Somehow, Coroner slipped through the net last week (its not just them, I missed someone else) and for that I apologise profusely. In my defence, when you consider that its been 30 years since their last album, I think they can probably live with another week. Bear in mind that all though their last release was back in 1993, and that they split in 1996.
Initially, I thought that this return was a bolt from the blue but Coroner have been a touring band since around 2010, which when you think about it has allowed them to remain at the sharp end and not become dulled with age or rely on fading skills. What is weighing on me is the amount of noise on social media that is painting this as a classic, its this, its that and that makes me want to not like it. Just to be contrary.
So, admission time – I have never heard their music before, I have no frame of reference for what they sounded like prior to the release of Dissonance Theory and more importantly I’m not mithered for what they sounded like back then. What counts is what it sounds like now.
And for once I agree. This has snuck in and landed itself within my AOTY list. The decision was made about halfway into Consequence, the album opener proper following the intro piece Oxymoron. Within Consequence there is this chord progression that is just mint, never mind that the song itself rips along at a fair rate without sounding like someone who is playing fast for the sake of it. In terms of announcing themselves, its practically perfect.
So, admission time – I have never heard their music before, I have no frame of reference for what they sounded like prior to the release of Dissonance Theory and more importantly I’m not mithered for what they sounded like back then. What counts is what it sounds like now.
And for once I agree. This has snuck in and landed itself within my AOTY list. The decision was made about halfway into Consequence, the album opener proper following the intro piece Oxymoron. Within Consequence there is this chord progression that is just mint, never mind that the song itself rips along at a fair rate without sounding like someone who is playing fast for the sake of it. In terms of announcing themselves, its practically perfect.
As good as it is, Sacrificial Lamb that follows is better as a prime example of how you can meld two arrangements together as a cohesive story and come out the other side. It starts as a percussive, crawling beast where you think, ok this is deliberate as a way not repeating the tricks from Consequence. An ascending pattern is used to give it some oomph and on its own it works until they change it, throwing in a new build replete with a lead break that is spot-on.
From this point you can see exactly why people have been losing their minds over it. The album is one of those rare breeds, where you can listen to it on repeat and it doesn’t get old at all. They can do it all – fast, slow, technical flourishes, all built with meaning.
Crisium Bound has that to it, shifting patterns that invoke a feeling of movement into Symmetry that is rapid, but avoids going down a particular path of just beating you around the head with rote riffs, they just know what to use and when to use it. Its lead break is another that is deployed at the right point and is built to suit. If anything, each song shares a common theme which is one where they don’t stay in one place during its run time.
They employ whatever they think is right and then go with it. They just happen to get that right 10 times out of ten and having set that watermark they comfortably stay above it in terms of how good the songs are. A key latter track is Renewal, which I suppose is fitting given the context of their return. This is a blinder that sees them look to the melodic death metal of Scandinavia without directly aping it. It charges along, chock full of little touches that would make this so fulfilling to play on the guitar.
For me, that is the key here because they write stuff that would be awesome to play as much as it is thrilling to listen to it. It’s like they have approached writing this from a fans perspective – what would I like to hear? Prolonging is the last dance, even getting a touch of the organ involved as it leads directly in from Renewal. They end with an instrumental, but that’s fine, because the album is a corker.
What we have is an album where they have looked at the changing musical landscape since their last release and said I think we can do better than that. It says a lot to me that they have come in and made music that is unique to them. They haven’t tried to follow trends to appear more relevant, they have simply written the best stuff they can. It just happens to be better than everybody else. 10/10
Scorpions – From The First Sting (BMG) [Simon Black]
It’s their 60th anniversary, and they are still bloody going…
In an age when many of the gods of Rock and Metal have either shuffled off this mortal coil, Germany’s longest standing Hard Rock act are still shuffling around, albeit more likely in need of a walking frame to do so safely on stage. With their farewell (hmm) world tour completed late in 2024, something was needed to celebrate the diamond anniversary. This 3-disk 30 track set is it.
