MENTAL VORTEX

Having perfected the thrash direction they aimed for with No More Color it was time for Coroner to move on. We are greeted on the cover by Mr. Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates off the film Psycho. When the needle touches the spinning vinyl, things kick off with a thrash masterpiece (featuring a sample from Re-Animator in the very first seconds) although the diminished 5th chords that Vetterli uses are far from the typical thrash vocabulary. The odd meter changes are here and this time the guitars are tuned a half step lower to achieve a heavier sound. Lyrically, the song addresses the issue of the final moment when you die. After that, the change of the direction becomes evident. Son of Lilith is slower paced, but immensely groovy although Coroner make sure that they make the life of headbangers hard with all these meter changes. The solo is superb - but then again all solos from this greatly underrated guitarist are more or less phenomenal. Semtex Revolution is along these lines, groovy, with constant changes that keep the listener's interest unfaltered. Sirens closes the first side of the vinyl showing no signs of backing down. Metamorphosis is one of the highlights of the album and generally of Coroner. The main riff is groovy as hell, the drumming absolutely driving. Pale Sister, once again, keeps the listener on their toes. It is plain that one has to be really concentrated when they are listening to Coroner or else they are bound to miss a lot of going-ons (I'm convinced that this is the reason why they and other bands of the same league never became household names. The founder of Noise Records, Karl-Ulrich Walterbach, has mentioned that even though they got ravenous reviews by the critics due to their originality, they still never reached big masses). This song alone leaves no doubt why Coroner fall into the progressive category. About Life is the thrashiest since the opener with very thoughtful lyrics (once in an interview Marquis Marky had mentioned that the biggest improvement from R.I.P. to Mental Vortex was the lyrics). Once again there are samples from another film, this time it is Hellbound: Hellraiser II. And then comes the cover the Beatles classic I Want you (She's So Heavy). It would be interesting to listen to all the covers of this song just to make sure that this is the best. A video was made for this one, too.

It was the second flawless album in a row that Coroner came up with. For many fans, this is their best. I really can't tell, but I do know that it is absolutely essential for all metal fans who want to listen something different to 99,9% of the releases out there.