29-544: Oppressor is a technical death metal band from Chicago , Illinois , which formed in 1991 and disbanded in 1999. They released three albums. Three of the band's members went on to form alternative metal band Soil . Oppressor was started in May 1991 by Tim King and Adam Zadel. A month later, they found another guitarist, Jim Stopper, and a drummer, Tom Schofield. They recorded their first demo, World Abomination , in 1991. A second demo, As Blood Flows , recorded in 1992, got them
58-421: A few months of activity. They managed to score a record deal with Olympic Recordings and released Agony in 1996. In 1997, three-quarters of the band, bar Jim Stopper, started an alternative metal side project called Soil , with Broken Hope guitarist Shaun Glass and Ryan McCombs . In 1998, Oppressor released their final album, Elements of Corrosion . When in 1999 Soil become more popular than Oppressor,
87-488: A new album he would have to "try to convince" Marky and Ron and would not do it without them. On 12 February 2014, drummer Marky Edelmann announced that he would be leaving Coroner at the end of the month, citing a disinterest in new material, as opposed to Broder and Vetterli. On 24 May 2014, Diego Rapacchietti was announced as the new drummer for Coroner. Despite their earlier decision not to release new material, guitarist Tommy Vetterli stated that Coroner plans to work on
116-406: A potential follow-up to Grin . In June 2015, Ron revealed in an interview (released on Italian webzine "Artists and Bands") that: "We are still individually in the process of collecting songwriting ideas. We have not started recording yet, but once we come together, it will probably proceed quickly. We are planning on hitting the studio towards the end of this year, hopefully." On 26 July 2016, it
145-430: A record deal with Red Light Records, who released their first full-length album, Solstice of Oppression , in 1994. Shortly after the album's release, Red Light went bankrupt and the band was forced to find another label. In the meantime, the band released a one-off live album/compilation album with Megalithic Records, entitled Oppression Live/As Blood Flows . Megalithic, a Milwaukee, WI label, also went bankrupt after
174-589: A technical metal band. Coroner's first album, R.I.P. , was based on neoclassical lines and was technical and classically influenced. The second album, Punishment for Decadence , saw a progression into a more complex sound with a unison of bass and guitar. Tempo changes interspersed mid-paced sections and the odd slow passage between the faster passages started to emerge. Lyrically, Coroner began to write about themes such as politics and personal introspection. The album contains some of their more well-known songs, including "Skeleton on Your Shoulder" which appears in
203-792: Is a Swiss thrash metal band from Zürich formed in 1983, better known for the lineup formed in 1985. They garnered relatively little attention outside of Europe. The band broke up in 1996, but reformed 14 years later. The band has performed at multiple live venues and festivals around worldwide since 2011, and as of 2023, they are working on their first studio album in more than three decades. Coroner's music combines elements of thrash , classical music , avant-garde music , progressive rock , jazz , and industrial metal with suitably gruff vocals. With their increasingly complex style of progressive rock -infused thrash, they have been called "the Rush of thrash metal", and along with Voivod and Watchtower ,
232-405: Is a classic piece of prog come thrash metal. It is technical but also brutal. Mental Vortex continued the evolution over No More Color . Continuing with the previous album's technical formula, the speed metal formula was re-integrated into Coroner's sound on this album but with a tone that made it sound not at all like R.I.P. or Punishment for Decadence . There were slower songs but none of
261-410: Is also worth a mention as having an advanced three-finger technique which enables him to double the rhythm line as well as perform more intricate riffs . Prime examples of this are the opener "Die By My Hand" with its vicious riffing and the harmonic minor inspired riff in the middle of "Mistress of Deception". The closer "Last Entertainment" is a prescient take on TV. The opening track "Die By My Hand"
290-442: Is complex including techniques such as blast beats , odd time signatures and double kicks . The technical death metal genre has also been influenced by mostly jazz fusion , as well as thrash metal and progressive/technical -inspired heavy metal bands like Death, Megadeth , Slayer , Voivod , Kreator , Dark Angel , Coroner , Sadus , and Watchtower , the latter of whose second album Control and Resistance (1989)
