Well, hell has indeed frozen over and Swiss tech-thrash legends Coroner are back with a new studio album more than three decades after their last one Grin. Bassist/ vocalist Ron Royce and guitarist Tommy T. Baron remain in the line-up, with original drummer Marquis Marky now replaced by Diego Rapacchietti (69 Chambers, ex-Paganini). Coroner were one of the left-field, innovative bands in Eighties’ thrash, with each of their albums pushing the boundaries of the style. Punishment For Decadence (1988) and No More Color (1989) remain as absolute classics of technical thrash, while still possessing quite a few headbanging moments. On the other hand, Mental Vortex (1991) and especially the aforementioned Grin (1993) introduced much more mid-tempo tracks, progressive time signatures and even samples.
So, where does Dissonance Theory enter the picture then? The answer is – straight after Grin. After a short intro, Consequence opens proceedings with a crushing sound and some excellent “nervous”, thrashy riffing. This is top-quality progressive thrash, even if you should not expect the old school style of Punishment.. here. Sacrificial Lamb and Crisium Bound follow in the same tech-mid/tempo-thrash vein with some clever compositional patterns and a very cold, clinical production, bringing to mind a futuristic, mechanized musical message. Ron’s vocals serve this concept very well, with a non-melodic, almost robotic, angry performance.
There’s a nod to old school speed metal in the middle of The Law (as well as in Renewal), before the song retreats into the prog metal soundscape once again. If I have to address an issue, it would be that Tommy’s excellent guitar solos are very rare. For example, his solo in Symmetry opens up the song so much more and enriches every other composition he chooses to add a solo to (Transparent Eye is another example).
Trinity is one more fantastic composition with so much different tempos, subtle changes in mood and another stellar solo by Tommy – probably the album’s best song… The closing instrumental Prolonging is full-on prog, serving as an outro to these really dense, almost exhausting 47 minutes of music.
I am sure that Coroner have come back with an album that will be a delight to all of their fans, even those who prefer the early albums. Dissonance Theory is obviously more progressive metal than thrash but the spirit of Coroner is here and this legendary logo once again stands as proof of stellar musicianship, forward-thinking, talent and inspiration. Welcome back, guys.
8,5/10
Dissonance Theory will be out on October 17th and can be ordered from HERE
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