The first time I heard Coroner was on MTV of all places. Headbanger’s Ball, late at night. It seemed the last hour or last half hour of the Headbanger’s Ball program would feature more thrash bands. I haven’t really talked about this aspect of metal yet, but back during MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball days there was kind of a culture war going on between glam metal and thrash metal. Thrash metal eventually won the war, but the details of it all is worthy of its own article in the future. The video I saw was “Masked Jackal.”
I am thinking I must have seen this in 1988. This song was from their second album, Punishment for Decadence, which was released in 1988. I was duly captivated. There was so much thrash in this thrash. But hold on a minute, we’ll get to that soon.
So, I was 15 at the time. Here’s some of what was going on with my life:
1. My family was arranging to move from one side of town to the other side of town in the Summer of 1988.
2. Having a bad Freshman experience at the first Catholic school I went to, my family was ready to try sending me to a different Catholic school in the Fall of 1988. The new school was on the other side of town, hence part of the reason for the move to the other side of town. (My family isn’t even Catholic, they’re Episcopalian.)
3. Recall in my Venom article, I disclosed that my heart had been brutally crushed by a cutie at age 13. Well, here I was age 15 and still not dealing with it very well.
I had actually recorded Coroner’s “Masked Jackal” video on VHS. Matter of fact, I also recorded Danzig’s “Twist of Cain” video that night. Checking Wikipedia, it says the Punishment for Decadence album came out in August of 1988. However, I think this video was released before that album came out because, I am pretty sure I saw this at the old house we lived in before we moved that Summer. The reason I think that is because I distinctly remember operating the VCR in the family-room of that house. Our family moved into an apartment for the three Summer months, and then in the new house by Fall, and I do not have any memory of using the VCR at either location. But who knows? I threw that old VHS tape away years ago.
Anyway, since I had this video on VHS, I played it over and over again and the song got better and better each time. So I eventually bought the Punishment for Decadence album. (I think I got it from Tower Records…) After one listen and reading along to the lyric sheet, suddenly that was my favorite album and favorite band. Funny how fast that can happen. Luckily for me, this band was also getting pretty good write ups in Metal Maniacs Magazine, and even other magazines of the day like “Rip Magazine.” So I was actually getting some news!
So by this time, I had actually seen two heavy metal concerts. Ozzy Osbourne was my first metal concert, and my first “arena show.” Metallica was my second metal concert and my second “arena show.” The “No Rest for the Wicked” tour, and the “And Justice for All” tour respectively. (Or was it called the Damaged Justice tour? I don’t remember.) Those stories are for future articles, lol. Anyway, in Portland, you could get information about upcoming concerts in the A&E section of the Oregonian newspaper. And lo and behold, one day, I saw that a band called Kreator was coming to Portland. And underneath their logo in smaller print it also said “C O R O N E R.” I about fell over! That was MY BAND! I “think” I had a Kreator album before I saw that advertisement? I don’t even remember. They were touring for their Extreme Aggression album, and I either already had the album or I was prompted to buy it after I saw that ad. (I also had their Endless Pain album back in those days.)
I saw Coroner (lol, and Kreator) September 26, 1989. This was my very first “club show.” I don’t know what the venue is called nowadays, but at the time it was called “The Pine Street Theater.” I had convinced a new friend from my new high school to go with me, because, he had a CAR. This wouldn’t be the last time he and I would go to metal shows. However… parents, I tell ya. My parents were strict. There were some concerts I went to back in those days were I deliberately lied and went to these kinds of concerts when I said I wasn’t, and my parents loved to try and enforce a goddamn unreasonable curfew on me like “10:00 PM.” Which of course really means: I’ll be an hour or so later than that, and apologize like hell to try and dodge any punishments. However, I think for this concert, my FIRST club concert, I actually had permission to go. And I’m pretty sure I came home late, even though I left the concert probably halfway through Kreator’s set. Where our house was and where the concert venue was happened to be about a million miles apart. But even though I like Kreator, and Kreator was putting on a bitchin’ show, I was really there for Coroner! It wasn’t the end of the world that I didn’t see the entire Kreator performance. I was thrilled as FUCK to see Coroner. I didn’t have enough money for a T-shirt, but bought a Coroner sticker. In fact… I stuck it on my DUAL-CASSETTE boom box. (That old boom box still exists and is sitting in my parent’s garage these days. I might get it shipped to my home at some point, because why not?)
[For the record, I did not mosh at this show. People were moshing their balls off, but I was young and pretty scared to try it. I did not get my “mosh wings” until either late Fall of 1991 or Spring of 1992 – I honestly don’t remember which. But I remember the show. I saw The Accüsed in Seattle at the “OK Hotel” and friend of mine threw me into the pit. And then I was hooked on moshing…]
Worthy of note, Coroner closed their set that night with a cover of “Purple Haze.” It was rad.