319-520: Is often considered to be one of the sources of inspiration for the genre. The 1990 album The Key by Nocturnus has been cited as the first progressive death metal album. One of the key works that cemented the subgenre was Atheist 's debut album Piece of Time , also released in 1990, which took death metal into a more intricate level while incorporating influences ranging from jazz fusion to progressive metal . In 1991, New York death metal group Suffocation released their debut album Effigy of
SECTION 10
#1732802253166348-498: The Florida death metal scene, to which Nocturnus , another influential band, also belongs. Distinct features of the subgenre include dynamic song structures, complex and atypical rhythmic structures, abundant use of diminished chords and arpeggios , frequent employment of odd time chord progressions , and consistent use of techniques such as string skipping in the guitar work. Bass lines are usually complex, and drumming
377-518: The Forgotten , which focused on pairing speed and brutality with a "sophisticated" sense of songwriting. Atheist's second album Unquestionable Presence , Pestilence 's third album Testimony of the Ancients , and Death's fourth album Human were all released the same year, forging a path for more intricate and refined releases within the death metal genre. Coroner (band) Coroner
406-676: The band decided to part ways. In 2021, vocalist Tim King announced his return to death metal with a new band called Embryonic Autopsy. The Embryonic Autopsy debut album Prophecies of the Conjoined was released by Massacre Records in February 2022. Oppressor played death metal in a style that came to be known as technical death metal. They were influenced by bands like Morbid Angel , Death , Gorguts , and Suffocation . Their lyrical themes usually centred on conventional themes such as death, suffering, and moral depravity. They were also one of
435-697: The band has been credited for helping pioneer the subgenre of "technical thrash metal" (also called "progressive thrash metal") during the mid-to-late 1980s. Coroner's sound then progressed and the production became more refined, resulting in a more progressive sound on their last three albums, No More Color (1989), Mental Vortex (1991) and Grin (1993). The Swiss thrash trio Coroner were originally road crew for Celtic Frost . They eventually cut their own songs, recording their demo Death Cult in 1986 with Tom G. Warrior of Celtic Frost on vocals. Their first full-length album R.I.P. , released in 1987, featured bass player Ron Broder on vocals and he assumed
464-651: The band slowly falling apart during the mid-1990s. Coroner officially disbanded after a farewell tour consequent to the self-titled album in January and February 1996. In March 2005, talks of a reunion were in the works, but later retracted. The main reason was that neither Marky, Ron, nor Tommy had the time it would require to do this properly, and also that none of them liked to "reheat things, except spaghetti sauce." In June 2010, however, Coroner announced that they would reunite for next year's installments of Maryland Deathfest , Hellfest and Bloodstock Open Air . The band
493-547: The band was planning to "finally go to the studio this fall" to work on their new album. In a May 2022 interview, Vetterli said, "We've actually started the recording, we have started recording drums, six songs are recorded and two more songs are ready, but Ron's part is missing and then we have to write another one, and then we hit the studio and record it." November 2020 saw work begin on the official band biography. Undertaken by writer Kriscinda Lee Everitt, this book will draw on extensive internationally sourced press from 1986 to
522-545: The first death metal bands to incorporate keyboards into their music. Technical death metal Technical death metal (also known as tech death ) is a musical subgenre of death metal with particular focus on instrumental skill and complex songwriting. Technical and progressive experimentation in death metal began in the late 1980s and early 1990s, largely driven by four bands that, according to Allmusic , are "technical death metal's Big Four" – Death , Pestilence , Atheist , and Cynic . All but Pestilence are part of
551-429: The present and equally substantial personal interviews with Marky Edelmann, Ron Broder, and Tommy Vetterli, plus musicians, producers, promoters, managers, myriad fellow travelers, and fans. As of 2022, the book has an Instagram and Facebook presence where fans can stay updated on its progress. Musically, Coroner evolved from a speed metal band with gothic and classical overtones like Celtic Frost and Bathory into
