Review by Shadowdoom9 (Andi) for Coroner - Mental Vortex (1991)
After pleasing the metal community with their earlier albums, Coroner decided to pack in more progressive supplies and stun the audience into an oblivion of astonishment, pushing them out the window into a brave new inescapable reality of precise craft. A new creation was made by a touring power trio who want to fly through a world beyond just a cult following. That offering is their 4th album, Mental Vortex! Any fan of Coroner would recognize a different aspect in this album; more controlled zen. There's still the climatic escalating touch in the guitars performed by Tommy Vetterli, alongside their earlier heavy wonders being nicely surpassed by experimentation.
It's a little bumpy ride through the overall heavy quality, but it all works out. It would take one last album (Grin) to mess up that direction and make the band take a downward spiral to splitting up. Mental Vortex is absolutely stone-solid, proving that the band just might be the Swiss progressive thrash metal legends people wish they would return with many songs blowing their minds.
The opening track "Divine Step (Conspectu Mortis)", I now recognize as the enormous starter progressive/thrash metalheads really love. It frantically yet decently punches through the discordant verses and riffs, powerful enough to blow my mind harder than a head-shot through the temple. I also enjoy the mellow bridge that contrasts against the typical heaviness and metallic guitar strength. What I thought was too out of place is now in place again! "Son of Lilith" is also a progressive thrash favorite of mine that I finally recognize to have killer riffs that build tension. More superb content comes after those first two works of art...
"Semtex Revolution" flows in simplistic speed, alternating with arching melody and nice vocals in a steady beat. "Sirens" continues that same speed flow with amazing vocals in the verses and a quick killer groove breakdown just near the two-minute mark to lift the steady thrash that appears in other sections. "Metamorphosis" starts with strange whale noises over smooth bass before the melodic guitars play an incredible riff march that you would be surprised no one else has tried it before.
Another great song of the bunch, "Pale Sister" cycles through great guitar frenzy faster than a speeding BMX bike, a sweet chorus, great leads, and a catchy breakdown in the end. "About Life" sounds closer to the band's earlier heavier material with a superb note pattern charging through the verse. The album ends with a cover of The Beatles' "I Want You (She's So Heavy)", probably the most notable element of the album. They did an effortlessly great job performing the song, even bringing our old friend, darkness to a new height of light. If there's one thing wrong about this song and the album now, it's that f***ing abrupt cut that was kept in!!
With all these advantages throughout this album, the band has gone through a labyrinth of progressive genius or boiling down their writing to the musical themes that have been important. There's another more visible thrash band take a different route in 1991, Metallica, but unlike Metallica, Coroner were standing by their origins. Because of that, I can now see that Mental Vortex has as much to offer as the band's earlier albums. They still had the dark superior riffing of thrash at the time when thrash metal was halted by impersonation genres, alongside half of their frantic displays of passion that put them in line with other promising European metal bands, all in creative curiosity. Sadly, this direction would swiftly descend into the mechanical groove of their last album Grin, and there would be no turning back.... My love for Coroner is fully on!
Favorites: "Divine Step (Conspectu Mortis)", "Son of Lilith", "Metamorphosis", "Pale Sister"