Corrosion of Conformity, Whores, and Crobot played a metal worshipers dream bill in front of a sold-out Crocodile in Seattle Thursday night. While COC was the headliner and clearly the main draw, all three bands delivered solid sets that met with full throated approval from the diverse multigenerational audience.

While I go back a ways with both COC and Whores, this was my first time experiencing Crobot. The Pennsylvania 4 piece calls their sound ‘dirty groove rock’ and I wouldn’t take exception to that description. Back in the day we would have labeled them ‘hard rock’ and called it good. Front dude Brandon Yeagley is the band’s center of attention with his Steven Tyler meets Chris Cornell slinky dance, seemingly effortless command of impressive upper register metal yowls, and playful exhortations to the audience to keep the party firing at all costs. Yeagley and his bandmates won the audience over from the drop and were rewarded with a commendable ovation at the conclusion of their set.

I last caught Atlanta’s Whores at Substation some years back and was suitably impressed by their uncompromising wall o’ feedback assault and the sheer brutality of their of their stage presence. Having experienced the fist to the face that is Whores live show, I wasn’t entirely sure how their trip would be received, sandwiched at they were between two more conventional metal acts. My concerns proved to be unfounded as they amped crowd was onboard from the first loud notes of their cathartic set. Guitarist Christian Lambach produces wave upon wave of insanely loud feedback and is matched blow for blow by bass player Casey Maxwell and drummer Douglas Jennings Barrett. The band wastes precious little time with the usual ‘are you ready to rock?!?!’ stage patter, preferring to focus on delivering a blistering, bordering on overwhelming sonic blast. I truly love this band and the crowd seemed to share my joy.

Corrosion of Conformity has been at it since 1982 and while lead guitarist Woody Weatherman is technically the sole remaining member of the band’s first lineup, guitarist and vocalist Pepper Keenan has been onboard since the late 80’s and is widely considered a key ingredient in the band’s most beloved (and what I would consider ‘classic’) lineup. COC leans hard on the foundations forged by metal forefathers such as Black Sabbath and Judas Priest while injecting their own touch of punk attitude and aggression to add an appealing edge to the proceedings. They are currently touring behind their excellent new long player ‘Good God/Baad Man’ and mixed new tunes from that album with COC staples such as ‘Albatross’ and ‘Clean My Wounds’. I crossed paths with Weatherman before the show and was struck by how excited and passionate he remains 40 plus years down the heavy metal highway. Watching these now elder statesmen of heavy metal bring life and enthusiasm to their extensive catalog onstage at the Crocodile was tremendously satisfying and inspirational.