CORONER — No More Color (review)

Album · 1989 · Technical Thrash Metal

5/5 · 2021-01-22
UMUR

"No More Color" is the 3rd full-length studio album by Swiss thrash metal act Coroner. The album was released through Noise Records in September 1989. Coroner was formed in 1985 and released their debut full-length studio album "R.I.P." in 1987. They are widely regarded as one of the seminal thrash metal acts on the Swiss thrash metal scene along with artists like Celtic Frost, Poltergeist, and Messiah. The three-piece lineup which recorded the debut album and "Punishment for Decadence (1988)" is intact: Tommy T. Baron (Tommy Vetterli) on guitar, Ron Royce (Ron Broder) on bass and vocals, and Marquis Marky (Markus Edelmann) on drums.

On "No More Color", Coroner continues the technically well played thrash metal style of "Punishment for Decadence (1988)", but add a few more progressive ideas and a generally more adventurous approach to the compositions. None of the aggression or rawness of the predecessor is lost here though, and "No More Color" is still a pretty intense thrash metal album. The band are incredibly well playing, and there are some jaw-dropping moments featured on the album. It´s especially the guitar playing by Tommy T. Baron, which is out of this world. His tone, his dexterity, his speed, and his choice of notes are very effective and quite tasteful. Marquis Marky and Ron Royce deliver very convincing performances too and the latter´s quite distinct vocal style provides that part of the band´s music with something unique. He has a talking/singing raw vocal style, featuring an understated aggression, that´s rather unconventional.

The material on the 8 track, 34:21 minutes long album is relatively varied, while still staying within the band´s core style. So while the music features quite a few adventurous/progressive ideas and sections, it´s not like Coroner suddenly shifts into jazz rock/fusion mode or they play extented instrumental sections or anything like that (although some of the guitar solo sections go through several tempo/section changes). Everything is neatly arranged and fits well within the band´s technical thrash metal style. While I think of the whole album as one long highlight, I´ll mention tracks like "Read My Scars", "why It Hurts", and especially "Mistress of Deception" as standout tracks.

The whole thing is packed in a powerful, raw, and detailed sound production, which suits the material perfectly. Every instrument is placed perfect in the mix, which results in a sound which does the music as much justice as possible. The guitar tone is fierce, the bass has a great powerful sound, and the drums feature a powerful organic sound. The vocals are placed slightly low in the mix, but that´s always been Coroner´s style, and once you get used to it, it only adds to the uniqueness of the album.

Both "R.I.P. (1987)" and "Punishment for Decadence (1988)" are great albums, but to my ears Coroner were only honing their skills and songwriting craft on those two releases and ultimately just warming up to this beast of an album. "No More Color" is intense aggression, technical superiority, and songwriting originality in one package, and there´s really nothing like it out there. Coroner hit gold here and I consider "No More Color" a technical thrash metal masterpiece. A 5 star (100%) rating is deserved.