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For the first time in six years, Italian goth rockers/metallers, LACUNA COIL are back with a Valentine’s gift to us all in the guise of their tenth album, Sleepless Empire. Whilst it doesn’t take too much of a departure from what we’re normally accustomed to with LACUNA COIL, it does enough to scratch that particular itch if you’re after a moody and atmospheric offering of gothic rock.
This whole albumin is business as usual for LACUNA COIL. The opening track, The Siege starts the album off with a bang. It feels like an unrelenting force that constantly pummels you with the talents of the band’s co-vocalists, Cristina Scabbia and Andrea Ferro, who as ever, continue to complement each other perfectly as the combination of harsh vocals adds depth to the almost angelic feel that comes with the cleaner vocals of Scabbia. A cacophony of sound that is created by unrelenting blast beats on the drums and a thunderous guitar gives this album opener a feeling of darkness and foreboding which sets up the rest of the album perfectly. Following on swiftly is the track Oxygen.
Offering more of the same that its predecessor gave us, it does feel like it is trying to go bigger and better but doesn’t quite reach the loftier heights of The Siege. Musically it’s incredibly tight and doesn’t feel out of place on the album in the slightest. It does however feel like it would come across better in a live setting rather than in your ears. Scarecrow does feel a little different to the first two tracks as it quickens in its tempo and through the use of an excellent combination of bass and guitar, creates a delightful bounce, giving the melody of the song a little more chutzpah. It’s a track that is sure to go down a treat if it makes it onto one of LACUNA COIL’s setlists in the future.
Gravity is a track that leans heavily into the gothic nature of the album and one that we have come to know and love about the band over the last 30 years. Opening up with chanting in Latin, it enables you to conjure all the gothic imagery you could imagine and could easily be the soundtrack to a horror film about possession and priests in the Vatican. A choir performing backing vocals adds to the uneasiness of the song as Scabbia gives off one of the best performances of the whole record as she continues to flex her ever impressive vocal muscles as it brings a sense of urgency to the record.
I Wish You Were Dead goes down a route that brings a heavy rock vibe. It does slow down the album slightly, but at this point it’s a good change of pace that ceases the sonic bombardment ever so slightly. It’s a song with a very simple chorus that will be stuck in your head for a while after listening to it. Hosting The Shadow sees the first of two guests who feature on the album join the fray. First up is LAMB OF GOD’s frontman, Randy Blythe. He suits this song perfectly as the driving nature of the guitar is similar to that of his own music. His vocals inject a much needed shot of attitude that the album is lacking at this point and gives Ferro a run for his money in terms of quality as it quickly becomes Sleepless Empire‘s strongest track.
In Nomine Patris once again relies heavily on the gothic aesthetic, offering a good anthemic feel to it during the chorus, and wouldn’t feel amiss at either a festival main stage or in a small and sweaty venue. Unfortunately apart from the enormous sounding chorus, the song has very little in the way of substance. The album’s title track sees the run into the end of the album with a relentless offering of metal that does very little to stop as soon as it starts. It’s like a freight train, as soon as it hits you, you know about it, giving the record a much needed shot of life towards its very end. The frustration of listening starts to filter through however, just as the album feels like it’s taken a step forward, it almost takes another step back or just moves to the side.
Sleep Paralysis is a fine song, but feels like it could be any song that has come earlier as it starts to make you think that LACUNA COIL should have trimmed the fat a bit more of the album or made an EP which would have been an incredibly solid offering where less is more. In the Mean Time works as the album’s penultimate track and is bolstered by the addition of Ash Costello of NEW YEAR’S DAY. Both the vocal prowess of Costello and Scabbia work together perfectly, offering a little bit of variety to the record right at the very end which feels like it has come too little too late as it is a genuinely great moment that stands out amongst the rest when listening to Sleepless Empire. Never Dawn closes out the album neither with a bang or a whimper, but just a feeling of wanting something a little bit more, yes the vocals remain ever impressive but the musical arrangement could easily have featured on several other songs throughout the listen.
For the LACUNA COIL die-hards, Sleepless Empire will be a great listen. If you’re a casual listener and only know a handful of their songs, then it’s a tricky listen where you may have to get through the album in multiple sittings rather than in one go. There are moments of greatness throughout, but they are quickly buried under moments that are just average. It’s incredibly frustrating as you are almost willing the album to be better than just okay, it isn’t bad by any means but it’s one that won’t stick with you by the time you finish it.
Rating: 6/10
Sleepless Empire is set for release on February 14th via Century Media Records
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The post ALBUM REVIEW: Sleepless Empire – Lacuna Coil appeared first on Distorted Sound Magazine.
