#progressive thrash

[metalcultbrigade]

Voivod - Dimension Hatröss. 29/06/1988

[vinylspinning]

Coroner: Dissonance Theory (2025)

What was your favorite heavy metal album of 2025?

Mine was Coroner's Dissonance Theory: a comeback 30 years in the making by one of the few metal bands that's never put out a bad record and arguably just got better and better with each of their first five studio LPs, now augmented by a sixth impeccable musical chapter.

Just over a year ago, the Swiss power trio famously made up of Celtic Frost roadies, guitarist Tommy Vetterli, vocalist/bassist Ron Broder, and drummer Marky Edelmann -- now replaced by Diego Rappachietti --came through Nashville on a wholly unexpected reunion tour.

The show was everything I could have hoped for and more ...

Because one is so rarely faced with so much instrumental brilliance AND artistic integrity AND such a surgical musical decapitation at the hands of perhaps history's greatest progressive thrash metal band -- often referred to as "the Rush of thrash."

Dissonance Theory is an accurate description for ALL Coroner LPs, as these have always pushed the limits of metallic extremity against hard-won melodic elements in such a way as to accentuate the group's compositional inventiveness and amplify eventual epiphanies.

So it stands to reason that Coroner would pick up where they left off over three decades earlier, with twin crowning achievements, Mental Vortex (1991) and Grin ('93), and fuse the the former's dazzlingly elaborate techno-thrash with the latter's mid-tempo dread-grooves.

The result is a master-class in controlled violence and intellectual depth, as standout after standout ("Crisium Bound," "Symmetry," "Transparent Eye," "Renewal") is propelled by Rappachietti's clockwork precision and Vetterli's razor-sharp virtuosity, about which an entire thesis could be written.

Co-producer Dennis Russ contributes integral synths that never upset Coroner's clinical tripodal balance (with the possible exception of his organ solo on the superfluous coda, "Prolonging"), and robotic voices (reminiscent of Cynic) bring a sci-fi sheen to "Consequence."

But, elsewhere, it's always Broder's cynical bark eviscerating religion ("Sacrificial Lamb"), tyrants ("The Law"), and nuclear apocalypse ("Trinity") with a cold, emphatic wisdom, while his bass lines possess a mind of their own, rarely following the guitar's lead.

Heck, even the album's "mandatory metal intro," "Oxymoron," isn't wasted and conveys true industrial terror; teeing up the rest of the record and the crystal-clear, bone-shattering mix delivered by studio wizard Jens Bogren (Opeth, Kreator, Katatonia, etc.).

Man, it's hard writing about music you're totally obsessed with!

But I've done my best, and I'll close by celebrating Coroner's unique and unmistakable musical DNA, because most bands -- even some of the bands I love best -- still sound like other bands, but Coroner sounds only like Coroner and NO other band sounds like Coroner.

More Coroner: R.I.P., Punishment for Decadence, No More Color, Mental Vortex, Grin.

[ponderingrandomthings]

This is an impressive song from a technical thrash metal band Believer, from their 1993 album Dimensions.

The songs starts slow (acoustic guitar), with rather/many philosophical quotes from acclaimed atheists and/or anti-Christianity philosophers.

These lyrics are difficult to keep track of, but I found it impressive how a band brings such a perspective on philosophies.

Lyrics are in one color (blue) and quotes/references are in another color (green).

Please do not be impressed by me (this poster is not a poseur - hah, nor dumb). It is just that much research is now easier thanks to the CoPilot add-on to browsers. But it still takes considerable time to dig into things.

Lyrics

Reason argues the existence of God If the incarnate was crucified The dialectical paradox concludes That God has already died [1]

[1 Reference Thomas Altizer (The Gospel of Christian Atheism) – He was known for his Death of God theology, arguing that traditional conceptions of God had become obsolete and that Christianity must embrace radical transformation. He was deeply influenced by figures including Nietzsche, Hegel, and William Blake.]

The very nature of man's independence Implies accountability for one's actions [2] My decision to be free or not to be Reveals the magnitude of my freedom [3]

[2 Reference Jean-Paul Sartre (Being and Nothingness) – Sartre emphasized existential freedom, arguing that humans define their own essence through choices rather than adhering to a predetermined divine plan. He was a staunch atheist in his early years. Interestingly, some scholars have noted that Sartre’s concept of nothingness (le néant) has theological roots, particularly in Christian doctrines of original sin. His existentialist framework, while explicitly atheistic, engages with theological ideas in ways that reflect deep familiarity with religious thought.

