Corrosion Of Conformity announce new album and launch first track

Corrosion Of Conformity (Image credit: Dean Karr)

Corrosion Of Conformity have announced that their new studio album will launch early next year.

It’s titled No Cross No Crown and it’ll arrive on January 12 via Nuclear Blast and is their first record with Pepper Keenan since 2005’s In The Arms Of God.

Keenan is joined on the band’s 10th studio album by Woody Weatherman, Mike Dean and Reed Mullin, with No Cross No Crown recorded in North Carolina with longtime producer John Custer over the space of 40 days over the course of a year.

Keenan says: “We took our time and didn’t put any pressure on ourselves. I’d go up from New Orleans and we’d do four or five days at a time, just hacking away at it.

“It was fun because we did it like a demo, but in a studio. We were writing and putting it on tape at the same time. We took what parts we thought were great from the old days and weren’t scared to go backwards. It kinda wrote itself that way.”

The band have revealed that the album title comes from a recent tour stop in England.

Keenan continues: “We were playing this old church from the 1500s that had been turned into a performing arts centre. The dressing room had stained glass windows and one of them showed this poor fella being persecuted. Underneath it said, ‘No cross no crown.’ So I just took that idea. We’re not trying to be on a soapbox, but we used it as a catalyst to write songs around.”

He adds that No Cross No Crown has a lot less to do with politics or religion than its title implies.

“I think everyone needs to get away from that mindset in general,” Keenan adds. “It just seems to be a mess out there nowadays. We need to get back to being humans and taking care of each other and simple things like that.

“For us, the terminology ‘No cross no crown’ is a theme. It’s mentioned in three songs throughout the album. We just weaved it through as we went.”

To mark the announcement, Corrosion Of Conformity have released the first track from the album titled Cast The First Stone, while No Cross No Crown is now available for pre-order.

Find the cover art, tracklist and stream of Cast The First Stone below.

Main picture: Dean Karr

Corrosion Of Conformity No Cross No Crown tracklist

Novus Deus
The Luddite
Cast The First Stone
No Cross
Wolf Named Crow
Little Man
Matre’s Diem
Forgive Me
Nothing Left To Say
Sacred Isolation
Old Disaster
E.L.M.
No Cross No Crown
A Quest To Believe (A Call To The Void)
Son And Daughter

Road Trippin': Corrosion Of Conformity

Scott has spent 37 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, highlights deals, and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 12 years, Scott has written more than 11,500 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from news and features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.