After more than three decades of silence, Coroner recently returned with Dissonance Theory, released worldwide on October 17 via Century Media Records. It’s the band’s first new studio album since 1993’s Grin, and for guitarist, songwriter, and producer Tommy Vetterli, better known to fans as Tommy T. Baron, it represents both renewal and reckoning.
Speaking with 213Rock Harrag Melodica Live, Vetterli reflected on how time reshaped his creative approach: “Yeah. I thought about it, but I found out really fast that it doesn’t make any sense to repeat what we had previously done, because it’s another time, and I’m a totally different person nowadays. I couldn’t write No More Color again,” he admitted.
“So, I decided to just sit down and see what comes out. I knew from the beginning that we gonna go in the right direction because I was really picky with myself. I bore myself a lot when I play guitar, so it took forever. Maybe out of 30 riffs, one made it on the album.”
That meticulous process stretched over years, slowed by life’s detours. “We signed the record contract about 2014 or ’15 and actually started to write some stuff then, but then life always came into the way,” Vetterli explained.
“Yeah, there was a lot of stuff going on, like people died, and I got through a divorce, and then there was COVID. And the main reason that it took that long was maybe my daytime job. I’m a music producer, I have my own studio, and I work with a lot of bands. And when I work a whole day recording a band, in the evening, it’s hard to be creative. In the evening, I hate music.”
Dissonance Theory features ten tracks spanning 47 minutes, recorded by Vetterli at New Sound Studios in Switzerland and mixed and mastered by Jens Bogren (known for his work with Opeth, Kreator, and Amon Amarth) at Fascination Street Studios in Sweden. The album’s artwork was created by Stefan Thanneur, rounding out a team that mirrors Coroner’s blend of precision and introspection.
Vetterli originally planned to mix the album himself, but ultimately brought in Bogren for a fresh perspective. “I was supposed to mix the album, but towards the end of the recording, it was, like, I wrote everything from the beginning over a long time, and at the end of the recording, I felt like someone with a fresh ear should mix it because I couldn’t see the forest for the trees, because I heard it too much,” he said. “So, for me, it was important that somebody takes over with a fresh perspective and a fresh ear, and it was the best decision.”
When Dissonance Theory was first announced in August, Vetterli summed up the ethos behind Coroner’s long-awaited return. “I thought a lot about what Coroner should sound like today, but I pretty quickly realized that looking backwards wouldn’t serve us,” he stated. “Of course, over time, you develop a certain signature as a musician. So even if the material is new, it might still feel like a bridge to earlier phases — simply because it’s me writing it. That said, we didn’t set out to continue a legacy. We just wanted to create something honest and grounded in the present.”
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