A process for coating a substrate, comprising - providing at least two magnetron cathodes in a vacuum chamber, - of which at least a first cathode is provided with a sputtering target of a first material composition, - and where a second material composition is provided as the material of at least one sputtering target at at least a second cathode, said second material composition predominantly comprising one or more of the elements chosen from the group consisting of C, Ti, Cr, Al, and Si, said one or more elements having a lower atomic mass than said processing metal element, - generating a plasma in said vacuum chamber by supplying electrical power to said cathodes (24, 26) such that said targets (28, 30) are sputtered, - where electrical power is supplied to said first cathode as pulsed electrical power according to high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS) with a first peak current density, - and where electrical power is supplied to said second cathode as DC electrical power with a constant second current density or as time-variable electrical power with a second peak current density, - where said second current density or said second peak current density is lower than said first peak current density, - arranging said substrate in said vacuum chamber, supplying a process gas and a reactive gas comprising Nitrogen to the vacuum chamber, and applying a bias voltage (V B) to said substrate such that particles from said plasma deposit onto said substrate forming a coating, - where said bias voltage (V B) is applied comprising bias pulses, said bias pulses being synchronized with said pulses being applied to said first cathode, and being applied for a shorter pulse duration (T B) than said pulses applied to said first cathode, characterized in that the first material composition comprises as predominant metal element a processing metal element out of the group consisting of Hf, Ta, W, Zr, Nb and Mo, and during deposition of said coating, the temperature of said substrate is less than 450 °C. - providing at least two magnetron cathodes in a vacuum chamber, - of which at least a first cathode is provided with a sputtering target of a first material composition, - and where a second material composition is provided as the material of at least one sputtering target at at least a second cathode, said second material composition predominantly comprising one or more of the elements chosen from the group consisting of C, Ti, Cr, Al, and Si, said one or more elements having a lower atomic mass than said processing metal element, - of which at least a first cathode is provided with a sputtering target of a first material composition, - and where a second material composition is provided as the material of at least one sputtering target at at least a second cathode, said second material composition predominantly comprising one or more of the elements chosen from the group consisting of C, Ti, Cr, Al, and Si, said one or more elements having a lower atomic mass than said processing metal element, - generating a plasma in said vacuum chamber by supplying electrical power to said cathodes (24, 26) such that said targets (28, 30) are sputtered, - where electrical power is supplied to said first cathode as pulsed electrical power according to high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS) with a first peak current density, - and where electrical power is supplied to said second cathode as DC electrical power with a constant second current density or as time-variable electrical power with a second peak current density, - where said second current density or said second peak current density is lower than said first peak current density, - where electrical power is supplied to said first cathode as pulsed electrical power according to high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS) with a first peak current density, - and where electrical power is supplied to said second cathode as DC electrical power with a constant second current density or as time-variable electrical power with a second peak current density, - where said second current density or said second peak current density is lower than said first peak current density, - arranging said substrate in said vacuum chamber, supplying a process gas and a reactive gas comprising Nitrogen to the vacuum chamber, and applying a bias voltage (V B) to said substrate such that particles from said plasma deposit onto said substrate forming a coating, - where said bias voltage (V B) is applied comprising bias pulses, said bias pulses being synchronized with said pulses being applied to said first cathode, and being applied for a shorter pulse duration (T B) than said pulses applied to said first cathode, characterized in that the first material composition comprises as predominant metal element a processing metal element out of the group consisting of Hf, Ta, W, Zr, Nb and Mo, and during deposition of said coating, the temperature of said substrate is less than 450 °C.