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Coroner
Background information
Origin	Zurich, Switzerland
Genre(s)	Progressive metal Thrash metal
Years active	1985–1995
Label(s)	Noise
Former members
Ron Broder (Bass, Vocals) Marky Edelmann (Drums) Tommy Vetterli (Guitars)

Coroner was an institution in progressive metal but garnered relatively little attention outside of Europe. They combined elements of thrash, progressive rock, jazz, and industrial metal with suitably gruff vocals that have put them at times in a death metal camp. They did not completely fall into any of those categories.

During the course of their career, Coroner totally reinvented themselves in a manner similar to Rush.

Coroner's sound then progressed and the production became more refined resulting in the more progressive albums No More Color, Mental Vortex and Grin that compose three of metals most accomplished works of art.

The Swiss thrash trio Coroner were originally members of Celtic Frost's road crew. They eventually formed their own group, recording their demo Death Cult in 1986 with Tom G. Warrior of Celtic Frost on vocals. Their first full length album R.I.P., released in 1987, featured bass player Ron Broder on vocals and he assumed the role for the rest of the group's existence. The group released several albums through 1993, ending with a greatest hits collection, Coroner, in 1995. Lack of media exposure brought this band to disbanding in 1994 - and eventually to their farewell tour consequent to their self titled album. In March 2005, talks of a reunion were in the works, but later shot down. Main reason was that neither Marky, Ron, nor Tommy had the time it would require to do this properly, and also that neither of them liked to, quote, 'reheat things, except spaghetti sauce.'

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Musically, Coroner evolved from a speed metal band with gothic and classical overtones like Celtic Frost and Bathory into a technical band. Coroner's first album, R.I.P., was based on neo-classical lines. It was technical and classically influenced.

The second album Punishment for Decadence saw a progression into a more sophisticated sound but still complete with the trademark unison bass/guitar runs. Tempo changes interspersed mid-paced sections and the odd slow passage between the fast passages started to emerge. A hint at what was to come. Lyrically, Coroner began to write about themes such as politics and personal introspection.

No More Color was a watershed album for Coroner. The production, by Pete Hinton and the band, was an improvement. Moreover, Coroner's music became more technical on No More Color: the guitar work was characterized by intricate modes and arpeggios, solo work that was chromatically colorful, as well as the de rigueur crunchy chords and speed runs; the drumming went beyond the 4/4 time of Coroner's two previous albums to incorporate odd time signatures which became their trademark. The bass player is also worth a mention as having an advanced three finger technique which enables him to double the rhythym line as well as perform intricate riffs. Prime examples are the opener "Die By my Hand" with its vicious riffing and the quite amazing harmonic minor inspired riff in the middle of "Mistress of Deception". There is a dark mood on this album that could be classified as death metal yet spans many metal genres. The closer "Last Entertainment" is a prescient and brilliant take on TV. A truly fantastic mood piece. This was a landmark album in metal history that remains unrecognized.

Mental Vortex improved over No More Color. Continuing with the previous album's technical formula, the speed metal formula was re-integrated into Coroner's sound on this album but with a decidedly mature tone that made it sound not at all like R.I.P. or Punishment for Decadence. There were slower songs but none of the songs on Mental Vortex stayed the same speed for very long. The songs on Mental Vortex ranged from 4 to 8 minutes. Overall, the tone was a shift from the thrash-tech of No More Color and hedging towards their masterpiece Grin.

Grin saw a much more industrial sound that for some was perfection, for others an anathema. It was a natural progression from Mental Vortex but it was profoundly different from most of their previous material. It involved a much more reflective guitar riff and underlying bass line. It was slower more refined in its metal sensibility. Brooding guitar over Royce's bass produced an almost hypnotic trance like sound on some tracks.

Coroner was a greatest hits package which also contained some unreleased material. Coroner was considered a classic metal band.

• Ron Broder - Bass, Vocals
• Marky Edelmann - Drums
• Tommy Vetterli - Guitars (also ex-Kreator)

• Death Cult (Demo) (1986)
• R.I.P. (1987)
• Punishment for Decadence (1988)
• No More Color (1989)
• Mental Vortex (1991)
• Grin (1993)
• Coroner (compilation) (1995)
• The Unknown Unreleased Tracks 1985-95 (compilation) (1996)

• Coroner fan site