It was quite the surprise when North Carolina’s Corrosion of Conformity reunited the Animosity-era line-up after singer/guitarist Pepper Keenan’s commitments with Down kept the band on ice from 2006 to 2010. The resulting self-titled album, released in 2012, was an overview of the band’s sonic history, encompassing hardcode and metal and everything in between. It was a stunning return from a band that could have easily been lost to an indefinite hiatus. Thankfully, COC hasn’t rested on its laurels, and with Keenan still not back in the fold, has pushed ahead and released its ninth album, the appropriately titled IX (Candlelight Records).

COC has always occupied an interesting place over the course of its career. They’ve spent time in various camps while never declaring any overt allegiance to any of them. As a result, for some people they’re a punk band, and for others, they’re a dyed in the wool metal band. On the Corrosion of Conformity record, the band seemed to consciously lean into that schism so that nearly every type of COC was represented. IX doesn’t have that same sensibility. This go around the band has a slightly greater interest in exploring the swampier side of metal. It’s something they’ve done before, so it’s not unexpected. However, taken as a direct sequel, it’s a slight disappointment that things aren’t slightly more varied. Still, the band does let the punk side out to play. On “Denmark Vesey,” a quick history lesson about the former slave who planned a massive rebellion in 1822 before being arrested and executed before his plan could be put into motion, the band sounds as if it was recorded live in front of a surging pit. This contrasts sharply with other portions of IX where the band digs its heels in and slows it way down.

As compared to the explosive immediacy of Corrosion of Conformity, IX feels labored over, and there are a few instances when extended playing times cause the songs to get away from them. It’s not as if the band doesn’t have the technical prowess, quite the contrary, but the more concise tracks show them at their best. It’s not as if COC is going for extended psych rock jams, but some songs drag to the point that they seem longer than they actually are. There are some standout songs on the record (“Tarquinius Superbus,” for one), but the rest of the album doesn’t quite support them. IX might have been one for the ages, but as it is, it’s an underachieving album with only fleeting pockets of greatness.