Coroner, Heathen
- Bleeding Priest
- 11 minutes ago
- 6 min read
February 9, 2026
The Ritz
San Jose, CA
February 10, 2026
The Cornerstone
Berkeley, CA
November 15, 1991. That’s the last time Coroner played the Bay Area. It was at The Omni in Oakland for the Shadows Of The Dark Side (Mental Vortex) tour. The last time I saw them live.
THIRTY FOUR (and change) FUCKING YEARS AGO!!! Needless to say I was pretty goddamn excited to see one of my favorite bands of all time once again. I saw them two nights in a row, sort of. Let’s get into it…
Coroner are touring for their latest record Dissonance Theory. An album albeit not perfect is still a worthy addition to their small but nearly flawless catalog. The new release’s strengths certainly outweigh its weaknesses and give plenty of reason to be excited about hearing and seeing this new material live.
The boys from Switzerland were playing two nights in The Bay and you can bet your tech-thrash ass I went to both.
Night #1 : The Ritz San Jose
Doug Piercy and I got down there by 7. When we arrived at the venue nobody could tell us what time the show was starting. Seriously, we must have asked 5 different staff members and no one could give us a straight answer. So we said fuck it and went to Original Joe’s for some drinks and grub. As a result we missed most of Heathen’s set.
The venue was about half full. It was about what I was expecting for a Monday night in San Jose. It wasn’t a bad turnout at all really. Heathen performed wonderfully and the crowd was digging them. Unfortunately the sound was extremely unpleasant. There was this high pitched squeal happening with the rhythm guitars and the club's system sounded like it was hanging on for dear life. But again, Heathen did a great job.
Being that it wasn’t packed I made my way up to the very front no problem. I actually can’t remember the last time I was pressed up against the stage at a show. But that night was special…at least it was supposed to be….
Coroner hit the stage with the first two songs on their new album. But something was amiss. You could tell guitarist Tommy T. Baron (Vetterli) was distracted by something. After the first song they had a quick pow wow by the drum riser. I could tell they were having issues with their in ear monitors. After the second song their sound guy came out and told them they needed to stop so they could work out the issue. This took about an hour and a half.
After 45 minutes or so folks started to bail. At about the hour mark the house lights turned on and the club was telling people to leave. Coroner’s tour manager came on stage and said “We’ve almost got it”. The lights went back down and within 15 minutes or so the boys were back on the stage. But at this point it was kind of too little too late.
Don’t get me wrong, the folks that stuck around loved every second as did I. Unfortunately there was a Monday night curfew to adhere to so they only got to play 5, maybe 6 more songs. They were forced to cut key songs like (Reborn Through Hate, Die By My Hand, Metamorphosis) from the set list. I felt really bad for the fans that were unable to see them the following night because really they only saw half a show.
What went wrong? A myriad of things I was told. Coroner rented a state of the art board that wasn’t fully compatible with the Ritz’s archaic sound system, trigger issues, having to update a program on the laptop that runs everything. In the end of the day it boiled down to a faulty cable. Whatever it was, Coroner was robbed of a killer show…until the following night.
Night #2 : The Cornerstone Berkeley
Now for this show Doug and I got inside the venue with time to spare to catch all of Heathen’s set. Right away I could tell the difference in sound from the night prior. There was actual low end and it generally sounded much better than the Ritz. You could tell The Cornerstone has put much more money into their sound system.
Heathen ripped it up to a pretty packed house. Hell, it’s a hometown gig for them so I expected no less. The most notable thing about their set was new drummer Blake Anderson (Warbringer, Hammers Of Misfortune, Vektor). He really stepped up the aggression and precision.
Honestly he’s probably the best drummer they’ve had and that’s saying a lot because former skinsman Darren Minter is no slouch himself. Heathen would be wise to keep Blake around for a while. He really ramped up their sound.
Now the time for REDEMPTION!! I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a tad nervous when Coroner hit the stage but immediately you could see a confidence in their playing that just wasn’t there the night before. I was going to be alright.
They played their full set. It was glorious! Hearing old classics like “Tunnel Of Pain” and “Divine Step” at that volume once again was nothing short of a religious experience. But I have to say the song that connected with me the most was “Serpent Moves” from their much lamented album Grin. I’m completely unapologetic on my love for that record. And being that they never toured the states for Grin it was almost surreal I was actually witnessing that song live.
Watching Tommy play that solo a couple feet in front of me is an experience I truly can’t put into words but I will cherish that vibe for the rest of my days. He is the GREATEST Thrash Metal guitarist of my, or any generation. The Eddie Van Halen of Thrash if you will.
And let’s not forget about bassist/vocalist Ron Royce (Broder). He’s an absolute joy to watch. He seems to play these technically demanding songs effortlessly and his vocals have not only held up but seem to have improved. It’s crazy!
The new drummer Diego did an outstanding job. Original drummer Marquis Marky was a major part of the band. He wrote lyrics, helped design their covers and did spoken word on a number of tracks. He was much more than “just the drummer” in the band. A very difficult member to replace. But they chose wisely in Diego.
There was one more member on stage to address…DA GIMP!! Coroner had a fourth guy onstage doing samples, backups and keys. He was one of the oddest, most uncomfortable looking characters I’ve ever seen perform. He would just rock back and forth and close his eyes and just looked awkward. I LOVED IT! I found myself staring at him without even knowing it.
I overheard people talking about him after the show saying things like “that guy was disturbing” or “did you see that freak on the side of the stage?”. I thought he was a perfect addition to the evening’s proceedings. I think Coroner’s starting a new trend in Metal. Every band should have a gimp!
My only complaint is I wished for some of the old tunes they would’ve played them in the tuning they were originally recorded in. They tune way low nowadays and that sounds killer on the new tracks which I must say sounded way better live than on record.
But for the older songs the lower tuning kinda sounded weird at times and took some getting used to. It was most apparent on the classic “Masked Jackal”. I just couldn’t get used to hearing that main riff in the lower tuning. It kinda lost its effectiveness. But this is serious Coroner nerd nit picking shit right here. Don’t listen to me, the show RULED!!
I truly hope Coroner comes through town again sooner than later because I could watch them jam 50 more times and not tire of it. Maybe Death Angel and Coroner’s paths will cross someday. Now that ‘s a bill right there.
–Bleeding Priest
