C.O.C.'s MIKE DEAN Weighs In On BILL WARD-Less BLACK SABBATH, AXL ROSE-Fronted AC/DC

Eonmusic recently conducted an interview with bassist Mike Dean of CORROSION OF CONFORMITY. An excerpt from the chat follows below.

Eonmusic: With CORROSION OF CONFORMITY back to what most would regard as the “classic” lineup, I wondered who you’d like to see reform.

Mike: I would like to see BLACK SABBATH reform, because, in my opinion, they haven’t reformed because Bill Ward isn’t there. Bill is one of the top drummers and creative people of the last sixty years or so. To make two BLACK SABBATH records without Bill Ward, it’s just bullshit. I worked a show where BLACK SABBATH played in 2005 or so, and Bill Ward was like practicing drums on the desk, talking to the hands… He had all his chops, he had all his Ginger Baker-esque, Elvin Jones jazz chops, he was playing hard just doing like “Wicked World” stuff. And they say he can’t do it? They’re my favorite band and I just can’t believe what they’re doing.

Eonmusic: Any thoughts on the Axl Rose-fronted AC/DC?

Mike: AC/DC basically lost me about the time that Bon Scott died. Part of maybe two albums [featuring Brian Johnson] are pretty killer, and then I tolerate it because, come on, Malcolm Young, you know? But now you’re down Malcolm, so that’s kind of a hard blow to recover from, and then you want to add Axl? I mean, I understand you’ve got to finish the tour or whatever, and I can try to empthasise with the position. Don’t get me wrong, the last three GUNS N’ ROSES records, I never really appreciated them at the time, but now they’re almost like a guilty pleasure. But, you know, not all of the music that I enjoy is necessarily created by people I would like to hang around with. [Laughs]

Read the entire interview at Eonmusic.

The four-piece version of CORROSION OF CONFORMITY — featuring Pepper Keenan on guitar and vocals — recently inked a deal with Nuclear Blast Entertainment. The band will enter the studio late this winter/early spring with longtime producer John Custer. Custer has recorded such C.O.C. classics as “Deliverance”, “Wiseblood”, “America’s Volume Dealer” and “In The Arms Of God”. The as-yet-untitled-album will mark CORROSION OF CONFORMITY‘s studio reunion with Keenan and the Pepper-fronted version of C.O.C.‘s first full-length record since 2005.