Coroner: a lost cause found
Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 8:55 am
Life isn?t fair. This is a recurring theme in heavy metal music, and in the lives of those who created it. One of the most unforgiving avenues was the European thrash scene of the 1980s. It is a pantheon of has-beens who never were, the most dispiriting tale perhaps being the fate of Swiss metal pioneers Coroner. Though their popularity may eventually ascend posthumously (like Venom or Kyuss), their music presently resides in the oversized CD collections of obsessive freaks like myself.
Coroner was founded in the mid 1980s, when Celtic Frost roadies Tommy Vetterli and Marky Edelmann hatched a plot to create their own band. They quit their day jobs, and enlisted the services of one Ron Broder, rounding the outfit into a trio. The lineup settled as a power trio, with Broder, Edelmann, and Vetterli playing bass, drums, and guitar, respectively. They created silly and semi-pretentious stage names for themselves, implying speed and royalty. It would be impossible to otherwise justify officious titles like Marquis Marky, Tommy T. Baron, or Ron Royce. The three cut a crude and rather amateurish demo in 1986, gaining a deserved reputation as Celtic Frost ripoffs. They played and wrote songs like their mentors. The tape even had Warrior on vocals!
The aspiring young band subsequently signed to Noise Records, the label also home to Celtic Frost. It?s debatable whether they were signed on the basis of talent or favoritism. R.I.P, their first album, was a competent if undistinguished release. It had all the earmarks of a 1987 thrash disc. The technicality was over the top, there were classical guitar interludes on acoustic, and multiple guitar tracks piled atop constant double bass beats. Broder took over vocal duties from Warrior, his voice being something from a Departure of Warrior?s low growls. His hoarse screeching had more in common with the shrill cries of Bathory than Venom. The boys could certainly play, but they weren?t treading any ground their European and American peers hadn?t already covered. The disparate parts of a trademark sound were present, but they hadn?t yet meshed into something original.
Punishment for Decadence came a year later, and it was a suckerpunch. The compositions grew more complex, but in ways not previously contemplated by metal bands. Vetterli used sweeping techniques to play rhythm parts, threw massive pinch harmonics into accented downbeat riffs, and made liberal use of sixth chords. The band switched between groove, lead, and harmony exceedingly well. No one else was creating music like this in 1988. What a difference a year makes!
Coroner?s third album, No More Color, was more of a mixed bag. They had reached the technical ceiling of thrash, and sometimes lapsed into overworked math rock, where songcraft took a backset to the notes-per-second race. There were a few catchy tunes through, and the atmospheric brilliance of Last Entertainment was a harbinger of things to come. They recorded a live video in Berlin during the subsequent tour, but it has since fallen out of print. Coroner have expressed dissatisfaction with the product, as it was created and produced without the band?s consent or input.
As the ?80s rolled into the ?90s, many thrash bands ran out of steam. The genre fell out of favor in Europe, and mutated to a more blues-based style in the States. Coroner never had a presence in the US, and their following waned from its already modest numbers. Noise Records found itself in financial trouble, and consequently the last two Coroner albums saw limited distribution, with almost no promotion. It?s a crying shame, because Grin was a beautifully unique album, and Mental Vortex was an earth-shattering masterpiece.
Coroner peeled back the layers of guitar, tweaked up the bass to fatten the texture of the riffs, and let the melodies hang by their sinews. The boys were playing years ahead of the game now, foreshadowing the rise of melodic death metal. Time and tempo blurred like a molten alloy. Edelmann and Vetterli were playing with fire, and you could hear them cackle with glee as the rulebook burned. Songs like Metamorphosis and Divine Step are staggering and obstinate monoliths of artistic vision. The best aspect of Mental Vortex is that if it were recorded today, no one would think it out of date.
But fame and fortune were not to be. The records met with critical acclaim, albeit public indifference. Noise Records filed for bankruptcy, and the band were understandably skeptical about finding a new publisher. They broke ranks in 1994, signing over the rights for Noise (or what was left of it) to release a compilation of hits and b-sides, thus filling their contractual duties. Broder disappeared into the woodwork of Zurich, while Vetterli played on two sub-par Kreator albums, and Edelmann put in time with Tom G. Warrior?s exceptional Apollyon Sun project. The few remaining Coroner fans still clamor for a reunion tour, but the three have rejected all requests, Edelmann declaring that they "do not like to reheat things, except spaghetti sauce." It?s a pity. This band was one wicked little meatball.
Studio vids:
Masked Jackal
Last Entertainment
I Want You
Live in East Berlin (1990):
Masked Jackal
Voyage to Eternity
Purple Haze
Die By My Hand
Shadow of a Lost Dream
Reborn Through Hate
No Need to be Human
DOA
Read My Scars
Absorbed
Sudden Fall
aaaaaand...
