Coroner, Special Guest: Messiah

Playful and full of raw power, filigree and brutal at the same time, driving rhythms peppered with dizzying guitar solos - that's Coroner. Thrash metal? Speed Metal? Technical death metal? The Swiss band cannot be pigeonholed. They are simply unique. Even after 30 years of band history.

In the early eighties, things were boiling in Zurich. Demonstrations and street battles broke out in the tranquil city on the Limmat. The youth wanted to fight for freedom. In this energetic atmosphere, two bands emerge from the small Zurich scene of metal lovers and set out to conquer the world: Coroner and Celtic Frost. They crave new, fresh, unprecedented music - and make it themselves.

Coroner are Tommy Vetterli a.k.a. Tommy T. Baron on guitar, Marky Edelmann a.k.a. Marquis Marky on drums and Ron Broder a.k.a. Ron Royce on bass. On the first demo tape "Death Cult" Tom G. Warrior from Celtic Frost lends his voice before Ron takes over the vocals for Coroner.

"Death Cult" landed Coroner a record deal with the German label Noise Records, at the time the authority on new, exciting metal bands. The result is five studio albums that prove that Coroner are far more than just an ordinary thrash metal band: unpolished high-speed metal in 1987 on "R.I.P.", musical complexity in 1988 on "Punishment for Decadence", technical maturity in 1989 on "No More Color" and 1991 on "Mental Vortex", and the further development towards more straightforwardness and drive in 1993 on "Grin". On tours through Europe and the USA, Coroner also impress with their live qualities.

Coroner's metal thrives on complex rhythms and intricate melodies at the highest technical level. Driven by Ron's precise bass runs, which push his instrument to the limits of its capabilities, and Marky's drum patterns, which repeatedly leave the straight path of the four-four time signature. Tommy's virtuoso guitar runs hover above it all, razor-sharp masterpieces with a neoclassical touch that have earned him a reputation as one of the best metal guitarists around.

After a final tour in 1996, Coroner split up. A break of 15 years follows - but it doesn't go quiet. In the meantime, Tommy Vetterli went on tour with Swiss pop star Stephan Eicher and became a band member of German metal band Kreator. Marky joins Tom G. Warrior's project Apollyon Sun and experiments with electronic music. Ron retires from the metal scene and occasionally plays bass in various projects.

But the fans have never forgotten Coroner. In 2010, the call from concert promoters for live performances becomes so loud that the time seems ripe for a reunion. Coroner went back into the rehearsal room and rehearsed their tried and tested songs with new freshness. A triumphal procession through the biggest metal festivals follows: 30,000 spectators see Coroner at Hellfest in Clisson, France, they play at Wacken in northern Germany, at the Maryland Death Fest in Baltimore in the U.S. and at the Bloodstock Openair in England and go on a musical cruise with 70,000 tons of metal. Not to mention sold-out headlining shows in clubs across Europe.

"Autopsy" and a new album - legacy and new beginning

2016 sees the first Coroner release of the 21st century: "Autopsy" is a gift package for fans, packed with a documentary film on the band's history, live recordings of the reunion concerts, unreleased and rare archive material and a best-of compilation. Available either as a limited collector's edition with 3 Bluray discs and the compilation on vinyl in a hand-signed gatefold cover. Or as a standard edition with 3 DVDs and a compilation CD.

The second "Autopsy" disc offers a cross-section of the reunion concerts from 2011 to 2014: live recordings of 17 songs, played at Hellfest, the Maryland Death Fest, Bloodstock Openair and other festivals and clubs.

In addition, "Autopsy" offers tidbits such as the video clips for the Coroner singles, a recording of the legendary "Thrashing East" concert in East Berlin in 1990 as well as rehearsal room recordings and an insight into the very first Coroner concert in Zurich.

And now the future begins: The newly formed Coroner with drummer Diego Rapachietti have signed a record deal with Sony Music Switzerland and will release a new studio album in collaboration with Century Media. "We have matured musically in the twenty years since our farewell tour," Tommy Vetterli is convinced, "now we want to show what we can draw from this experience, with new songs and new energy. We want to do it again." The autopsy has shown. Coroner are far from dead.

Messiah

Originally from the canton of Zug (Baar), the band MESSIAH are among the co-founders of "extreme metal".

Formed in 1984, the band released two demos, followed by the debut album "Hymn to Abramelin" in 1986 and its successor "Extreme Cold Weather" in 1987, whose cover is adorned with a polar bear. The albums also made it behind the "Iron Curtain" through "tape trading" and achieved cult status worldwide thanks to the band's very own, experimental and wild musical style.

The new album "Christus Hypercubus" has been on the market since March 1, 2024 and has been enthusiastically received by both fans and the press and has received very good reviews.

Under the motto "40 years of thrashing madness", Messiah are currently performing live throughout Europe. They return to their home country on February 1, 2025 and play the Chollerhalle for the first time.

Note: This text was translated by machine translation software and not by a human translator. It may contain translation errors.