Deliverance

Deliverance came out at a time when Corrosion of Conformity was changing singers (and genres) with nearly every release. After the thrash/alterna-metal that was "Blind," COC switched to a more melodic brand of Southern Metal that was fairly unique for its time. Pepper Keenan is now the full-time vocalist as well as the main songwriter for the band.

They kick off the album with "Heaven's Not Overflowing," which features a helluva main riff, Keenan with his macho singing style, and two long solos. This song is an absolute killer and arguably the best song that COC has ever made. "Without Wings" is a beautiful instrumental with acoustic guitar being accompanied with a synthesizer which leads into "Broken Man." The riff is an absolute crusher and once again this song has a couple of cool solos in the middle.

Yet, other than those songs, this album is very disappointing. "Albatross" is ok, but never really takes off like it should while the title track is a yawn-inducing dud. "Heal My Wounds," arguably the most well-known song off of "Deliverance," is a perfact example of what is wrong with the album as a whole. The riffs are there, but they aren't memorable. The singing is there, but it lacks any sort of melody or harmonies to add anything to the song. To be fair, Keenan isn't the type of singer who does that in any of his songs, but Keenan sounds bored throughout the album, as opposed to "Heaven's Not Overflowing," which sounds like he's trying to reach out of the stereo and wring the listener's neck. The lead guitar isn't very technical or exciting; in addition it sounds terrible too, very flat and lifeless.

Pepper Keenan and company have found their niche, their own unique sound, but it seems like they're not really sure how to capitalize off of it yet. Thankfully a year later Keenan collaborated with Phil Anselmo and the rest of Down and things took a turn for the better.