Lacuna Coil

s/t

Century Media

Review by John Raftopoulos

Lacuna Coil are a sextet from Italy and they are a new face amongst the metal scene. Fresh from their European tour supporting Moonspell, Lacuna Coil have proven they are far from your average atmospheric 'goth-rockers' with this debut e.p.

There are six tracks included on this release and besides the fairly boring instrumental, "Un Fantasm Tra Noi", this debut is extremely promising with its rich compositions and dual male / female vocals. Unlike so many other bands in this genre (Theatre Of Tragedy for example), Lacuna Coil use the dual vocal approach for effect, rather than just for the sake of it.

Their biggest asset is the splendid vocals of Cristina Scabbia. She has a strong tone and consistency and her melody lines suit the band's moody brand of rock. In a few tracks, her vocals are backed up by Andrea Ferro (who is just passable by the way), which is most effective on track 3 "This Is My Dream".

Many reviewers have unfairly compared this band to The Gathering. A very superficial comparison really as the bands aren't that much alike. Lacuna Coil is more 80's rock influenced than anything else. They are not as heavy and more melodic than their Dutch counterparts and the songs don't just rely on the female vocals. Their guitar melodies are good enough to stand on their own.

The first two tracks are the standouts. Both feature beautiful vocal melodies from Cristina and pounding rock chords by the two talented guitarists. Cristina exudes passion when she sings and the opening vocal line of these tracks is an absolute blinder in my opinion. It really starts the album off on an extremely positive note.

Track 5, "Falling", is the most atmospheric of the set. The main riff is a minimal clean tone cascading guitar progression that's followed by an emotive lead that compliments the mood perfectly. Admittedly, this track does take many listens to get into, but it's well worth the effort nevertheless.

Overall, with only an e.p available, Lacuna Coil have managed to eclipse many of their counterparts. Forget the rest of these other bandwagon jumping 'goth rock featuring female vocals' type of bands that you see so many advertisements for these days. Lacuna Coil are the best, and highly recommended.

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