Coroner - Grin

Grin (1993)
	Grin, the last Coroner album of all-new material to be released, was simultaneously the culmination and transformation of everything the band's first four albums had achieved. Fearlessly experimental, challenging, and "heavy" in a way that goes beyond mere sound, Grin has stood the test of time to emerge as Coroner's ultimate statement. It is a recording of astounding musical power, the conjuring of a ferocious, intangible force that the musicians have created and are battling to control. Even the album's more sedate passages ("Dream Path"; "Theme for Silence") seem afflicted with an underlying anger and tension. The music is like a living thing, snaking outward in a patient search to discover itself before
moving in for the kill. When a positively vicious-sounding Ron Royce snarls "Nails in my brain, NAILS HURT!" his statement comes off as something more than just another fussy metaller declaring his vague angst; it leaves one with the feeling that the vocalist has tapped into that dark, primal side of himself that all of us possess... and do our best to keep buried. Taken as a unified statement, the songs on Grin would seem to be about just that--the struggle of mankind with his primitive instincts, trying to make sense of the artificial and often brutal society he has fashioned for himself. This is of course a universal concern, one that affects even those not consciously aware of it, and the importance of this can't be overlooked in relation to Grin's impact on the listener. Many of the best albums in rock history are those that take us on an emotional journey while examining the human condition: Dark Side of the Moon, Tommy, OK Computer. Grin is just such an album. That it has never received its due from the music establishment or a wider audience is truly an injustice. But then, for many, confronting what lies within is simply too much to bear. Review by Geezo

Note: Lyrics have been provided by Pekka Verronen (and updated several times since then -- thanks to other Coroner fans!). Please note that there are still some gaps and stuff we're unsure about in these lyrics. Text included between "..." are words or sentences we're not sure about and the ~ ~ ~ refer to stuff we couldn't figure out at all. YOU ARE WELCOME TO FILL OUT THESE GAPS or correct what you think is wrong! :)
Just send me an email at mentalvortex at designvortex dot com if you can figure it out.

Tracks:

Produced by Coroner
Recorded at Greenwood Studios, Switzerland, Feb-Apr 1993
Engineered by Gerhard "Anyway" Wolfle
All drums recorded by Voco Faux-pas
Mixed by Tom Morris at Morrisound Recording, Tampa, Fl.
Assistant Engineer: Mark Prator
Mastered by Eddie Schreyer, Future Disc, Los Angeles.

Extra Info:

The voice at the beginning of "Internal Conflicts" is sampled from the movie "Aliens", and is the voice of Bill Paxton.

The Lethargic Age

A thousand souls are waiting, for a day that never comes
A thousand eyes still closed, cause they're afraid to see the world
Two thousand hands are bound, with golden chains they bought themselves
Two thousand legs can't walk, cause they never learned to move.

A thousand hearts are bleeding, despite the nails of "unknown pain"
A thousand heads are bowed, pray for mercy, pray for gold
Two thousand feet are stumbling, on the roads that lead nowhere
Two thousand ears are deaf, from the noise of luxury.

Don't you know you keep the nature
Chained in dungeons black as coal
Don't you know you adore
An eagle with broken wings

Roses that never bloom
Wheels that never spin
Bells that never ring
Hands too far to reach

Internal Conflict

I will crush my skull, when I feel like doing it
I will break my bones, when I feel like doing it

I will cut my veins, when I feel like doing it
I will shred my skin, when I feel like doing it

I will smash my teeth, when I feel like doing it
I will slash my face, when I feel like doing it

Caveat (To The Coming)

Children, fragile minds beware
This world is about to cut your hair
This world is about to bleach your skin
This world is about to lock you in.

Gentle, fragile minds beware
This world will appear, cold and bare
This world wants to eat all of your dreams
But there is more than what it seems.

Children, fragile minds beware
Sun is about to disappear
Concrete is danger over here
Now leave that place, mayhem and fear.

Serpent Moves

[ I'm moving "ahead", I'm changing "my mind"] x 2
[ I'm moving "ahead", I'm changing ~ ~ ~ ] x 2

I might
Find myself
Out in
The desert's land
Raise the moon
Call the dead
Touch the sky
Curse the sand

[ I'm moving "ahead", I'm changing "my mind"] x 2
[ I'm moving "ahead", I'm changing ~ ~ ~ ] x 2

I might
Leave myself
Out in
The desert's land
Like the serpent
Glides from its skin
With gentle moves
On floors of sin

Status: Still Thinking

Don't wanna know your brother's name
Don't wanna know your sister's face
Don't wanna know your mother's age
Don't wanna know your father's wage

Don't wanna know your former friends
Don't wanna know your secret thoughts
Don't wanna know the drug you're on
Just wanna know why...

Don't wanna know the master plan
Don't wanna know the hours spent
Don't wanna know who wins the war
Don't wanna know whatever no more

Don't wanna see the sun today
Don't wanna see the masses pray
Don't wanna see the children play
Just wanna see:

Don't wanna hear no tragedy
Don't wanna hear the things you see
Don't wanna hear no wedding "bells"
Don't wanna hear no "dying dance"

Don't wanna feel a warming breeze
Don't wanna feel you touching me
Don't wanna feel like I'm on trial
I wanna feel I know:

Paralyzed, Mesmerized

I will smile, while you still cry
I'll be in the light, while you still hide
I'll be far away, while you still sleep
And I'll always remember this, believe

The end of the road
The end of a love
The end of the game
The end of the fame
The end of summer
The end of freedom
Leaving you behind like

I will understand, while you still ignore
I'll use wings, while you still walk
I'll tell the truth, while you still have to lie
And I wonder, why you stand behind just like...

The end of the road
The end of a love
The end of the game
The end of the fame
The end of summer
The end of freedom
Leaving you behind like

Grin (Nails Hurt)

Oppression, weighs a ton
Depression, stains in black
Regression, the way things run
Aggression, my last resort

Love never crossed my way
Care, not even for myself
Peace means to reload a gun
Rest, I won't before I die

Adrenalin, a legal drug
Anger corrodes my heart
Boredom, nitroglycerine
Violence, primal fear

Religion, violent innocence, guilt, panic.
Exposed to all -- A false reality,
Look all through society:
More locks than keys

Host

Again and again
It winds "slick/lix-like to have a fire site"
Perilous thorn in my brain

Parasite nimble with "convulsed streams of ~ " plasma
Nestles, sure of entry, in my brain

Piece by piece, it knows me, and I know it
Just when it comes and when it goes,
It stays "by me", in secret, all alone

Whenever I do what it drives me to
It takes a little piece of me and burns it
As a tribute to its god

As its temple and its victim,
My blood runs on marble floors
Just like some insane circulation
Back into my corroded heart

By then I realize
There's just one door
One door, unlocked
I open the door, and...