Corrosion of Conformity

My favorite punk band, Propagandhi, writes about these guys a good amount at their blog, so I decided to check out their album Deliverance. In the early '90s, Corrosion of Conformity made the rather odd switch from crossover thrash/hardcore to Southern-tinged stoner metal with spectacular results. Tracks like "Albatross" roll forward on syrupy riffs that sound like someone deep-fried Kyuss's desert grooves, and Pepper Keenan's vocals growl somewhere halfway between Ozzy Osbourne and Ronnie Van Zant.

Good FREE metal continued: Converge

Here's another metallic freebie: download an ENTIRE Converge live album, courtesy of Deathwish Inc. The set, hailing from the You Fail Me era, features heaping helpings of the band's trademark catharsis-by-screaming-so-hard-it-sounds-like-my-voicebox-is-getting-ripped-to-shreds. An intense, intimate, and yes, brutal recording.

Throwback Thursday: Black Flag

After hearing Black Flag referenced everywhere from countless bands' influences to the Dirty Projectors' reinterpretation of Damaged, I finally decided to check them out. Damaged, the album that many consider to be the peak of the band's prowess, crackles with a raw intensity unmatched by any band before 1981 and few afterward. Cacophonous guitar and drums provide a relentless assault as Henry Rollins belts out his frustrated snarl like a cornered wolf. And unlike the guitarists of other punk bands who deliberately shunned any technical ability, Greg Ginn keeps things fresh by infusing the songs with outbursts of angular shred. In the wake of heavier and faster hardcore bands like Converge, Black Flag's straightforward anger still makes a lasting impression.

Black Flag - "Rise Above"