Album Review: Grin by Coroner 1993 (4/5)

Coroner's Grin, released in 1993 is a very interesting metal album. It's definitely not one that you can pop in for the first time and immediately fall in love with it. At least that wasn't the case with me. Now, you will be able to tell instantly that there is a lot going on and it could be something very special, but it isn't readily apparent just what that is or if it's really worth giving it many more listens to find out.

As I was trying to get into this album, I noticed a couple things: it seems to have all the right elements - the riffs are good, drumming is just fine, the songs seem well put together and the guitar solos are very well crafted and technical. But for some reason I felt tired while listening to this album. I'd be pepped up and ready to go in the beginning but after a few songs I'd feel lethargic and ready to take a nap. Was it just me? Or is this album really a doozer?

After many listens I can say that this is one of those albums that has to grow on you. You have to give it time to set in to get it and enjoy it. But at the same time I do think there are a couple flaws, a few areas that if they would have done better would have taken it it from a 4/5 album to a 5/5 album. One of the main things that hurts this album in my opinion is the production. Now I'm not a producer and it's hard to say exactly what went wrong, but simply put the album sounds boring. It's lifeless. The bass isn't as high in the mix as they should be, and it seems like they were going for a more refined and clean sound - which took away some of the energy it might otherwise have had. It's too quiet - the instruments aren't caked into each other sonically enough - you can see right through them. Also, the snare drum is too loud compared to everything else and the high-hat is too quiet and closed in places where it should be more open and rocking it to give the song more "energy". As I listen to this album I can't help but be reminded of the production sound of White Zombie's La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Vol. 1. If Grin would have had that type of sound the songs would really have come to life a lot more.

Another thing that makes this album a little tiring is the generally slower tempo for the genre. Every song seems to be dragging just a tad bit. There is also a somewhat "jammy" feel to the album - 1 riff might last a couple minutes, and most of the songs are over 6 minutes. One very high point are the guitar solos by Tommy Vetterli. He does a great job of bringing some emotion into the riffs (which unfortunately sound otherwise somewhat lifeless due to production) and at times his playing reminds us of Joe Satriani.

I'm not going to say that this is a must-have metal album but if you want to expand your horizons just a tad bit and try something new, definitely check out Coroner's Grin.

Tribe meets white man for the first time: Bullshit

There's a video making the rounds lately showing what is claimed to be a tribe on Papua New Guinea meeting a white person for the very first time. It is so unbelievably staged and we're stunned by the number of people who actually believe it's genuine. As was the case with the blogger that was supposedly a lesbian in Syria, people seem to be so emotionally moved that they don't realize how obviously fake it is. They want to believe because it touches that special feel-good spot in their heart. Watch the video for yourself.



The comment section is filled with garbage like the following:

I could not stop crying. This is a forever lost experience. This sort of awww does not exist anymore. It will again though...when we finally meet a civilization outside our own world. WE will be the tribesman from the jungle. I think this is the best video I have ever seen on LiveLeak and I thank you for posting it.

What exactly are we lacking where a video like this fills some type of void? First of all, whether this video is real or fake, it's exploitative. It's looking at humans as if they're animals in the zoo. And that's supposed to pull at your heart strings? This idiocy mixed with the gullibility of believing this stupid video really makes us weep for humanity.

Update: William Skyvington sheds some light on the truth and origin of the video:

This charming video is in fact a fake, which has nothing to do with Papua New Guinea. The white man you see in the video is a Belgian moviemaker, Jean-Pierre Dutilleux. The "Papua New Guinea natives" were in fact members of the Toulambi tribe of indigenous Amazonian "Indians" (what a silly word for people in South America). This fake "first encounter" between the natives and a white-skinned visitor was filmed around 1999.