Coroner - Grin (1993)^{Release ID: 706}

Massively underappreciated and ambitious album. Coroner went out in style!

So, it appears there are a stack of fans below that consider Grin to be the worst Coroner album. I couldn't disagree more! This album is a simply wonderful release and one of the very best by these Swiss legends. In fact, I'd probably say that this is my personal favourite! Yes, it's not as consistently shredding as earlier releases. Yes, the band decided to spend more time in each track, with most going over the six-minute mark. But if you give this album the time of day, it rewards massively!

Things kick off with two of the more aggressive tracks with The Lethargic Age and Internal Conflicts. Both are great, exciting pieces that will get your blood pumping with powerful drums and killer riffs. But then things slow down and become far more expansive for most of the rest of the album. Tracks such as Serpent Moves, Paralyzed, Mesmerized and Host may at first seem more simplistic due to their more relaxed atmosphere and lack of metallic edge, but the song writing is pure gold. Each track has multiple levels and themes which the band revisit and build on over their course.

The star of the show is undoubtedly Tommy T. Baron. His guitar performance is simply exquisite, and I can honestly say that the leads on this album are some of the absolute best I have ever heard. I also think this is vocalist Ron Royce's best performance and while he never had much variety in his style, he manages a level of conviction and strength on this album that outdoes anything prior.

I could crap on for ages about how good this album is but seriously, don't let the negative reviews below deter you. If you enjoy Coroner, then I can only assume you enjoy the progressive, technical aspect of their music (that's what makes them so great after all!), and Grin is by far the band's most ambitious work. It's not a failed experiment. It's a huge album that requires multiple listens for it all to sink in, and I don't have too many others that match it for sheer intelligence and talent. Such a shame they split after this, but at least they went out with a bang. Highlights are The Lethargic Age, Internal Conflicts, Paralyzed, Mesmerized and Grin but it's all superb.

While I never felt that Coroner's 80's material quite reached the classic status that is inevitably heaped on it, 1991's "Mental Vortex" really blew me away so I was very much looking forward to their next release "Grin" when it was released two years later. As with many people my initial response was somewhat confused. It obviously champions a more stripped back sound & was very different to the band's previous material. The raw & technical thrash metal of their early days is replaced with a mid-tempo crunch that sounds a little more simple yet still offers plenty of complexity in the arrangements. With each repeat listen the songs open up more & more & I find myself becoming heavily engaged. The production is really quite brilliant in that it accentuates the cold (& almost industrial) atmosphere. This material is much more focused on song-writing than riffs so "Grin" tends to be a real grower. Every time I revisit it the songs take a couple of listens to reacquaint myself with but the effort is paid off tenfold. Ron Royce's vocals have rarely sounded this potent & the musicianship is absolutely top notch throughout. Tommy T Baron's guitar solos are nothing short of breath-taking here. His style is much more in sync with Joe Satriani than Yngwie Malmsteen these days & that can only be a good thing as far I'm concerned. I'd go so far as to say that this is one of the great lead guitar performances in extreme metal.

There really isn't a weak song on "Grin". In fact, it's arguably Coroner's most consistent record, despite the fact that I slightly prefer the wonderful "Mental Vortex" for Coroner overall. "Internal Conflicts" & "Paralyzed, Mesmerized" are perfect examples of what the band was trying to achieve & are my personal favourites but "The Lethargic Age" & "Status: Still Thinking" aren't far behind. Strangely, the popular "Grin (Nails Hurt)" is probably the song that appeals to me the least but it's in no way poor. This is ultra-professional & highly mature progressive metal that sounds amazingly fresh even today. "Grin" is a stunning achievement & I've always considered it to be a fitting finale for the band although it seems that more material is on the way after their recent reformation. If it's anywhere near the quality of "Grin" then I'll be very pleased.

For fans of Gojira, Tool & Nevermore.

The state of thrash metal was looking very bleak in the 90s. The style was stagnating with not a lot of its bands keeping their audience hooked to what they once thought was great, the scene starting to expect new overly progressive sounds. It might work well for the mainstream, but not for the underground from whence they came. After most of those bands try at least one album in a different style, the result would be to submit to obscurity or vanish from activity...

The mighty tech-thrash lords Coroner have done just that. However, instead of stagnating right away, they've actually planned a more pleasant progressive thrash direction through No More Color and Mental Vortex, so they've done their unique progression just right. However, the groove metal foundation has taken over in Grin.

For the first time since R.I.P. and Punishment for Decadence, the album starts with an intro "Dream Path" which has more of a tribal theme complete with didgeridoo. Then a lethargic pace grips "The Lethargic Age" which is a fairly jumpy ride without ever take a break for relaxation with its main motif similar to the opening track of Mental Vortex. Then the earlier energetic thrash enters the groove arena in "Internal Conflicts" with lively proposition and pounding atmosphere without ruining too much.

Another drastic changer is "Caveat (To the Coming)", another brooding groove track that stealthily hypnotizes the listener into the overall soundscape despite the modern non-thrashy manner. "Serpent Moves" includes synthesized vocals adding to the psychedelic industrial groove nature that might sound closer to Ministry and Treponem Pal with a bit of background synths once in a while. The groove status is maintained in "Status: Still Thinking" with atmospheric riffs in a twisted vortex and dark sinister vibes. Second interlude "Theme for Silence" can almost be a sequel to the first one, keeping the tribal atmosphere and didgeridoo.

The dark vibes continue in "Paralyzed, Mesmerized", a fitting composition that would have the listener feel like that song title, paralyzed and mesmerized, with a creepy string of pieces through melodic motifs and ephemeral leads all in spacey semi-thrash. The title track "Grin (Nails Hurt)" is a little more moderately paralyzing with patient rhythms with consistent grooves that keep you hooked up to a sudden fast crescendo throughout the last couple minutes. This formula would be repeated on the spacey finale "Host" which is an unsettling closer but my favorite in this album, their longest song at 8 and a half minutes, and a true swansong (unless counting their self-titled compilation). The unsettling elements range from the spoken vocals to constant tone changes, the creepy female chants, and finally ending in a sonic swarm of parasitic locusts.

So that marks the end of this great tech-thrash band's first era. Some praise as the band's pinnacle for reaching their final destination in evolution, which I respect for their sense of individuality. Others dislike how they succumbed to the groove metal invasion. At least they imbued their groove metal base into something different. Grin is a more open-minded album, but I wish they would return to their breakneck tech-thrash. That's what I hope for when they release an upcoming album, that and changing their band name so they wouldn't be confused with a certain ongoing virus. Unless you're a thrash purist, Grin should be a worthwhile finale from the creative Swiss metal masters.....

Favorites: "Internal Conflicts", "Caveat (To the Coming)", "Paralyzed, Mesmerized", "Host"