[3 Reference Ludwig Feuerbach (The Essence of Christianity) – He proposed that God is a projection of human nature, that religious belief reflects human consciousness rather than an independent divine reality. That divine attributes—such as wisdom, love, and justice—are actually human qualities, projected onto an external being.]

Chorus Where is the wise man Scholar of this age? Their dementia calls From their dimension

[Reference: 1 Corinthians 1:19-20 “For it is written: ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.’ Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?”]

Freud argued that God is but mere illusion Our need for some cosmic comforter To resolve our deepest childhood neurosis A belief based wholly on an unfulfilled wish [4]

[4 Reference Sigmund Freud (The Future of an Illusion) – He viewed religion as a psychological construct, shaped by human desires and fears, particularly the need for a protective father figure.]

Or is this world a random occurrence A change reshuffling of matter? Particles in motion in a corner of the universe The origin of life and evolution an accident? [5]

[5 References: Multiple references. Jacques Monod (Chance and Necessity) Stephen Jay Gould (Wonderful Life) Richard Dawkins (The Blind Watchmaker) David Hume (Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion)

All these people assert that there is a lot of chance and randomness in the origin and nature of existence.]

Where is the wise man Scholar of this age? Their dementia calls Leading men to the grave

Where is the wise man Scholar of this age? Their dementia calls From their dimension

--

Yes, I still have more to say!

At 4:05, the electric violin was unexpected in an extreme metal album.

Like many other extreme metal musicians - they have surprises.

Gorguts for example. Its lead singer and guitarist, Luc Lemay, studied music composition from nuns for an album. He mentioned this in an interview. Now that, will (and should) raise your eyebrows a few feet above your head.)

That will be a separate post. (Something as impressive as this cannot be put as a side/secondary note. Now, that's an impressive musician. If you get to see him anytime, anywhere, do say a hello to him - as a well wisher. He's from Canada.)

[onlyhurtforaminute]

VOIVOD-VOIVOD

[burden-in-my-hand]

[bassbenny]

HEXEN - Desolate Horizons

[only-metal]

Black Fast - Starve

Album -  Starving Out the Light

https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Black_Fast/3540368826

[superhardlikesteel]

Album of the year 2016 runner up: Vektor - Terminal Redux

Here’s an album that will be on MOST metal album of the year lists.

Terminal Redux is, to put it likely, fucking insane. Progressive / technical thrash metal with sci-fi theming has never sounded this good. It’s hard to even know where to begin when reviewing this album. Let’s try.

Technicality. Blazing, technical guitar and bass riffs that hardly ever repeat more than twice. The guitar solos are batshit insane and technical as hell. Technicality isn’t really something I look for in metal, but Vektor has done it so tastefully here that I’m highly impressed.

Something to note is that they actually tune their instruments up to F. In a genre that is known for its tendency to tune down, this is a very interesting choice. This allows them to get this tight and bright sound on their strings which they use to weave a very ethereal web of sound.

As far as the guitars go, yes, there is a certain mechanic aspect to the sound, as you’d expect from a technical metal band. That being said, Vektor sounds pretty organic considering how technical they are. They manage to strike a tasteful balance. It never gets technical to the point where it’s like lifeless noise, it goes down that path while retaining the soul.

For the most part, the riffs are blazing fast thrashers that never let up. That being said, there are moments on this album where they slow down. It is a small minority, but it happens. These moments of contrast actually add a lot to the album without taking away from the thrash.

The vocals of Vektor are something that I actually didn’t like at first. To me, the singer sounds like the lovechild of Chuck Schuldiner and Dani Filth. One of these things is not like the other. That being said, the Dani Filth-esque falsetto’d black metal shrieks are used to much better effect on here than they are in any Cradle of Filth record. When the vocalist does a pure falsetto moment, a la Angel of Death by Slayer, it always ends up being a moment of total thrash energy that catapults the song forward.

The album is very progressive. The song structures have a lot of twists and turns. A lot of surprises that you won’t see coming. Some clean vocal parts are thrown in here and there. They even managed to squeeze in a power ballad on this record! It’s actually a very standout track.

If you like prog, tech, or thrash, you really gotta check out Vektor’s Terminal Redux. It is one of the best record in any of those sub-genres in years and years and years. It’s seriously fantastic.

The song: Pteropticon