Lacuna Coil, formerly known as Sleep of Right and Ethereal are back with their new album, Shallow Life. They formed in 1994 and the band was inspired by a combination of gothic imagery and music. Previously Lacuna Coil where known for their mid-tempo songs, consisting of guitar lines overlaid with prominent keyboard work and contrasting dual female/male vocal harmonies. Their recent material, however, sees a heavier and more down-tuned style, featuring a more distinct bass line and a higher mixing of guitars. The female/male vocal harmonies are still very much present throughout their songs...

The first track on this album, 'Survive', is impressive. The intro is sinister sounding with the "la la la" of what sounds like a young child, which is joined by a mesmerizing bass guitar and then at 25 secs. we are hit by the fierce sound of the drums, guitar and bass. Add to all of this the vocals of Cristina Scabbia and Andrea Ferro and what a fantastic opening to their new album.

There is a good mix of tracks on this album; I especially like the lighter tracks, which have an upbeat feel to them. Track three, ‘Not Enough’, has a good upbeat tempo with a catchy chorus. Track five, ‘I Like It’, has a fast tempo and when mixed together with the guitars, drums and female vocals you find yourself getting lost in the rhythm and emotion of it.

I love the rawness and emotion of track nine, ‘Wide Awake’. The intro opens with a piano, synth. and the heavenly "yeah yeah yeah" of a distant sounding female. As Scabbia sings along with the soft sounding guitar you get to hear the real quality of her voice as she has been stripped from the heavy guitars and drums. This has an almost euphoric feel about it and such emotion is portrayed through both Scabbia’s vocals and all instruments involved.

There are also many dark sounding tracks on this album, like Track six, ‘Underdog’, and Track seven, ‘The Pain’. They both convey passion through the lyrics, vocals, guitars and drums. ‘The Pain’ has a sinister sounding intro. But as soon as Scabbia’s vocals come in, it becomes a little lighter, reverting to the sinister sound with Andrea Ferro’s vocals.

The final track on this album, ‘Shallow Life’, opens with the melody on the piano and the distant sounding vocals of Ferro. Once the beat comes in Scabbia picks up the vocals. It’s a slow beat track and much quieter than the rest of the album but by no means is it any less thought of. This is a great final track.

This band have passion, fire and emotion, which comes across in every one of their tracks. A truly superb album.

8

Helena Rea