During their twentieth year of existence Lacuna Coil are releasing their seventh full length album amid the recent announcements that after 16 years guitarist Cristiano ‘Pizza’ Migliore and drummer Cristiano ‘Criz’ Mozzati have decided to retire from the band.
Opening with what I can only describe as a mix of the ’28 Days Later/Resident Evil’ themes, or so it seems to me, “Nothing Stands in Our Way” gently builds its chunky guitar riff getting Cristina Scabbia’s exquisite voice going for the verses and joined by Andrea Ferro on the choruses for added punch.
With a nice steady beat you could run away from “Zombies” to for ages, Marco ‘Maus’ Biazzi and Cristiano ‘Pizza’ Migliore’s guitars work off each other with one playing heavier slightly more sustained versions of the riff for an added depth.
Cristina uses a sultry tone on “Hostage To The Light” with its slightly more allegro feel and airier guitars before it drops to minimalist picking then back up again.
The vocals on “Victims” alternate between Cristina and Andrea with her singing predominantly over the quasi-acoustic guitars and him over the angrier more distorted ones, all the while Cristiano ‘Criz’ Mozzati’s slow but steady drumming keeps pace nice and mellow.
A song about creatures that “Die and Rise” in movies, it has bit much in the way of the keyboard/synth making it a little too dancey for my liking.
There’s a nice buzzy bass rumble on “I Forgive (But I Won’t Forget Your Name)” played by Marco ‘Maki’ Coti-Zelati as the song mellows after it just got going and Andrea sings gently over these mellower versus and Cristina sounds a little more instant over the slightly heavier choruses.
Cristina’s voice sounds ultra-sweet on the lullaby-like “Cybersleep” at it gently winds its way from beginning to end and the slow leads crescendo smoothly about three quarters of the way through.
“Infection” picks up the guitar intensity substantially, along with a faster tempo to get the song going and allow Andrea’s rougher vocals to sound less out of place.
The human voice is an amazing thing and sounds Cristina gets it to make on “I Burn In You” are extremely pleasant over the tribal drumming and solid guitar riffs.
The very energetic and bouncy “In The End I Feel Alive” is a great penultimate song as it lifts the mood perfectly, letting you know that not everything is doom and gloom all the time and is the perfect contrast to the final track.
“One Cold Day” is a beautifully melancholic end to the album with Cristina’s singing voice taking on a sorrowful hue to complement the gently tinkered keyboard, reminding me a little of Theatre of Tragedy’s ‘Aegis’ as she hits the higher notes flawlessly.
(8/10 Marco Gaminara)
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