Review by Ben for Coroner - R.I.P. (1987)

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.