'Coronatus' is a German symphonic metal band led by drummer 'Mats Kurth' and the end of 2019 saw the release of a new album 'The Eminence Of Nature' which succeeds 'Secrets of Nature' dating from it just 2 years ago (see here). These 2 years have seen changes in the line-up since the soprano 'Carmen Lorch' has been replaced by 'Katharina G. Mann' and 'Teddy Möhrke' is now the male voice of the group and a new guitarist 'Jörn Langenfeld' made its appearance, the rest of the group remaining unchanged. It is also a concept album following on from the previous opus on nature and the importance of protecting the climate on our earth.
‘No Planet B’ opens the ball with a heady melody and we discover the new soprano ‘Katharina G. Mann’ which offers a remarkable first performance and the whole confirms the richness of the vocal section of the Germans. Then, an energetic 'Midsommar' with folk components brought by the flute, then, 'SOP' highlights a heavy rhythm with the emphasis on saturated guitar riffs with a catchy melody and 'The Wilderness Of The North' continues in an epic style filled with choirs in an astonishing symphonic style. The ballad of the album 'Echo of Souls', well placed in the middle of the album allows to take a break in the middle of all these energetic tracks then, the 2nd half of the album scrolls an energetic 'The Place I Love' , then 'Human Mania' is quite offbeat, mixing symphonic and folk with still a remarkable vocal section alternating female and male registers and 'Set Sail to North' continues in this spirit with a catchy refrain which never leaves you and which should do fury in concert then, '9000 Years Ago' concludes the album with riffs and singing close to 'Therion' (see their latest album here). Note that each title is then accompanied by its instrumental version which does not bring real plus to the album
In summary, between symphonic and folk metal, 'Coronatus' offers us a very good album which improves with listenings and 'The Eminence of Nature' is the first album with lyrics in English in all the titles which will undoubtedly allow the Germans a little more to open up to an international audience of symphonic metal... | |