Their last (but probably not final) new studio album was back in 2022, and Rock Believer surprised me at the time by punching just as hard as many of their older and more widely known hits, but with nineteen original studio albums, two re-recording ones, six live ones and as many compilations as all of those put together
What we have is an album where they have looked at the changing musical landscape since their last release and said I think we can do better than that. It says a lot to me that they have come in and made music that is unique to them. They haven’t tried to follow trends to appear more relevant, they have simply written the best stuff they can. It just happens to be better than everybody else. 10/10
Scorpions – From The First Sting (BMG) [Simon Black]
It’s their 60th anniversary, and they are still bloody going…
In an age when many of the gods of Rock and Metal have either shuffled off this mortal coil, Germany’s longest standing Hard Rock act are still shuffling around, albeit more likely in need of a walking frame to do so safely on stage. With their farewell (hmm) world tour completed late in 2024, something was needed to celebrate the diamond anniversary. This 3-disk 30 track set is it.
Their last (but probably not final) new studio album was back in 2022, and Rock Believer surprised me at the time by punching just as hard as many of their older and more widely known hits, but with nineteen original studio albums, two re-recording ones, six live ones and as many compilations as all of those put together
The Scorpions have managed the almost unmanageable in being able to present a single track for each one of those releases in this one box set, as well as finding time for a couple of previously unreleased items, with roughly two decades of material being dipped into for each of the three disks. That’s actually no mean feat, given that some of those releases might be locked in rights hell, but I don’t think anyone is going to notice or care here.
I will be honest, my engagement with this band only started in the mid-1980’s, when they had already been going for twenty years, and I’ve never really explored their discography much before 1979’s Lovedrive, so I am hearing some of the early material for the first time here. In their 80’s Global heyday (perhaps best captured in the superlative World Wide Live), their set list contained nothing that pre-dated this album, and things have continued thus ever since. In many ways I can see why.
This older material is eclectic, reflecting the evolution music was going through, whereas from Lovedrive onwards we see the emergence of the distinctive Scorpions sound, not to mention their ability to write clean and punchy arena churning anthemic tracks. With the best part of two decades of not quite achieving that behind them, the band made the wise decision to move onwards only once they gelled, so if you aren’t prepared to have your expectations dashed by the early material I recommend jumping straight to track eight, but for the rest of us it’s an interesting smorgasbord of sounds, some of which have strands that you can spot as having a place in the future, but yet to be woven into that distinctive sound.
It’s really when we get to Holiday that the modern Scorpions structure starts in earnest, with the arrival of Mathias Jabs and the forging of their distinctive rhythm and lead relationship, one that saw Rudi Schenker stepping back from the more traditional Rock ‘n’ Roll weaving he delivered when Uli Jon Roth or his younger brother were involved. Schenker is probably the riff-monster, but he’s a formidable songwriter too, and from disk two the compilation stops being of historical curiosity and turns into a celebration of what a monster hit-making machine was forged when this line up nailed it and took the world by storm.
To be fair the third disk also has a lot of surprises for me, although in many cases this is due to some interesting alternative versions of tracks, but did we really need two versions of Wind Of Change? I know it’s their greatest hit, and it captured a moment of hope when Germany reunified, but for me it’s been played to death, and there’s a ton of stronger material in their discography. I was hoping to discover some missing gems from the noughties onwards, but sadly although their final album was a resounding goal in the back of the net, most of their original output this century lacked the impact of the 80’s and 90’s. For my tastes there were too many power ballads and not enough anthemic arena rockers in this period.
The tracks are in chronological release order, and some of them aren’t what you might expect, but when you get to this point in your careers some leeway is allowed in choice of material for a compilation, and the point here is they are illustrating quite how many directions and styles they have explored as well as celebrating the stronger hits. However, at the end of the day it’s the Scorpions. Even in low gear they are an absolute powerhouse, and Rock Believer made up for the fallow years in spades. Enjoy this for what it is – a celebration of a band that influenced generations of bands that came after them. 8/10
Wolvennest - Procession (Consouling Sounds) [Matt Bladen]
Wolvennest has been playing gloomy, occult doom-rock for a decade now and they now bring us their most expansive release yet in the double album Procession, a sprawling, haunting trawl through doom, psych, ambient, goth and black metal, it's a cinematic yet intimate offering with a multi-layered soundscapes driven by a trio of guitarists.
Michel Kirby, Marc De Backer and Corvus, the massive walls of fuzz, riffage and noise adding considerable power to these introspective and eternal songs such as Farmadihana. New bassist VaathV and drummer Bram Moerenhout rolling out the frostbitten heaviness on a Hunting. Corvus also takes the role of synth player unifying with the supernatural theremin of Shazzula.
