It seems like a lot of bands the past couple of years released albums after quite a wait following their previous release. I thought Crimson Shadows and Ancient Bards were going to hold the distinction of longest gap, but Coroner easily takes the prize with their first album in 32 years! Swiss trio Coroner had an emphatic influence on the early thrash scene, adding a ton of technicality and progressive flair that set them apart. After disbanding in the mid 90’s, they got back together in 2010 and have had a consistent live presence ever since, but they had yet to release new music. This changed in October with their brand new full length “Dissonance Theory.” This is thrash at its core, with chunky riffing and an aggressive snarly vocal attack, great guitar solos, powerful drumming, and a massive feel that mostly stays mid-paced but occasionally ventures into sprinting territory. The band weaves in a ton of variety, with varied time signatures, great dynamic contrast, and cool proggy sections that make this much grander than standard thrash. At times it even has a bit of the aggressive 90’s industrial feel (Circle of Dust comes to mind), as well as doomy moments. Each song rips while also having depth and character, and Coroner has done a fabulous job bringing new material to life that feels fresh and exciting.

After the atmospheric opening track “Oxymoron,” the band dives right into “Consequence,” which treats you to a proggy intro before streamrolling ahead with a thrash groove. The midsection of the song strips things back with a quieter guitar and bass driven passage that has an ominous feel, building back in crushing fashion to speedier thrash with a nice guitar solo. I love the slightly varied reprisal of the intro before launching into the final salvo, really emphasizing the nice blend of prog and thrash.

“Sacrificial Lamb” starts with a tribal drumbeat, settles into a slower, almost doomy thrash riff, and blends in plenty of atmosphere and subtle guitar lead. A little over halfway, they crank up the speed over a djenty rhythm and deliver a killer extended guitar solo. 2 songs in and you are already seeing variety in tempo, dynamics, and song composition!

“Crisium Bound” paints an ominous soundscape before pulverizing you with crushing riffs and drums. Midway they revisit the opening, dropping dynamics and tempo, slowly layering things back to crushing heaviness, all while maintaining the encompassing atmosphere. “Symmetry” is one of the shorter songs, with a thrashy industrial feel. It sprints out of the gate and maintains a fast pace for the majority, only taking a small reprieve to build atmosphere before sprinting to the finish. “The Law” is a very proggy thrasher, with a polyrhythmic feel, plenty of dynamic and tempo shifts, and good balance between a more toned down, immersive approach, and full on pedal to the metal speed. This song is one of my favorites.

“Transparent Eye” probably is my favorite, presenting much more as a heavy progressive metal song, complete with off tempo riffing, great guitar melodies, and quite catchy vocal melodies that still maintain aggression. I love the middle bass and guitar driven section that allows the guitar to focus on melody, before knocking your head off with a crushing mid-paced thrash groove. The industrial atmosphere bleeds through at times on the heavier sections, while the guitar lead melodic sections scream prog. This is an absolutely fantastic song and again shows the creative ability of the band.

“Trinity” is a great mid-paced thrasher utilizing a number of different rhythms and one of the best guitar solos on the album. “Renewal” bursts out of the gate with speedy thrash goodness, easily the fastest song on the album. Amidst the assault to the senses are plenty of fabulous melodies, cool atmosphere, and a consistent driving attack. “Prolonging” closes things out in unique fashion, an instrumental treating you almost immediately to an extended organ solo over a thrashy underbelly, before petering out atmospherically in similar fashion to how the album started.

This is definitely not a standard thrash album, but if you have followed me long enough, you know standard is not what I look for. Coroner does a great job delivering a progressive thrash album with a lot of atmosphere, and I am excited to see them live in February when they come through Seattle!

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