Less a greatest-hits set than an odds and sods collection, this eponymous release was compiled nearly a year after Coroner's breakup. Forced by record company Noise to honor their contract, the band's original members temporarily reunited under less than cooperative circumstances (drummer Marky Edelmann was especially difficult, forcing the recruitment of a replacement for some tracks), and it's no small wonder that anything resembling a complete career wrap-up was achieved. Along with one or two highlights culled from each of the band's five studio albums, Coroner offers a wealth of new material, most of which ("The Favorite Game," "Shifter") shows a natural progression from the group's groundbreaking final album, Grin. Other new material like "Gliding Above While Being Below" and the two-part "Golden Cashmere Sleeper" is even more experimental, bringing Joe Satriani's soaring guitar tapestries to mind. Several remixes are also included, along with the trio's thrashy take on the Fab Four's "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" (depending on who you ask, a triumph or a bludgeoning) and Hendrix' "Purple Haze" (in an incredibly funky and stripped-down, previously unreleased live radio performance). Ultimately, Coroner doesn't do the trick as a one-off introduction to the risk-taking Swiss thrashers, but it serves as wonderful treat for committed fans looking to tie up all the loose ends in their collections. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia, All Music Guide
Vovo Faux-Pas (Engineer), Tom Morris (Producer), Mark Prator (Assistant Engineer), Jan Garber (Engineer), Tommy Vetterli (Engineer), Glenn Miller (Mastering), Fabian Scheffold (Photography), Tommy Vetterli (Guitar), Mischa Good (Design), Harris Johns (Producer), Ron Broder (Vocals), Kent Smith (Keyboards), Karl-Ulrich Walterbach (Executive Producer), Gerhard Wölfle (Engineer), Lui Cubello (Vocals (Background)), Paul Degayler (Vocals), Marky Edelmann (Producer), Peter Haas (Drums), Paolo Fedrigoli (Producer), Ron Broder (Bass), Guy Bidmead (Producer), Tom Morris (Mixing), Paolo Fedrigoli (Remixing), Marky Edelmann (Art Direction), Janelle Sadler (Vocals (Background)), Sven Sonquest (Engineer), Steve Rispin (Engineer), Paolo Fedrigoli (Engineer), Guy Bidmead (Engineer), Paolo Fedrigoli (Mixing), Angela Giger (Synthesizer), Marky Edelmann (Vocals), Marky Edelmann (Drums), Scott Burns (Mixing), Val (Conga), István Vizner (Art Direction), Pete Hinton (Producer), Fabian Scheffold (Art Direction), Tom Morris (Engineer), Dan Johnson (Mixing), Coroner (Producer)
Coroner is the penultimate release by the Swissthrash metal band Coroner. It is technically a compilation album, although it features new material as well as selected songs from the band's previous albums. It is also regarded as their final album, even though it was succeeded by a final compilation of unreleased material in 1996, titled The Unknown Unreleased Tracks 1985-95. The band chose to go into the studio for the last time, instead of releasing a "Greatest Hits" compilation, even though they had disbanded officially in 1994 (on some of the tracks, Edelmann and Broder are replaced by session musicians).
