CORONER - Dissonance Theory

It took a full thirty-two years to get a new record from these standard-bearers of Swiss thrash metal, alongside Celtic Frost. Coroner left us in 1993, with the release of "Grin", and now return with "Dissonance Theory", an album that seems to have been produced with truly obsessive care: scrutinized and refined down to every detail, with a precision so exacting it almost (ironically) justifies the long absence.

The band of Ron Royce, Tommy Verletti and Diego Rapacchietti uphold the Coroner name with flying colors on "Dissonance Theory", forty-seven minutes cut with an axe, where nothing is excessive and every unnecessary bit of surplus is surgically removed. Every track lasts exactly as long as it needs to.

Balance and immediacy are two defining traits of most of the songs, all of which go straight to the point, with no frills or excessive displays of technique, even though the latter is more than evident. The riffs are intricate, blending the band's trademark technical thrash with brief atmospheric passages and more modern grooves that might recall Mastodon.

The opening of "Consequence" isn't easily forgotten, nor is the thrash charge of "Sacrificial Lamb", preceded by atmospheric chords and followed by guitar outbursts somewhere between epic and tragic. There's never a dip in tension, from the more speed-driven moments ("Symmetry", "Renewal") to more complex, structurally shifting tracks like "The Law".

"Prolonging" closes the circle in unexpected fashion, with a guitar underpinning a long vintage keyboard solo that's almost à la Doors, leading into an ambient finale. Could this be the herald of a new life for Coroner? Hard to believe, but only a great band could even conceive of an ending like this on a thrash metal album.

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26/12/2025