Reviews list for Coroner - R.I.P. (1987)

Coroner's debut, whilst still being almost universally lauded, has been overshadowed a bit by their better produced and more technically focussed releases that succeeded it. Whilst that is understandable as they are great records, this less polished and more reckless-sounding release should not be ignored by anyone who considers themselves a fan of either Coroner in particular, or thrash metal generally. For a debut release this is supremely confident sounding and the playing is technically adept to such a level that it puts a lot of their contemporaries to shame, the sheer pace of a song like Suicide Command would ensure it descended into a bit of a mess in less accomplished hands. The style for most of the album is pretty much straight-ahead, uptempo, neckbreaking thrashing, incendiary solos firing off with regular abandon at a thousand notes a minute. I also love Ron Royce's vocals, they sound a lot like Iron Maiden's Paul Di'Anno, a singer who, for me, embodies the power and aggression demanded of metal vocalists and sound perfect here.

1986/87 was arguably the high water mark for thrash metal and Coroner's debut is a release that is well at home in the company of those other legendary releases as well as being a really solid building block for their more technical and accomplished subsequent releases. Unfortunately this passed me by upon it's original release and it would be much later before I got into Coroner, which is a great shame as this would really have appealed to a 25-year-old me.

Interestingly, later editions of the album have a bonus track, Spiral Dream which was written by Celtic Frost's Tom G. Warrior who had a close connection to the band, even performing vocals on 1986's Death Cult demo and indeed, seems to have been a big influence on the band's style. One of the better and more accomplished debuts from the world of eighties' thrash metal and a great place to start if you want to explore Coroner's discography.

I've been a big fan of technical/progressive metal for almost 6 years now, but never really the old 80s thrash metal. Of course, sometimes exceptions are made because the progressive elements I really enjoy spice up the thrash. That's certainly the case for Coroner! In my previous Coroner reviews, I've mentioned that this band is never really my favorite because of the experimentation weighing heavily against the heaviness it should've had, especially in Mental Vortex, but now I can reconsider that initial thought and finally see that they're one of the most influential Swiss extreme metal bands besides Celtic Frost. Lots of heaviness and Ron Royce's harsh vocals can be found in R.I.P.!

What I like about this band is how it stands out against the typical standard thrash metal bands, such as its unique style. Their instrumental ability helps them become superior compared to other bands in the 80s thrash scene and would give them greater impact in their later albums, all starting in 1987 with this album R.I.P. There's quite a lot of awesome material in here; 13 tracks (including 5 instrumentals) in 45 minutes!

Unusual for a thrash album, the "Intro" is a piano instrumental that kicks off the album which is enjoyable and their own original work. It really has a sinister mood before the raw darkness... The metal action begins with the classic "Reborn Through Hate", still played live since their recent reformation. This song shows how incredibly talented this band is in true aggressive technical thrash metal. I love it! This is followed by another favorite "When Angels Die" with great riffs and chorus both catchy as f***. The choirs are unexpected but bring a unique aspect. It's awesome how the band focuses on inspiration instead of the brutality of other thrash bands. There's another classically-influenced "Intro", followed by... "Nosferatu", an instrumental piece of technical thrash violence, showing the band what a blast they're having without ever f***ing around.

"Suicide Command" stands out in heavy thrash pleasure with prominent bass. "Spiral Dream" has absolutely furious tempo. The album's title track has another classically-influenced intro with a depressive mood before switching an intense f***ing heavy with nice guitar riffs and melodic bass groove. You can hear more of the bass that's high in the mix in the next track "Coma". Same with "Fried Alive" where the bass flawlessly follows the guitar melodies in a smooth pattern. More of the killer technical thrash is there to please me more than Metallica!

Then the next thing present is another little synth "Intro"... And finally, "Totentanz" is another song of technical thrash violence to end the aggression in a powerful bang. And the album ends with an "Outro" that is another thrashy instrumental, this time with sinister keyboards.

Overall, "R.I.P." is a h*ll of a killer album and probably my favorite one of the 80s thrash metal scene, with a primitive feeling that's never bad. Of course, they would become more progressive in subsequent albums which I didn't approve of at first but now I possibly might! I would later have to review the remaining Coroner albums; Punishment for Decadence and the (gulp) mechanical-groove-infused Grin to confirm the band's "favorite" status for myself. But for now, enjoy this early tech-thrash recommendation!

Favorites: Reborn Through Hate, When Angels Die, Suicide Command, R.I.P., Fried Alive, Totentanz

I've always been a fan of Coroner's later albums but hadn't spent too much time with this debut album. Over the last couple of weeks, I've given it quite a few listens and I have to say it's in the same league as everything else they produced in their career. The production may be a bit less clean, but the musicianship and song writing are just as great.

The main thing that comes to mind when describing this band is pure technical musicianship. Even at this early stage, they were writing progressive, technical thrash that was quite different to everything else around. Tommy T. Baron's guitar work is simply jaw dropping at times. He was one of the very top guitarists in metal and from video footage I've seen, seemingly did it easily.

When Angels Die is one of my absolute favourite Coroner tracks and Reborn Through Hate, Nosferatu and Fried Alive are also up there. The album does have a mid-section that drops off slightly with the title track and Coma not really doing a lot, but the rest is class. For anyone into the more technical thrash metal out there, this is recommended.