Photo by Grzegorz Golebiowski
Signaling their triumphant return with new material for the first time in three decades just last month, Swiss thrash pillars Coroner detonated heavy music with the release of the single, "Renewal".
Asserting the band's unrelenting thrash attack executed with surgical-precision, Coroner has doubled down with the unveiling of yet another dominant show of force in "Symmetry". The trio of Tommy Vetterli, Ron Broder and drummer Diego Rapacchietti construct a towering wall of sound that results in a masterclass of thrash that has only become more refined with time.
The track ushers in the next chapter for the band, introducing Coroner's full studio album in more than three decades, Dissonance Theory. Discussing the slow-build of the refreshed iteration of Coroner, Vetterli shared that the songs on Dissonance Theory have been incubating since the arrival of their current drummer who joined the ranks more than a decade ago.
“I started sketching ideas around 2015, but never found the mental space to focus fully. Life kept getting in the way — short bursts of progress, then long interruptions. Running my own recording studio means I ’m constantly producing other bands while managing the studio’s demands. After nine-hour days recording or mixing, there’s not much creative energy left at night. The actual recording sessions didn‘t kick off until June 2023 — and even those got interrupted multiple times for the same reasons."
Chipping away at what would become an album more than a generation in the making, Coroner's eventual reemergence is a testament to their enduring legacy and their continued mastery. A powerful assertion of the band's progression, "Symmetry" emphasizes the band's timeless signature, while allowing Coroner to evolve in the modern era.
Tommy Vetterli explained how the theme and execution of the newest single, is indicative of the contemporary version of Coroner. "This track is about vanity, ego, and how self-obsession can be destructive. That idea shaped the way we played it too. 'Symmetry' gave us room to explore, and with the rhythmic dimension Diego [Rapacchietti – Drums] brings, it pushed us further than we’ve gone before.”
Speaking to the weight of the new album, Vetterli explained that Dissonance Theory is the result of the band still aspiring to grow and creating so as not to rely on their legacy. “I thought a lot about what Coroner should sound like today — but I pretty quickly realized that looking backwards would’t serve us. What’s past is past. So much time has passed, and we’re not the same people. Just like we didn‘t care about trends back then, we didn’t try to make this record for anyone but ourselves. We weren’t trying to continue a legacy — we were just trying to create something honest and present."
Dissonance Theory, the new album from Coroner arrives October 17th via Century Media Records. Pre-order the album - HERE
