Wiseblood (Corrosion of Conformity album)


Wiseblood is the fifth album by Corrosion of Conformity, released on October 15, 1996, by Columbia Records, the band's second and final album for the label. Its name comes from the novel Wise Blood, written by Southern Gothic author Flannery O'Connor. Metallica's lead vocalist, James Hetfield, provides his voice as backup on the album's ninth track, "Man or Ash". The song "Drowning in a Daydream" was nominated for Best Metal Performance at the 40th Grammy Awards ceremony. The album had sold 130,000 copies by 1999, selling less than Blind and Deliverance.

Reception

Wiseblood received a mixed review from Allmusic writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine, who gave the album four stars out of five. He describes Wiseblood as the "closest Corrosion of Conformity have gotten to old-school heavy metal, yet their fondness for industrial soundbites and thrash-metal keeps the group sounding contemporary." However, Erlewine states that it "doesn't have half the hooks of its predecessor, which means it sounds great while its playing, but it disappears into the abyss once it's finished."
Despite receiving mixed reviews, Wiseblood peaked at number 104 on the Billboard 200; this was the band's highest position on the chart for 22 years, until No Cross No Crown, which peaked at number 67. It also peaked at number two on the Heatseekers chart. However, it only spent two weeks on the Billboard 200.
One of the album's singles, "Drowning in a Daydream", peaked at number 27 on the Mainstream Rock chart.

Track listing

Japanese edition

Personnel

Corrosion of Conformity

Album

Singles