Corrosion Of Conformity - Clean My Wounds

JUL 01 1994 · 12:00

Corrosion Of Conformity - Clean My Wounds (1994) Director: Dean Karr Era: Mid-90s Heavy Metal / Southern Metal Crossover (1994–1995) - Peak era of MTV-era hard rock where Southern-inflected sludge metal broke into mainstream rock radio and heavy rotation on Headbangers Ball. High curatorial value as a documented artifact of the Southern sludge metal mainstream crossover and a confirmed early work by Dean Karr before his breakthrough into the upper tier of 1990s rock video directors. The video's verifiable chart performance, MTV rotation history, and Beavis and Butt-Head cultural placement make it a well-sourced anchor point for mid-90s heavy metal media studies. The quantitative profile, rapid pacing, warm-dark visual palette, high saturation, offers reliable aesthetic benchmarking data for the era. Context: Released in 1994–1995 during Corrosion of Conformity's commercial peak, 'Clean My Wounds' represented a significant moment for Southern sludge metal entering mainstream rock radio, peaking at No. 19 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart, the band's joint highest-charting single. On Columbia Records, COC occupied a rare space bridging hardcore punk roots, Black Sabbath-influenced doom, and Southern rock groove at a moment when post-grunge audiences were receptive to heavy, riff-driven alternatives to hair metal. The video's MTV placement and Beavis and Butt-Head feature cemented its cultural footprint for the mid-90s Generation X heavy rock audience. The warm, gritty, low-budget-feeling visual language rejected the polished glam of 1980s metal in favor of authenticity signaling consistent with the era's broader anti-corporate rock ethos. Director notes: Confirmed directed by Dean Karr per IMDb (tt8413170). The video was produced in support of 'Clean My Wounds,' the third single from Corrosion of Conformity's fourth studio album Deliverance (Columbia Records, 1994). The single was released as a CD single in 1994–1995 and the music video reached MTV rotation, notably being featured in the Beavis and Butt-Head episode 'Vidiots.' The video is consistent with Karr's early-career style of raw, performance-driven rock videos shot in dark, warm-toned environments before his breakthrough with Marilyn Manson's 'Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)' in 1996. The video's quantitative profile, 157 scene changes, 1.35s average shot length, warm color temperature, and high saturation, aligns with Karr's kinetic, visceral aesthetic approach documented across his mid-90s output.