Coroner sound like thrash metal from a higher consciousness. Musically, they have everything needed to be lumped in with the genre: gravelly vocals, chug-a-lug riffs, and drumming that could outpace a Bugatti Veyron. But, there’s an unpretentious intelligence about the Swiss trio, and their long-awaited new album Dissonance Theory, that pulls them from the pack.
Coroner formed in Zürich in 1983, after their original lineup served as roadies for countrymen Celtic Frost. Clearly, that stint made its mark, as like Tom G. Warrior and co., they quickly grew bored of genre constraints. Their second and third albums, Punishment For Decadence and No More Color, took thrash and gave it its PhD, incorporating plenty of prog and jazz-fusion abandon. Their swansong for 32 years was 1993’s Grin: an avant-garde industrial/groove thing that was so ahead of its time the band split up due to lack of commercial success.
