A year ago German band Coronatus surprised us with their debut album 'Lex Noctis'. Now they are ready to release their second. A very interesting and thrilling fact about them is that they have 2 female singers; Carmen R. Schäfer is responsible for the soprano vocals and Ada Flechtner takes care of the normal vocals.

Coming from Holland I know some first-class female-fronted bands like Within Temptation, Epica, After Forever, Delain etc. and they all have one thing in common: excellent singers. Coronatus has the same advantage. The music can be good, but with a so so singer it just doesn't work.

The music is a mix between Tristania and Nightwish. Lots of gothic metal bands sound a little weak, but Coronatus doesn't forget to use some strong guitar riffs throughout their songs, just listen to the opening of "Cast My Spell". Carmen does have some similarities with Helena Michaelsen (Imperia) and Tarja (ex-Nightwish) is never too far away either, just listen to the chorus of "Cast My Spell". Sometimes the lyrics are in English, but a lot is in German as well.

If the band can bring this good performance on stage as well, then I see a great future ahead of them, and fronted by two charming females - what can go wrong here? When they perform in my area, I will certainly be there. Most remarkable song is "Der Vierte Reiter", this is a kind of combination of Nightwish and Fintroll, and they get away with it very well.