580-470: The role for the rest of the group's existence. The meaning of the band name Coroner is related to the crown or officer of the crown that is referenced by some of their songs. Coroner released four more studio albums within next decade: Punishment for Decadence (1988), No More Color (1989), Mental Vortex (1991) and Grin (1993), as well as the compilation album Coroner (1995), which also included some new and unreleased material; each release
609-490: The songs on Mental Vortex stayed the same speed for very long. The songs on Mental Vortex ranged from four to eight minutes. The last track " I Want You (She's So Heavy) " is a cover of the Beatles song, and a video was shot of it. Overall, the tone was a shift from the thrash/technical of No More Color which showed them gravitating towards their opus Grin . Grin saw a much more industrial and groovy sound and
SECTION 20
#1732802253166638-499: The video game Brütal Legend . No More Color was produced by Pete Hinton and the band. Coroner's music became more technical on No More Color as the guitar work was characterized by intricate modes and arpeggios , solo work that was chromatically colorful, as well as the de rigueur crunchy chords and speed runs; the drumming went beyond the 4/4 time of Coroner's two previous albums to incorporate unusual time signatures which became their trademark. Ron Royce's bass playing
667-456: Was a compilation which contained unreleased material, a selection of hits from previous albums, and a remix of the title song from the previous album Grin . Current Former As of 2014, no founding member has remained in Coroner, since founding drummer Marquis Marky abandoned the band that year after a 31-year duty. Bassist/vocalist Ron Royce and guitarist Tommy T. Baron have been
696-413: Was a natural progression from Mental Vortex but was different from most of their previous material. It involved reflective guitar riffs and underlying bass line. It was a slower record and more refined in its metal sensibility. Brooding guitar over Royce's bass produced an almost hypnotic trance -like sound on some tracks. The lead guitar still shone on all tracks. Their self-titled album, Coroner ,
725-445: Was a total trip; it was really like a time warp. It was totally strange. Sometimes you could play the songs automatically; it was still somehow programmed. It was really funny; your arms go left and right, and you don't know why. 'Oh, wow, that's why. I have to hit this cymbal right now.' [Laughs] So that was really quite a trip. It makes me feel like being [brought] back [in time] 15 years or more. And I missed playing drums, totally. That
754-461: Was acclaimed by critics and the public alike. Other than having toured relentlessly for more than half a decade (including the US three times), and all of their music videos receiving airplay on MTV 's Headbangers Ball ("Masked Jackal", "Last Entertainment" and the cover version of the Beatles ' " I Want You (She's So Heavy) "), Coroner did not achieve much commercial success, which had contributed to
783-487: Was also something I'm very happy about now — to just play drums." Marky also stated that a new Coroner album was not in the cards, but he also stated that the band could reissue their back catalog. In June 2011, Vetterli told RadioMetal.com that Coroner has been recording shows for a future live album and also plan to release a career spanning DVD in the future. Asked about new material, he mentioned that they might record one song or two. Tommy also stated that if Coroner makes
812-506: Was announced that Coroner had entered the studio to begin recording their new album, which was initially set for release in 2017; however, it did not surface in 2017 and there had been no news about the album until April 2020, when Coroner announced via Twitter that they were "going to record a NEW album this year." In a May 2021 interview with Agoraphobic News, former drummer Markus "Marky" Edelmann (who has remained in contact with his former bandmates since leaving Coroner in 2014) stated that
841-450: Was asked if they were planning to write a new album. Guitarist Tommy Vetterli replied, "you know, making a new album is kind of difficult... (Pause) Well, you never know. Maybe after four or five shows we'll get into it and say, 'Hey! Let's do an album!' Nobody knows what's going to happen. We don't have a master plan". In April 2011, drummer Marky Edelmann was asked why Coroner decided to reunite after their 15-year break up. He replied, "It
#165834