She the High Empress of the band bringing the dreamy vocals, leading their rituals and ceremony as Hekte Zaren, lends her operatic tones to Tarantism, which is where this album clicks, with Procession, Wolvennest have attempted to create their own version of 666 by Aphrodite's Child, itself a double record concerned with the devil, this is one obsessed by death and the afterlife.
The sonic manipulation of Déhà brings it all to life through his mix/master, blurring all of their instrumental brilliance together. This Procession is a band connecting with the other side through their music. 9/10
Junkbreed – Sick Of The Scene (Raging Planet Records) [Spike]
Look, when your album is called Sick Of The Scene and you use AI-generated art for the cover as a deliberate, sarcastic middle finger to the state of modern creativity, I know exactly where your head is at. Junkbreed, that Portuguese Frankenstein's monster stitched together from the wreckage of Primal Attack and Switchtense, is done pretending. This album isn't subtle. it's nine tracks of pure, razor-sharp aggression built on the kind of burnout that only late-stage capitalism can deliver.
This is the sound of heavy frustration translated directly into thick, metallic hardcore. They don't waste time on pretense. they just hit you with riff after violent riff until the point is made.
The core of this record isn't some complex theory. it's the raw, unpolished honesty pouring out of the speakers. The whole record has a sharper edge than their debut, Music For Cool Kids. This is less about cool kids and more about the ones who bailed out early and are now screaming from the curb. The rhythm section, a relentless, unforgiving engine, gives tracks like the single 51% Gone the necessary kick in the teeth. This is a brilliant piece of brevity, diving straight into that moment of existential collapse in a blistering 94 seconds.
Junkbreed operates in the dangerous intersection where hardcore punk venom meets post-hardcore precision. They throw down grooves that feel like concrete being poured. They open the record with Faulty Stereo, a perfect statement piece that immediately establishes the glitchy, hostile atmosphere before launching into the track that gives the album its velocity.
I will be honest, my engagement with this band only started in the mid-1980’s, when they had already been going for twenty years, and I’ve never really explored their discography much before 1979’s Lovedrive, so I am hearing some of the early material for the first time here. In their 80’s Global heyday (perhaps best captured in the superlative World Wide Live), their set list contained nothing that pre-dated this album, and things have continued thus ever since. In many ways I can see why.
This older material is eclectic, reflecting the evolution music was going through, whereas from Lovedrive onwards we see the emergence of the distinctive Scorpions sound, not to mention their ability to write clean and punchy arena churning anthemic tracks. With the best part of two decades of not quite achieving that behind them, the band made the wise decision to move onwards only once they gelled, so if you aren’t prepared to have your expectations dashed by the early material I recommend jumping straight to track eight, but for the rest of us it’s an interesting smorgasbord of sounds, some of which have strands that you can spot as having a place in the future, but yet to be woven into that distinctive sound.
It’s really when we get to Holiday that the modern Scorpions structure starts in earnest, with the arrival of Mathias Jabs and the forging of their distinctive rhythm and lead relationship, one that saw Rudi Schenker stepping back from the more traditional Rock ‘n’ Roll weaving he delivered when Uli Jon Roth or his younger brother were involved. Schenker is probably the riff-monster, but he’s a formidable songwriter too, and from disk two the compilation stops being of historical curiosity and turns into a celebration of what a monster hit-making machine was forged when this line up nailed it and took the world by storm.
To be fair the third disk also has a lot of surprises for me, although in many cases this is due to some interesting alternative versions of tracks, but did we really need two versions of Wind Of Change? I know it’s their greatest hit, and it captured a moment of hope when Germany reunified, but for me it’s been played to death, and there’s a ton of stronger material in their discography. I was hoping to discover some missing gems from the noughties onwards, but sadly although their final album was a resounding goal in the back of the net, most of their original output this century lacked the impact of the 80’s and 90’s. For my tastes there were too many power ballads and not enough anthemic arena rockers in this period.
