People sometimes ask me if I still know all the CD's I own. My answer is yes, even now the number must be growing towards 2000 pieces. Having to review the new album of Coram Lethe, I searched in my collection for their second album 'The Gates of Oblivion" and of course I found it under the character C. I still could remember that it was an o.k. album.

On the back of the promo of the new album '... A Splendid Chaos' it strikes me that they have grown from a 4-piece into a 5-piece. Mirco Borghini the vocalist on the first and second album is gone and has been replaced by a female vocalist called Erica Pudda. Entering their site on the internet I found out they also have a new bass player (Frederico Stiaccini) and an extra guitar player called Filippo Miatto. The band is still completed by the original members Leonardo Fusi (guitar) and Francesco Miatto (drums).

Erica sounds a lot like Angela Gossow (Arch Enemy). She could be her sister, although they don't look-a-like. Musically the band is focusing more on more technical and melodic death metal than on the riff-oriented Arch Enemy style. They get away with it very well, the music doesn't turn into a chaos (... a splendid chaos perhaps), but sounds very natural and the tempo changes don't rample.

The one thing that could be a little more balanced is the singing (grunting/growling) of Erica. She sometimes sounds too much over the top, a little more variation would suit them well. In my opinion the better songs are the first songs on the album, but perhaps that is just my feeling. Fans of well produced melodic and technical death have to check these Italians out.