Corrosion of Conformity has been around since before hardcore was hardcore. The North Carolina outfit made its first recordings in the early '80s, and it has persevered through a slew of changes both within the band and outside it -- personnel shifts, label changes, the ever-shifting trends in the music world. One of the first bands to merge metal and punk elements, COC evolved in tandem with thrash metal groups like Metallica, Anthrax and Slayer, though COC always maintained an earthy twist that other bands didn't cultivate until later in their careers. The lineup here is the same one that recorded Animosity-- bassist-vocalist Mike Dean, guitarist Woodroe Weatherman, and drummer-vocalist Reed Mullin-- and in the absence of 1994-2005 frontman Pepper Keenan (currently focusing on the Southern-metal supergroup Down but rumored to be returning to the C.O.C. fold), the three set the Delorean controls back to 1987. Crucially, though, there's much more to Corrosion of Conformity than strict reanimation. Here, many of the tracks feel lived-in, nearly epic. As a whole, Corrosion of Conformity is smartly sequenced for maximum variety. "Leeches", a bellowed hardcore outburst, sits next to the album's lone instrumental, "El Lamento de Las Cabras", drumless desert blues shaded with acoustic guitar; and the prog-punk mini suite "The Moneychangers". Corrosion of Conformity is what you want out of a comeback record: not just a reclamation of lost vigor but a meaningful update on a vintage sound. If Animosity seemed like an ugly duckling back in the mid 1980s-- too punk for the metal crowd and vice versa-- Corrosion of Conformity registers similarly today. In an era when doom metal keeps growing bleaker and artier, and hardcore skews ever more dire, the album serves as a reminder that swagger, soul, and songcraft still have a place in the heavy-rock underground. Corrosion of conformity, indeed.