🎶 Coroner
🌎 Zurich, Switzerland
📀 Dissonance Theory
® Century Media Records
📅 17/10/2025
The distant 1993 was the year Czech Republic and Slovakia were created, Michael Jordan reached 20,000 points in the NBA, the construction of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame began, Bill Clinton was inaugurated 42nd President of U.S.A. and Janet Jackson dominated the music charts with “That’s The Way Love Goes”…the latest album by Swiss band CORONER, “Grin”, was also released. In 2025, the Czech Republic and Slovakia are still independent countries, Jordan is playing golf somewhere, Clinton is playin gold with Jordan, Jackson continues to get rich thanks to her glorious past…and CORONER decided to release one of the top albums of the year. Because they can…!
But the impressive element is the fact that their return is not done by nostalgically stepping back into their glorious past and the (mainly) 3 emblematic albums that were released in the late 80s and early 90s, but is done with style and a modern sound that honors the band’s roots but also leaves promises for the future. Essentially, with “Dissonance Theory” CORONER re-introduced themselves in the modern global metal scene and opened a second era in their career. The album can be characterized as a puzzle of all the influences they carry (but also those they created in later artists). From traditional Technical Thrash and Death to Progressive (sort of…) and their more rhythmic, groovy side. The introductory “Oxymoron” is there purely to create a dark atmosphere and perhaps semiologically to give the band “time” to come out of the cloak of the live-gig band, as it was from 2010 onwards, and to put on its formal dress for the studio. However, we quickly get into the mood with one of my favorites, “Consequence”, with the (as expected) excellent riffs and rhythmic drums setting the tone, while essentially with “Consequence” we understand that CORONER did not want to create a stormy and in your face album but a sequence of songs that will increase and decrease tensions and speeds even during the songs. Of course, they included songs from their most classic moments like the two singles that were originally released, “Renewal” and “Symmetry” reminding us that CORONER come from the golden age of Thrash Metal. In between we have the more mid-tempo and pompous “Trinity”, the enchanting and alternative “The Law” with its melodic introduction and such a well-structured climax and “Transparent Eye” which as its title says is so transparent that you can see everything behind the rhythm and the orchestration. What are we left with? The groovy and modern “Sacrificial Lamb”, “Crisium Bound” with its rollercoaster logic in the speed changes and its slightly experimental sound and finally the orchestral “Prolonging” with which they close the album. Tommy Baron is pure gold in guitas, their new drummer Diego Rapacchietti totally comfortable with his role and Ron Royce delivers the song in a way that highlight the song itself and not the singer.
Listening to their previous albums, I understand that they decided to take calculated risks, to evolve their sound, which is already more refined and pure thanks to the production of “Dissonance Theory,” and ultimately to teach a lesson to older and new bands on how to write an excellent album without exaggeration and pretentious tricks.
★ 9,5/10
✍🏻 Kostas Boudoukos
