Corrosion of Conformity (also known as C.O.C.), was founded in North Carolina by guitarist Woody Weatherman in the early 1980s as one of the first punk metal fusion bands. C.O.C. were known in their early years for their aggressive sound, their clever political lyrics and their willingness to turn away from hardcore and metal conventions. Their shift to a more essential and reduced sound (kind of a deep-South Black Sabbath) in the 1990s brought them closer to the alternative metal zeitgeist and gave them some favours within the mainstream scene.