For the third time in as many years, we’ve had the pleasure of meeting Tommy Vetterly, Coroner’s guitarist. The first time, he was accompanying his delicious wife Nina in 69 Chambers during Hellfest 2010 and seemed filled with uncertainty regarding his band’s future. The second time, after his memorable performance at Hellfest 2011, his main feeling was relief at seeing that the band had achieved their stage reunion successfully. This time, Vetterli greeted us with a surprised look and a warm smile when we met him once again at the Motocultor festival (French festival) one sunny afternoon. This time, his face showed confidence, pleasure, and possibly pride, before the night’s show.

This year, however, instead of interviewing the band’s guitarist a third time to get news from Coroner and their projects for the future, we asked for another member’s opinion. In this instance, the other member was vocalist/bassist Ron Broder, also known at the time as Ron Royce.

Only a couple of hours before they were to tread the boards at the Motocultor festival, we met Broder near the prefabricated building that doubled as the band’s trailer. Hands shaking, he was trying to roll a cigarette. “I’m still very nervous before I go on stage”, he explains. That’s the moment a slightly inebriated man chooses to make an appearance. A fan of the Swiss trio, he expresses all the gratitude he feels towards the band, which, according to him, has changed his life. The man screams, waves about and asks us to take his picture with Broder, who seems touched by this declaration but also looks uncomfortable and shy. To relax a little and finally roll that bloody cig, he offers us to sit down and chat.

He mentions the apprehension he felt before going back on stage last year: “I was nervous yes, because I couldn’t imagine me playing like I did back in the 80’s. But when you rehearse and rehearse again, you improve, so everything came out fine.”. But this stress should be put in perspective: “I feel better now, because I have much more experience. I also see our shows from another perspective : as I’m more relaxed, there’s no more pressure.”

Regarding the subject on every fan’s mind, namely the release of new material, Tommy Vetterli confided in us last year that he wanted to start composing and recording for Coroner again, but that his two bandmates weren’t too keen. A year later, things seem to have evolved, because, when asked if he would be ready to do it, Broder answer clearly: “I think I would be ready, but I would try first to write a new song and see what comes out with him. We’ll decide what to do after. You know, I like to write innovative stuff : that’s actually my pleasure. […] Anyway, as Tommy has a studio, all the infrastructure which can allow us to compose is ready : we’ll see what happens.”. He also confirms that “We had a discussion, yes.”. But he goes on to talk about drummer Marky Eldemann’s reluctance: “Marky definitely doesn’t want to make a new record, so we’re still not sure of doing it. […] But if we do it, we’ll have to record it with another drummer, and it won’t be the same.”

This reply allows us to remind him that the case already presented itself once, in 1995, to record the new songs that were to appear on the eponymous compilation: “It’s right. We were so late with the recording that we had to have another drummer and also another bass player so that I could do my vocals. But it didn’t really work out well, because our music is quite complicated.”

One thing is certain: Broder seems to find important that, if they do end up composing again, Coroner’s upcoming music go forward, like it always used to. It wouldn’t be worth it any other way, because Coroner is one of those bands that have always been ahead of their time and for whom innovation is an integral part of music.

“Maybe it wasn’t the right time in the 80’s, maybe we were too complex for the people. ”, he suggests when we ask him to explain why the band only met with moderate success at the time while they’re now considered an important band for what it brought to metal. But he also goes a bit further to explain why the band stopped: “Maybe because we were stagnating and getting bored. But money was the other reason : we couldn’t live any longer like that. I think it was the time too for everybody to try out something new. But I now I think, looking back at it, that it was the right decision.” He mentions the intense pressure the band was under in the 80s, when they were trying to make a living out of music: “Yes, [we felt pressure] all the time. In the 80’s, we were professional musicians, but as we wanted to make a living out of our music, we had to find the money wherever it was to pay our bills.”

We should therefore rejoice at seeing Coroner back on stage in all their former glory and keep our fingers crossed for the future. And the future will start soon, so to speak, since a live CD and a DVD will be released shortly, as Vetterli already told us a year ago. “Yes, we have, but we didn’t finish to edit it. Daniel, our keyboardist, is actually doing the job. He’s started to edit the DVD, has shown us some parts and I think it’ll be very good”, says Broder. He goes on: “It’s a mix between old and reunion shows, and there is also some old stuff from the beginning of our career.”

After this nice chat, we leave the vocalist alone to finish his cigarette and relax a little before the show. Said show turned out to be both simple and elegant, the musicians obviously had a good time and the music – powerful, rich, and meticulous – managed to send the listener into a trance.

Interview conducted face to face at the Motocultor Festival (France) on August 18th, 2012
Transcription and traduction : Jean Martinez – Traduction(s) Net and Saff’

Coroner’s official website: Coroner-reunion.com.