Like a sailor’s call to the sea, I am endlessly devoted to the symphonic metal subgenre in all its motley variety. Why? Maybe I need a break from the guys singing badly about the ladies singing beautifully. Maybe my love affair with Seven Spires justified my ongoing curiosity about the style.
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Maybe I was never as happy as when I discovered Imaginaerum in high school. Regardless, the call has now brought me to German symphonic band Coronatus and their new album, Dreadful Waters. Led by songwriter/drummer Mats Kurth, Coronatus includes three mezzo-soprano singers, Leni Eitrich and Sabine Prechtel, and “rock vocals” from Nemesis, who also contributes to songwriting along with guitarist Harry Zeidler. Rounding out with bassist Simon Gutbrod and violinist Tine Jülich, Coronatus wrote Dreadful Waters with a focus on the “merging of mysticism, danger and the elemental power of water.” All good words, but do Dreadful Waters make the strings live up to my expectations and, most importantly, can Coronatus live up to my expectations for symphonic metal?
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Whatever Coronatus do, Dreadful Waters sounds good. Fluctuating between varying degrees of symphonic music (“The Siren” and “Die Hexe und der Teufel”) and nautical folk metal music (“Southern Cross” and “A Seaman’s Yarn”), the production and mix of Dreadful Waters bring out the best elements of Coronatus‘s orchestration and give everything a rich, open atmosphere. The guitars sound massive and bold, while also taking on a supporting role to the violin and vocals, which are always warm and sincere. Coronatus‘s mezzo-sopranos bring the typical operatic hits of Tarja-era Nightwish on “The Maelstrom” and “To the Reef!”, while Nemesis’s “rock voice” means she brings a gray theatricality like Jørn‘s on her appearances on “Dark Ice” and “The Ship’s Cook.” But what really stands out to me is Kurth’s drum playing, which is more subtle than the average symphonic drum performance. The beat patterns in the chorus of “Through the Brightest Blue” sound more like Lamb of God drums than Nightwish, and “To the Reef!” features a noticeable liveliness thanks to the percussive groove. Dreadful Waters is made up of many different pieces, so it’s nice that Coronatus put them all together so they sound good.
But symphonic metal lives and dies by its singers, and while Coronatus‘s singers are skilled musicians, their performances can seem awkward. Each singer often brings an almost comical level of tremolo to their voices, turning tracks like “Southern Cross” and “A Seaman’s Yarn” toward the ridiculous. Nemesis in particular can overdo it, as her heavy, rocky vibrato can at times chew the scenery. The styles of the mezzo-soprano and the “rock voice” sometimes clash with each other, as on songs like “The Siren” and “Dark Ice,” combining badly and giving the impression that they weren’t in the studio at the same time. When Coronatus merge, as on the album highlight “The Ship’s Cook,” the result is an exciting blend of elegance and boldness that I could listen to all day, but moments like that are unfortunately rare on Dreadful Waters.
The small vocal problems I see on Dreadful Waters may be a symptom of a bigger problem on the album: lukewarm songwriting. Coronatus‘s songs mostly stay in either a slow or mid-tempo stomp, with beautiful folk melodies and pleasant orchestrations, but little in the way of exciting hooks or dynamic performances. Moreover, the vocal melodies are usually played too straight, throwing in few unexpected turns or interesting intervals in favor of a fairly typical symphonic metal playsheet. This makes the more metal-friendly tracks like “The Maelstrom” and “The Siren” sound a little lukewarm and, at the worst end of Dreadful Waters, its ballads on “Southern Cross” and “Die Hexe und der Teufel” struggle greatly to get through. Only “The Ship’s Cook” excited me, and that’s because its heroic, power metal-adjacent vocal influences and its melodic chorus with the powerful voice embody what much of Dreadful Waters sorely lacks: character.
Dreadful Waters neither sinks nor swims. Far from awful, this record’s weaknesses stem from not doing enough to stand out from the symphonic crowd or not playing exceptionally well on its own turf. Fans of symphonic metal less favorably inclined than I am may get more out of Coronatus‘s style, but neither will the style’s detractors be swept away from it by their hatred. Coronatus scored a real win with “The Ship’s Cook,” though, so I don’t foresee a terrible course for the band in their future. But for covering the need for strong strings over my metal, Dreadful Waters doesn’t do it for me.
Rating : Disappointing
DR : 9 | Format reviewed : 192 kbps
Label MP3 : Massacre Records
Websites : facebook.com/coronatusofficial | coronatus.de
Worldwide releases : January 23, 2026
You’ll find the source at the link below
https://www.angrymetalguy.com/coronatus-dreadful-waters-review/
