The Germans of 'Coronatus' continue to release albums at a regular two-year interval as 'Secrets of Nature' is from December 2017 and 'The Eminence of Nature' from late November 2019. Just a few days after, two years later the mast opus, here is its successor 'Atmosphere'. The lineup has changed a lot because, apart from the violinist 'Kristina Jülich' and the band leader and drummer 'Mats Kurth' who were in 'The Eminence of Nature', the vocal section has been completely renewed with the arrival of the mezzo-soprano 'Leni Eitrich' and the singer 'Moni Francis', the guitarist 'Axel Grill' replacing 'Jörn Langenfeld' and the bassist 'Mark Knaus' replacing 'Markus Stock'.
With this in-depth change, 'Coronatus' also evolves on a musical level and this new baby is certainly one of the most varied albums of the German combo and the first five compositions attest to a much wider variety: the short instrumental introduction 'Intro' plunges us into a melancholic orchestral track with beautiful choirs, a process that is very often found in the beginnings of albums of symphonic metal bands. Then follows 'Justice In The Sky' whose beginning is in the continuity of the first title but which quickly takes amplitude with the entry in track of the electric instruments and which puts forward the new female vocal duet, the melodic lines being in the symphonic style that we know of 'Coronatus', then, 'To the Gods of Wind & Sun' adds this original mixture between symphonic and folk with a catchy composition, the violin of 'Kristina Jülich' reinforcing this feeling of vivacity and enthusiasm. Without transition, 'Firedance' deploys a more marked rhythmic which moves away from the symphonic metal and shows a particularly attractive face which one could qualify as metalized pop then, 'The Distance' is a splendid ballad bringing out a beautiful emotion thanks to a masterly interpretation of the duet 'Moni Francis'/'Leni Eitrich' with a chorus in which the songs join in a sublime way. With this nice panel of styles, we already arrive at the middle of the album and the continuation reserves us other nuggets with 'Williwav' (see video above) which pays tribute to 'Nightwish' with this characteristic rhythmic, then, 'Time of the Raven' (see the video here) continues in this festive symphonic metal that we know from the Finns by adding folk influences and catchy melody that immediately grafts itself in the head. With 'The Swarm', it's back to a catchy composition with a magnificent vocal performance from the two singers who play cat and mouse with each other. After this metal/folk part, 'Keeper Of Souls' sends a heavy metal style much more powerful and shows that 'Coronatus' has resource in more energetic atmospheres and, it is with a last title completely in another style, 'Big City Life' that the album ends and takes us, this time, in an atmosphere between blues and jazz of the years 50/60 with a last vocal duet completely addictive.
In summary, this last album of 'Coronatus' shows that the compositions of 'Mats Kurth' have reached a musical perfection allowing the band to leave the beaten tracks of a standard symphonic metal and to tackle different styles of music, thanks to some very talented artists. For my part, 'Atmosphere' is the most accomplished album of the Germans and, cherry on the cake, benefits from an irreproachable production what makes it one of the very beautiful surprises for the end of year 2021... | |
