Corrosion Of Conformity have “four or five” songs written for what will be their 10th album.
The band have a total of 25 rough ideas that they hope to reduce to around 12 before hitting the studio to record the follow-up to 2014’s IX. They hope to release their 10th album in 2017.
The album will be their first since the return of Pepper Keenan to the fold, after he sat out the recording of IX and 2012’s self-titled effort.
While playing the Ronnie James Dio stage at England’s Bloodstock festival yesterday (Friday), Keenan told the audience the new album would land in 2017, and after the set bassist Mike Dean said in an exclusive interview with TeamRock that work was well underway.
Dean says: “We’re currently writing it and we have a whole lot of material that we are just trying to narrow down. We’re trying to get 25 rough ideas down to between 12 and 15 songs that we’ll record and release next year.
“Four or five of them are pretty much whole formed songs.”
Since Keenan’s return in 2014, COC have been swamped with tour offers, which Dean says has put recording sessions on hold.
He adds: “We keep saying yes to tours! We’ve always been in demand but with Pepper back it’s even more so. We’ve just agreed to do a tour with Torche and Red Fang…it’s hard to say no to that!”
COC drummer Reed Mullin had to step away from the band briefly in June after suffering a booze-related seizure. He returned days later but injured his knee this month, almost forcing the band to cancel their Bloodstock appearance.
Dean says: “We were at the airport to come to the UK when we got a call from Reed saying he blew out his knee. We nearly had to cancel the show but we decided to push ahead.”
The band’s drum tech John Green filled in, playing the set with no rehearsal under his belt. “John sits alongside Reed so much that he knows the material,” Dean says.
“He’s got heart, he’s not fucking scared.”
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Mullin is having work done on his knee this weekend and Dean hopes the drummer will be back in time for the band’s next scheduled show at the Ride For Dime event in Dallas, Texas, on August 20.
As for Mullin’s battle to stay away from alcohol, Dean says it’s “an ongoing process.”
He adds: “We seem to have got his attention and we hope he keeps responding well. It can be hard being on the road for a long time.”
