In & Out Festival - Corrosion of Conformity, Torche, Valient Thorr, A Storm of Light

Corrosion of Conformity (also known as C.O.C.) is an American heavy metal band from Raleigh, North Carolina formed in 1982. For almost the majority of its existence, the band has consisted of guitarist Woody Weatherman, bassist Mike Dean (who left in 1987 but rejoined six years later), drummer Reed Mullin (who left in 2001 but rejoined nine years later) and vocalist and rhythm guitarist Pepper Keenan (who joined the band in 1989). After a hiatus in 2006, Corrosion of Conformity returned in 2010, without Keenan who is currently in Down (although it has been disputed whether Keenan has left the band).

To date, Corrosion of Conformity has released seven studio albums, two EPs, one compilation, and one live album. Three independent albums, Eye for an Eye (1984), Animosity (1985) and Blind (1991), attracted the attention of Columbia Records, who signed the band in 1993. They released Deliverance, their most successful album to date, in 1994. Their next three albums, Wiseblood (1996), America's Volume Dealer (2000) and In the Arms of God (2005) were also critically acclaimed. Corrosion of Conformity is currently working on an eighth studio album, which is due for release in February 2012.

Torche is a band from Miami, Florida, whose sound is often described as stoner metal, or sludge metal.
The group was formed in 2004[1] by Steve Brooks (ex-Floor), Juan Montoya (ex-Floor, ex-Cavity, ex-Ed Matus Struggle), Jonathan Nuñez and Rick Smith (who also played in the grindcore bands Shitstorm, Tyranny of Shaw, Adore Miridia, and the screamo band Tunes for Bears to Dance To).[2] According to MTracks.com: "Their music has a unique, hard-hitting sound that provokes a wide range of emotions, and they have a large fan base throughout the world." [3] They have toured with Mogwai, Isis, Pelican, Black Cobra, Baroness, Jesu, The Sword, Stinking Lizaveta, Harvey Milk, Boris, and High on Fire.[4] Steve Brooks, however, has said that they don't consider themselves a metal band.[5] In describing the band's sound, Smith said in an interview: "To me it's mostly a combination of everything we listen to collectively as a band. We take what we like from what we grew up on and use it as creatively as we can. I think the meshing of different sounds comes naturally just because we all have different musical backgrounds yet have a ton of common interests." [6] In terms of touring, Brooks said Torche is getting more of a young crowd.[7]

On April 8, 2008, the band released their second full-length, entitled Meanderthal. It was produced by Kurt Ballou (Converge, Genghis Tron).[8] It was met with critical acclaim, including that from Decibel Magazine who ranked Meanderthal #1 on their list of the Top 40 Extreme Albums of 2008[9] as well as an 8.2/10 by Pitchfork Media.[10] In an interview, Brooks said the band themselves came up with the album's concept in terms of artwork and packaging, along with Aaron Turner[11] Brooks has also said that in terms of writing material, the band focuses on what they like, rather than worrying about a "backlash" from their fans.[12]

Valient Thorr is an American rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Valient Thorr began playing together in 2000. Their first show was on Easter of 2001. They released two demos, "Raw" and "We Come From The Morning Star". Following the demos, Valient Thorr self-released their first album on July 1, 2003 (only pressing 1000 copies which were sold at shows), Stranded on Earth, which had the same musical setup as present, but one of the guitarist, Jjinn Thorr, used a keyboard, 'ic. They packed hometown shows all over North Carolina and at their local favorite venue Kings Barcade. They did their first major tour of the United States and Canada shortly afterward, doing 47 shows in 52 days.

After replacing original drummer Donn Thorr with current drummer Lucian Thorr and ditching the keyboard entirely live and on release, they were soon signed to Volcom Entertainment, where their full-length album Total Universe Man was released on June 7, 2005. At that point, upon completion of several master's degrees, the group members gave up their regular jobs and set out on the road. They performed on the Volcom stage on the Warped Tour 2005, for the entire tour, except for a few shows where they played the main stage. They continued touring, taking only six days off for Thanksgiving and ten for Christmas. Along the way, they lost their original rhythm guitarist, Jjinn Thorr, and replaced him with Bjorn Thorr to finish off the end of the year. They played in Hawaii with Andrew WK and then began 2006 by going on tour with Hot Rod Circuit and Piebald. After his departure, Eiden Thorr took Jjinn's old position at shows, moving from Stage Right (the position he held since the band's inception) to Stage Left.

In February 2006, they stopped briefly in Costa Mesa, California to write the follow-up to Total Universe Man.