HOLY SHIT, LIVE FOOTAGE FROM MENTAL VORTEX ERA!!!
Divine Step
Coroner was founded in the mid 1980s, when Celtic Frost roadies Tommy Vetterli and Marky Edelmann hatched a plot to create their own band. They quit their day jobs, and enlisted the services of one Ron Broder, rounding the outfit into a trio. The lineup settled as a power trio, with Broder, Edelmann, and Vetterli playing bass, drums, and guitar, respectively. They created silly and semi-pretentious stage names for themselves, implying speed and royalty. It would be impossible to otherwise justify officious titles like Marquis Marky, Tommy T. Baron, or Ron Royce. The three cut a crude and rather amateurish demo in 1986, gaining a deserved reputation as Celtic Frost ripoffs. They played and wrote songs like their mentors. The tape even had Warrior on vocals!
The aspiring young band subsequently signed to Noise Records, the label also home to Celtic Frost. It?s debatable whether they were signed on the basis of talent or favoritism. R.I.P, their first album, was a competent if undistinguished release. It had all the earmarks of a 1987 thrash disc. The technicality was over the top, there were classical guitar interludes on acoustic, and multiple guitar tracks piled atop constant double bass beats. Broder took over vocal duties from Warrior, his voice being something from a Departure of Warrior?s low growls. His hoarse screeching had more in common with the shrill cries of Bathory than Venom. The boys could certainly play, but they weren?t treading any ground their European and American peers hadn?t already covered. The disparate parts of a trademark sound were present, but they hadn?t yet meshed into something original.
Punishment for Decadence came a year later, and it was a suckerpunch. The compositions grew more complex, but in ways not previously contemplated by metal bands. Vetterli used sweeping techniques to play rhythm parts, threw massive pinch harmonics into accented downbeat riffs, and made liberal use of sixth chords. The band switched between groove, lead, and harmony exceedingly well. No one else was creating music like this in 1988. What a difference a year makes!
Coroner?s third album, No More Color, was more of a mixed bag. They had reached the technical ceiling of thrash, and sometimes lapsed into overworked math rock, where songcraft took a backset to the notes-per-second race. There were a few catchy tunes through, and the atmospheric brilliance of Last Entertainment was a harbinger of things to come. They recorded a live video in Berlin during the subsequent tour, but it has since fallen out of print. Coroner have expressed dissatisfaction with the product, as it was created and produced without the band?s consent or input.
As the ?80s rolled into the ?90s, many thrash bands ran out of steam. The genre fell out of favor in Europe, and mutated to a more blues-based style in the States. Coroner never had a presence in the US, and their following waned from its already modest numbers. Noise Records found itself in financial trouble, and consequently the last two Coroner albums saw limited distribution, with almost no promotion. It?s a crying shame, because Grin was a beautifully unique album, and Mental Vortex was an earth-shattering masterpiece.
Coroner peeled back the layers of guitar, tweaked up the bass to fatten the texture of the riffs, and let the melodies hang by their sinews. The boys were playing years ahead of the game now, foreshadowing the rise of melodic death metal. Time and tempo blurred like a molten alloy. Edelmann and Vetterli were playing with fire, and you could hear them cackle with glee as the rulebook burned. Songs like Metamorphosis and Divine Step are staggering and obstinate monoliths of artistic vision. The best aspect of Mental Vortex is that if it were recorded today, no one would think it out of date.
But fame and fortune were not to be. The records met with critical acclaim, albeit public indifference. Noise Records filed for bankruptcy, and the band were understandably skeptical about finding a new publisher. They broke ranks in 1994, signing over the rights for Noise (or what was left of it) to release a compilation of hits and b-sides, thus filling their contractual duties. Broder disappeared into the woodwork of Zurich, while Vetterli played on two sub-par Kreator albums, and Edelmann put in time with Tom G. Warrior?s exceptional Apollyon Sun project. The few remaining Coroner fans still clamor for a reunion tour, but the three have rejected all requests, Edelmann declaring that they "do not like to reheat things, except spaghetti sauce." It?s a pity. This band was one wicked little meatball.
Studio vids:
Masked Jackal
Last Entertainment
I Want You
Live in East Berlin (1990):
Masked Jackal
Voyage to Eternity
Purple Haze
Die By My Hand
Shadow of a Lost Dream
Reborn Through Hate
No Need to be Human
DOA
Read My Scars
Absorbed
Sudden Fall
aaaaaand...
HOLY SHIT, LIVE FOOTAGE FROM MENTAL VORTEX ERA!!!
Divine Step
