Warning! Could be habit-forming!
Artiste: Lacuna Coil
Nationality: Italian
Album: Dark adrenaline
Year: 2012
Label: Century Media
Genre: Progressive Metal
Tracks:
Trip the darkness
Against you
Kill the light
Give me something more
Upsidedown
End of time
I don't believe in tomorrow
Intoxicated
The army inside
Losing my religion
Fire
My spirit
Chronological position: Sixth album
Familiarity: "Karmacode"
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: Didn't like this at first, but definitely grew on me
Best track(s): Give me something more, End of time, Intoxicated, My spirit, Losing my religion
Worst track(s): Nothing
Comments: Lacuna Coil are one of those bands I've heard of but not heard much from. The only album of theirs I've listened to all the way through is "Karmacode", and while I did enjoy that I wasn't impressed enough to seek out the rest of their catalogue. I bought this more to see really if they had improved much from that album. At first I didn't think so; initially this sounded very much like "Karmacode", but as I listened and let it wash over me the thing improved in leaps and bounds, to the point where I had no hesitation in pushing play again once it had run the once, and have listened to it several times since.
I like the combination of vocalists Andrea Ferro and Christina Scabbia. Unlike many acts that utilise this sort of setup Lacuna Coil don't really subscribe to the idea of having one sing the lead and the other join in at the chorus; the vocals seem to be shared equally and equitably between the two, resulting in a sound that, though it should really end up lost in the flood of similar bands, manages to stand out and be somewhat unique in flavour.
One other thing that characterises Lacuna Coil's music seems to be hard, banging guitar and a sense almost of anger in the lyrics, or if not anger then maybe passion. They certainly seem to throw themselves into their music, mind, body, heart and soul, and it comes through especially in tracks like the standout
End of time and
My spirit. They also avoid the trap many progressive/goth rock artistes fall into, of writing epic songs that are too long: only one track here is over four minutes, while the closer is the longest by far at almost six. On "Karmacode" they covered Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the silence", and there's another cover version this time out. They've chosen REM's
Losing my religion and manage to breathe new life into the song. Perhaps a strange choice, given what they could have taken from Michael Stipe and the boys, but it's a great reinterpretation of the old classic.
Overall impression: Much better than I had originally thought it would be. Definitely improves with repeated listens.
Intention: May look further into this band now.