I first saw Lacuna Coil years ago at the House of Blues in Las Vegas, it was a packed house and a great night, ad I’ve seen them at every opportunity since. There’s a few Metal bands that I love that are outside of my normal wheelhouse of Hard Rock and Blues and Lacuna Coil is right there in my Top 3 rounded out by Devilskin and Trivium. As the press release reads: “If you know Lacuna Coil, then you’ll already be aware that every album entry in their storied career is more than just a sound. Each one is a richly textured soundtrack to a specific time and a place. With Sleepless Empire, that place is dark, cinematic, and unmistakably true to the unique characteristics that have given Lacuna Coil such a celebrated entry in the annals of heavy music.”
And for once there’s a press release that tells it like it is! This one indeed is a cracker born out of the reimagining of ‘Comalies’ that resulted in ‘Comalies XX’. What we get for the tenth album is a wonderful concoction – all we love about the band but on a grander scale. This is a real musical landscape, but one that doesn’t eschew completely the catchy as hell ‘I Wish You Were Dead’ or the trademark title track that is a wonderful centerpiece here.
Opener ‘The Siege’ is huge and shows tons of intent, it’s just the sort of song that sticks in your mind, but also the most wonderful way to open – with a statement of intent. Great as it is it’s far from the peak here. Amongst the barrage there are of course some wonderful elodies from Scabbia that offset the dark growls of Ferro. It’s that light and dark that Lacuna Coil does so well.
Whilst this is a journey that you need to take from end to end there are some real gems strewn along the way. ‘Scarecrow’ for example is simply the band at their peak, perfectly fashioned the song has all the contrast and cohesion you’ll love: whilst ‘Gravity’ the recent video is sublime. My favourite of all though, and surely an anthem for the years is ‘Sleepless Empire’ a frenetic rocker that has a refrain that is pure gold.
In the press release Ferro talks about the influence that is so important to ‘Sleepless Empire’:
“Our sound is dark because it reflects the society we’re living in – it’s a portrait of our times,” he says. “We’re from a unique generation that remembers the analog world but lives in the digital one, we’re the first generation that’s lived through both so we’ve been witnesses to the change to our society and that’s the ‘Sleepless Empire’. Everyone is always on their phone, always scrolling, always doing something – morning to night, it just never stops.” He’s spot on!
There’s some wonderful ‘guests’ on the album too – including Randy from Lamb of God, bursting some ear-drums on ‘Hosting the Shadow’ and New Years Day’s Ash Costello augmenting the epic ‘In The Mean Time’ with a wonderful fiery Rock vocal.
Elsewhere the band doesn’t put a foot wrong. This one has been worth the wait!
The box set includes an ‘Oracle divination game’ which is hidden in the booklet and the cover art comes from Naples-based illustrator Roberto Toderico. Visually cool and sonically stunning, ‘Sleepless Empire’ has wonderful production to go with its grand and timeless execution. It’s a sure-footed comeback from a band that are back to full strength. This will be killer live!
8.5 / 10
Lacuna Coil online:
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