Coroner Reunion Hits A Snag

Sure, on the 1986 demo by Swiss thrash metal trio Coroner, vocals were assigned to Celtic Frost frontman Tom G. Warrior. But that was a one-off, and 28 years and a decade-long hiatus later Coroner now experiences their first substantial change in roster: Drummer “Marquis” Marky Edelmann (above left) is out. By itself, the move is a bummer; its context is more discouraging: On Wednesday, in a post on their band site, Edelmann states that if Coroner is to continue on their glorious reunion run that started in 2011, then they must now set about recording an album of new material. If not, then it’s time for him to bail. He then states that since he doesn’t want to do a new album — he never did — then they won’t, and so he’ll be a member of Coroner only until the end of this month, his final show the 18th in Zurich. Got all that?

But Edelmann hastens to point out that Coroner will continue touring with an undisclosed drummer filling the new vacancy. That’s great n junk — they’re too rad too stop and a drummer is any band’s most replaceable dude — yet fans like us might chalk this up to overthinking and misplaced integrity on the part of a guy who expresses himself by pounding on stuff. Edelmann himself tallies Coroner’s shows at 27 over three years; that’s his limit? Does easy money freak out this artsy lyricist and trapsman? Can he not grind out another few summers’ worth of festival ragers and big-market adulation sessions without fighting feelings of phoniness? Is this a bluff to get bandmates Tommy Vetterli and Ron Broder to commit to new music, something evolved enough to entice Edelmann to reverse himself and build a new shelf in the Coroner library? And if not, who’s our vote to replace him?