I later ordered a Coroner 1989 tour t-shirt from a metal magazine ad. I STILL HAVE IT. Yes, there were some off-the-beaten path stores that sold some heavy metal t-shirts in those days, but Coroner was much too “rare” a band for stores to have Coroner t-shirts in stock.
So I was hooked. As if 1989 couldn’t get any better, Coroner came out with another scathingly rad-ass thrash album called No More Color. And then I found out I’d totally missed their 1987 album called R.I.P., so I bought that too. I was swimming in Coroner music. I fucking joined their FAN CLUB, called the Death Cult Lodge. I still have my membership card!!!
Y’know, it’s tough when your favorite band is in Europe and not getting to the United States very much. I also couldn’t help but notice that a lot of touring bands liked to skip Portland Oregon. You’d notice a band would be on tour, and when they hit the West Coast they’d go from Seattle all the way Sacramento. ?? Wtf. But Coroner wasn’t even getting back to the states much. I was like, “Why fucking NOT?” I figured it would be a matter of time. I stayed hopeful and optimistic.
In 1991 Coroner released Mental Vortex. (I was still in high school, getting ready to graduate.) I couldn’t imagine a more perfect metal album, or a more metal, metal album. The album’s cover matched the music’s mood and the album title. This was the like the perfect psychological thrill-ride and Twilight Zone themed album.
Then in 1991, I graduated from High School, and by Fall of 1991 I started college. (My first attempt at college.)
A lot of crazy things happened when I went off to college. I had dabbled a bit with guitar in high school, but when I got to college, one thing led to another. Long story, but suddenly I was chasing the band-dragon. I bought a bass guitar at one point. I don’t remember what exactly led to me buying it, but it seemed like I should own one. So keep that in mind for a minute.
Coroner had released a VHS that I didn’t know about. They recorded a 1990 show in East Berlin, and the VHS was titled the same thing: 1990 Live in East Berlin. Some guy working at a music store I’d happened to be at (at a mall record store, would you believe) saw me in my Coroner t-shirt and said, “Hey… you might like this…” I was like, “Fuck yeah!” And it was on sale because people at mall record stores don’t buy VHS tapes of rare or “obscure” metal bands, lol.
Now, that whole East Berlin show is on YouTube. I’ve seen it probably 500 times on VHS.
I can’t say for sure, but I think I got this East Berlin VHS before I got Coroner’s last album. Before I get to that, I need to tell you that this Live in East Berlin show was when I first noticed Ron Royce’s bass playing was probably the best bass playing you will ever see from a metal musician. I had a bass guitar and I was dedicated to somehow getting my bass finger-picking ability to the level of Ron Royce’s. Long story short, I went at it from 1993 to 1997 and then decided I was not Ron Royce and I’d be ok to use a pick when I played the bass.
In 1993, Coroner released their Grin album. Ok, so, I’ve mentioned this thing that happens to fans-of-bands called “unconditional love.” I was not going to not-love this album. You can’t get an unbiased opinion from me about this album. If you want a “critical” review of the album, you can probably find one. I would call the Grin album Coroner’s most artistic album. The title track “Grin” is rad as fuck. The last song “Host” is the darkest song out of Coroner’s entire discography. Dark, brutal, and also an art-piece.
And then I guess Coroner broke up. In 1995 they released a best-of compilation with some rare tracks, and that was cool. But I was like, “Noooooooo! It can’t be over!” But is it ever really over?
So, some endnotes…
Yes, Celtic Frost is from Switzerland and Coroner is from Switzerland. From what I understand, the Coroner guys did some roadie work for Celtic Frost early in CF’s career. CF’s Martin Eric Ain helped write lyrics for a Coroner song once – I believe it was “Mistress of Deception.” I am very aware of the Coroner and Celtic Frost connection. It’s cool as hell there’s a connection there. It’s also maybe a little weird that two of the metal bands that had such a big influence on me are from Switzerland.
Coroner has some strong jazz influences. It’s not just me telling you that, but reviewers and critics have also noted this. Coroner actually helped get me a bit more curious about jazz music. I actually do like jazz and have been listening to jazz radio off and on since the 1990’s. Another subject worthy of its own article.
I’m aware of guitarist Tommy Vetterli’s other band 69 Chambers, but never got into them.
Here’s something also weird. Now, don’t laugh. The song “Shadow of a Lost Dream” is kind of a… thrash metal song about having a broken heart. For me at age 15 and still “dealing,” it was what the doctor ordered. Thanks, Coroner. Also, the song “Absorbed” helped me out too.
After 15 years of silence, Coroner reunited in 2010. (If I recall, their first reunion show was in Maryland and my buddy in Denver was like: “We should fly out there and see it.” We didn’t, but he was right, we should have.) They’re using a new drummer now, and they’ve got a 4th member in the band plugging in the samples that were used on their albums, which is cool. It doesn’t look they’re going to produce any more albums, but who knows? I’d love to seem them again. It’s been a long time since 1989.
Like my other articles, this one also feels a bit underdone.