CORAM LETHE

"The Gates of Oblivion" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Italian death/thrash metal act Coram Lethe. The album was released through Crash Music, Inc. in 2004. It's the successor to "Reminiscence" from 2000 (which was a self-released affair). The lineup who recorded the predecessor is intact.

Stylistically the material on "The Gates of Oblivion" continue down the same technical/progressive death/thrash metal road already travelled on "Reminiscence". It's mid-90s Death (the band) but also some of the Gothenburg melodic death metal artists (especially At the Gates), who can be mentioned as valid influences. Coram Lethe aren't a clone act though, and they succesfully incorporate their influences to create their own sound. The musicianship is on a high level on all posts, and we're treated to technical precission drumming, inticate technical guitar riffs, clever lead guitar work, slightly jazz influenced bass playing, and nicely varied extreme metal vocals ranging from aggressive screaming, snarling, and deeper growling.

"The Gates of Oblivion" features a powerful, detailed, and professional sounding production, which suits the music well. Upon conclusion "The Gates of Oblivion" is a good quality sophomore studio album by Coram Lethe, and it's recommendable to fans of mid-90s Death and melodic technical death/thrash metal in general. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)

"Reminiscence" is the debut full-length studio album by Italian death/thrash metal act Coram Lethe. The album is a self-released affair from 2000. "Reminiscence" contains only 7 tracks and one of them is a short intro. With a total playing time of 34:26 minutes this is a short but relatively successful introduction to Coram Lethe.

The music on the album is death/thrash with a technical/progressive approach. The musicians are generally very well playing and the songwriting is decent. A band like Death or maybe the fellow countrymen in Sadist could be mentioned as influences, but ultimately the band have their own sound. I´m not completely blown away by the songs on the album, which I think are lacking a bit of character and standout moments, but they are not bad by any means. "Reminiscence" is overall a solid and consistent release.

Considering the fact that "Reminiscence" is a self-released album, I´m actually pleasantly surprised about the generally good quality production, strong musicianship, and solid songwriting, and I´d say a 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.