The tracks are in chronological release order, and some of them aren’t what you might expect, but when you get to this point in your careers some leeway is allowed in choice of material for a compilation, and the point here is they are illustrating quite how many directions and styles they have explored as well as celebrating the stronger hits. However, at the end of the day it’s the Scorpions. Even in low gear they are an absolute powerhouse, and Rock Believer made up for the fallow years in spades. Enjoy this for what it is – a celebration of a band that influenced generations of bands that came after them. 8/10
Wolvennest - Procession (Consouling Sounds) [Matt Bladen]
Wolvennest has been playing gloomy, occult doom-rock for a decade now and they now bring us their most expansive release yet in the double album Procession, a sprawling, haunting trawl through doom, psych, ambient, goth and black metal, it's a cinematic yet intimate offering with a multi-layered soundscapes driven by a trio of guitarists.
Michel Kirby, Marc De Backer and Corvus, the massive walls of fuzz, riffage and noise adding considerable power to these introspective and eternal songs such as Farmadihana. New bassist VaathV and drummer Bram Moerenhout rolling out the frostbitten heaviness on a Hunting. Corvus also takes the role of synth player unifying with the supernatural theremin of Shazzula.
She the High Empress of the band bringing the dreamy vocals, leading their rituals and ceremony as Hekte Zaren, lends her operatic tones to Tarantism, which is where this album clicks, with Procession, Wolvennest have attempted to create their own version of 666 by Aphrodite's Child, itself a double record concerned with the devil, this is one obsessed by death and the afterlife.
The sonic manipulation of Déhà brings it all to life through his mix/master, blurring all of their instrumental brilliance together. This Procession is a band connecting with the other side through their music. 9/10
Junkbreed – Sick Of The Scene (Raging Planet Records) [Spike]
Look, when your album is called Sick Of The Scene and you use AI-generated art for the cover as a deliberate, sarcastic middle finger to the state of modern creativity, I know exactly where your head is at. Junkbreed, that Portuguese Frankenstein's monster stitched together from the wreckage of Primal Attack and Switchtense, is done pretending. This album isn't subtle. it's nine tracks of pure, razor-sharp aggression built on the kind of burnout that only late-stage capitalism can deliver.
This is the sound of heavy frustration translated directly into thick, metallic hardcore. They don't waste time on pretense. they just hit you with riff after violent riff until the point is made.
The core of this record isn't some complex theory. it's the raw, unpolished honesty pouring out of the speakers. The whole record has a sharper edge than their debut, Music For Cool Kids. This is less about cool kids and more about the ones who bailed out early and are now screaming from the curb. The rhythm section, a relentless, unforgiving engine, gives tracks like the single 51% Gone the necessary kick in the teeth. This is a brilliant piece of brevity, diving straight into that moment of existential collapse in a blistering 94 seconds.
Junkbreed operates in the dangerous intersection where hardcore punk venom meets post-hardcore precision. They throw down grooves that feel like concrete being poured. They open the record with Faulty Stereo, a perfect statement piece that immediately establishes the glitchy, hostile atmosphere before launching into the track that gives the album its velocity.
The structural anxiety of the record is best seen on the sprawling Dinner In Hell, which features every member locking into a groove that feels less like a meal and more like a physical threat. Even the titles reflect the mood. Misantrophe and Dead Weight are the sounds of personal and social toxicity, pure bile driven forward by metallic fury.
This refusal to settle is crucial. The chaos of Trash Beneath The Leather and the cynical speed of Viewers Indiscretion use relentless piston-fire drumming to beat back the malaise they sing about, turning existential dread into immediate, physical action. It's almost self-medication by velocity.
This refusal to settle is crucial. The chaos of Trash Beneath The Leather and the cynical speed of Viewers Indiscretion use relentless piston-fire drumming to beat back the malaise they sing about, turning existential dread into immediate, physical action. It's almost self-medication by velocity.
You can also hear the clever, almost punk-rock theatricality in the closing track, Over What I Know, which doesn't offer a gentle way out. it just fades the grinding hostility into a final, suffocating drone. The ultimate critique here isn't a theory. it's a breakdown. It's the sound of a glitch in the matrix, where the riff is the only analog truth left.
When they lock into a groove, it's not for dancing. it's for slamming your head against the cultural wall. This album confronts conformity and disillusionment with an immediacy that makes you want to smash something. maybe a screen, maybe the nearest representation of the system.
It's heavy, it's direct, and it proves that even when the band is talking about wanting to check out, their identity and commitment to the sound remains fiercely intact. This is the soundtrack to giving up on the world, one vicious breakdown at a time. 9/10
Junkbreed new album is an amazing fucking record! Can´t remember the last time a record it me so hard! FUCK YES!
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