American heavy metal icons Corrosion Of Conformity have returned with a surprise treat: a soulful rendition of “Fire And Water”, the classic track originally released by English rockers Free in 1970. Their version, recorded spontaneously during the sessions for the forthcoming Corrosion Of Conformity full-length album, marks the first entry in the Riffissippi Studio Jam Sessions — a collection of jammed-out interpretations of songs by some of the band’s favorite artists.

Corrosion Of Conformity guitarist and vocalist Pepper Keenan explained how the idea came together during downtime in the studio: “When we were tracking this record, we had a very cool space set up where we would essentially hang in the large room with everything mic’d and everything we needed, including a turntable and a bunch of our favorite records, which we would play and chill out between takes.

“We were hanging together, and I pulled out a Free album and Fire And Water popped up. [Drummer] Stanton [Moore] jumped up immediately and said, ‘Who the fuck is that!?’ He had never heard it before. We were baffled, but it was awesome to us that he had never heard it. He said, ‘let’s cut that!’ I said, ‘man, that’s friggin’ Free and kind of like holy ground that you don’t fuck with.’ But we started thinking about it and damn, Stanton charted it out like the drum wizard he is. I said, ‘I can’t sing like that, man. He’s the king.’ Someone in the room said, ‘just sing it like you,’ so we went for it and had a blast doing it.

“It was a nice fun break from the recording. It’s nothing too serious, just a bunch of fellas leaning into it, loving the rock. It’s an exercise in restraint. Hope y’all dig it.”

Corrosion Of Conformity is hitting the road with Judas Priest and Alice Cooper this September and October. They’re making the most of those dates with a handful of newly-announced solo headlining dates, all of which you can find below. Get your tickets here.

Corrosion Of Conformity only

9/25 Harrisonburg, VA Golden Pony
9/30 Ft. Wayne, IN Stan’s Room at Piere’s
10/6 Des Moines, IA Wooly’s
10/9 Kansas City, MO Warehouse On Broadway
10/17 Las Vegas, NV The Usual Place
10/21 El Paso, TX Rockhouse

w/ Judas Priest & Alice Cooper

9/24 Virginia Beach, VA Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater
9/26 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center
9/27 Saratoga Springs, NY Broadview Stage at SPAC
9/29 Toronto, ON Budweiser Stage
10/1 Burgettstown, PA The Pavilion at Star Lake
10/2 Clarkston, MI Pine Knob Music Theatre
10/4 Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Music Center
10/5 Tinley Park, IL Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre
10/10 Colorado Springs, CO Broadmoor World Arena
10/12 Salt Lake City, UT Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre
10/14 Mountain View, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre
10/15 Wheatland, CA Toyota Amphitheatre
10/18 Chula Vista, CA North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre
10/19 Los Angeles, CA Kia Forum
10/22 Phoenix, AZ Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre
10/23 Albuquerque, NM Isleta Amphitheater
10/25 Austin, TX Germania Insurance Amphitheater
10/26 Houston, TX The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

Want More Metal? Subscribe To Our Daily Newsletter

Enter your information below to get a daily update with all of our headlines and receive The Orchard Metal newsletter.