet and It Is That Way. But we’re not like Drop A dudes or anything.
It was the most gorgeous ’58 Strat I’d ever seen. I was like, ‘Dare I ask?’ They said, ‘Sure – by the way, it’s from one of the hits!’
Pepper Keenan
What gear did you use for the recordings?
Keenan: In the studio, all bets are off. We don’t give a fuck. I’m a tone chaser, man – I’m dicking around with my shit constantly. I took a Seymour Duncan Invader pickup and started pulling out half the magnets, just to mess around with the strength. I’m going to make a million dollars off this!
My main rig is still Orange; I love those heads. The folks over there sent me a prototype of something that’s not out yet. It’s a version of the OR60 that has two presence knobs, one for your low end and another for your high end, which I think is genius. It doesn’t have a model number; it just says “Prototype 66-something.”
As for guitars, I used about 15! For the opening track I used a Telecaster with two Palm Benders on it. There were also Les Pauls and Strats. I used Maurice Gibb’s Strat from Jive Talkin’ on our song Baad Man. It was the most gorgeous ’58 Strat I’d ever seen in my life, just hanging there on the wall. I was like, ‘Dare I ask?’ and they told me, “Sure – by the way, it’s from one of the hits!” There was a lot of crazy shit like that this time.
What’s the acoustic we can hear you playing on Brickman?
Keenan: My guitar sounded fine, but our engineer fetched this old ornate Martin with a square headstock that was covered in mother of pearl. It was like game over – that guitar sounded so good it made the whole song take a turn.
I tuned half a step up and put a capo on the G position. It’s got this weird tuning thing going on but sounded like magic. That made me up the dose on the vocals, for sure.
Weatherman: We were switching amps all the time, from Boogies to Oranges. I have a custom shop white ESP that I’ve had for 30 years. That’s my main guitar; I also have a red one that’s similar. They feel good and everything comes naturally.
I’ve used my Rectifier most over the years – I have one of the originals from when they first came out. One amp that stood out was the Engl Fireball 25. Man, that thing was hot! I used it more than I expected. One clever feature was the noise gate on the back. It didn’t fuck with your tone, which came in handy.
They’re good enough for Judas Priest!
Weatherman: Right! The Falcon [Richie Faulkner] loves them. I know that because we just finished a Priest tour. He was heavy on the ENGL and he had a Wizard too.
I can still see Metallica shaking their heads. I knew I’d lost the gig right there!
Pepper Keenan
Unlike Keenan, I don’t really use many pedals other than my basic Dunlop Cry Baby. Of course, I love my Phase 90 and a nice Tube Screamer, plus this Purple Haze Octavider by Rocktron I’ve had for ages, but I’m not a gearhead.
Pepper, there’s a new Down record coming out. What can you tell us?
Keenan: “It’s getting mixed right now. Me and Kirk Windstein stripped down the guitars. He’s in one speaker and I’m in the other, and it’s one guitar each. I guess it’s NOLA-esque in the approach we were going for. I don’t know if it will come out this year or next year – there’s no rush. We just want to get it right.
Does your rig differ much between the two bands?
Keenan: It’s not hugely different. I use Gibson ES-335s in Down. The pedalboard is slightly different; but I could do both gigs with the same rig. In Down I always have my Zakk Wylde Rotovibe. He gave me one and I love it. I usually click it on and just leave it at one speed. I used it for the solo on Run For Your Life.
You made metal history auditioning for Metallica in the Some Kind Of Monster documentary. What would Metallica have sounded like with Pepper Keenan on bass?
Keenan: I think James Hetfield knows the answer – he’d have heard it himself when I was playing with them. There was one part in the movie where they made me play bass on a new song. I guess they were trying to stump me with something I’d never heard before; St. Anger or some shit like that.
It was a drop-tuned song and I hit the blower knob on my bass and just blasted through. They were like, “What the fuck are you doing?” It sounded as heavy as lead to me, totally ripping from all the overdrive on my short-scale SG bass set to the front pickup.
It was some Cream-sounding shit! Actually, it sounded more like Fudge Tunnel. I can still see them shaking their heads. I knew I’d lost the gig right there!
What were your favorite songs to jam with them?
Keenan: The one off The Black Album that sounded massive – Sad But True. That one was fun as shit. I loved Nothing Else Matters as well, plus the older shit like Master Of Puppets. But who doesn’t want to play that massive mid-tempo riff from Sad But True? Man, that was right up my alley!
