Released: April 5, 2005
What changes when a Corrosion of Conformity record is driven by a drummer who refuses to sit squarely inside the riff? In the Arms of God spends more than an hour answering that question. The guitars still grind, and Pepper Keenan still sings as though every line has been dragged through gravel, but the rhythm pulls the songs away from their expected landing points.
Released on April 5, 2005, the band’s seventh studio album came five years after America’s Volume Dealer. Reed Mullin was absent, leaving Keenan, Woody Weatherman, and Mike Dean to work with Galactic drummer Stanton Moore. The lineup change reaches well beyond a different name behind the kit. Moore hears small openings inside the riffs, and producer John Custer gives him enough room for every kick, ghost note, and tumbling fill to matter.
“Stone Breaker” establishes that balance immediately. Custer’s Hammond organ colours the opening before Weatherman and Keenan drop into a low, dragging guitar figure. Moore never locks himself to every guitar accent. His snare sits slightly behind one phrase, then his fills hurry into the next. Dean’s bass holds the centre in place. The song lurches and swings at the same time, setting the rhythmic language for the rest of the record.
“Dirty Hands Empty Pockets / Already Gone” pushes it even further. A crooked funk groove sits under Keenan’s near-spoken delivery before Custer takes the first guitar solo and the band jumps into a double-time run. The recording leaves space between the instruments. Dean’s bass remains audible, Weatherman and Keenan retain separate guitar tones, and Moore’s cymbals hang in the room after each hit. The production is rough around the edges without turning the low end into mud.
The longer songs use that freedom differently. “Rise River Rise” begins with fast acoustic strumming and a raga-like melodic turn, giving Keenan room to sing instead of bark. “Never Turns to More” stretches past eight minutes, moving through clean guitar passages, fuzz, and bluesy leads. Its recurring vocal melody brings the band home whenever the arrangement starts to wander. Moore can change the shape underneath it without losing the song.
Then “Infinite War” cuts the sprawl down to less than four minutes. Keenan, Dean, and Weatherman bark the refrain together while the band reconnects with its hardcore roots. The lyric goes straight at imperial arrogance and endless conflict. Elsewhere, Keenan circles addiction, betrayal, and religious power. “Paranoid Opioid” makes its overdose story painfully literal, while “Stone Breaker” connects holiness with the power-hungry. Religious language becomes another tool used to control, condemn, or promise shelter after the damage has already been done.
The religious thread tightens after the short acoustic “Crown of Thorns.” The title track builds through multiple guitars, snaps into a near-thrash riff, drops unexpectedly to acoustic guitar, then returns to its final electric figure. Keenan moves from warning to open accusation, and Moore prevents the seven-minute arrangement from settling into a slow march.
So what changes when Stanton Moore drives a Corrosion of Conformity album? Every riff becomes less predictable because he finds another route through it. The long jams, acoustic detours, and sudden bursts make sense because the rhythm remains active beneath them. That freedom gives In the Arms of God its own identity: a COC record whose riffs stay dirty while the drums keep them moving.
Written by Rob Joncas for DeadNoteMedia.
Artist information and music courtesy of the band.
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