Lithium Magazine

Century Media

By Mike Bax

For fifteen years Lacuna Coil has been generating musical tapestries that skirt the musical landscape somewhere between metal, goth, symphonics, and pop music. With each of their respective previous albums the band has pushed the envelope on aspects of their music, making each one a step forward musically, but never really leaving their signature sound and appeal behind.

I tend to think of Comalies and Karmacode as being the band’s musical apex. After a few listens, I'm very comfortable adding Dark Adrenaline (their sixth studio effort) into the mix of material I'd label as lacuna Coil's best. Stomping out of the gate with a bang, Dark Adrenaline digs deep with 'Trip the Darkness' and never really lets up over the duration of twelve songs - eleven new songs and an REM cover, to be exact.

Lacuna Coil is at their best when they are delivering material like 'Trip the Darkness'. Dispensing a musical contrast by way of pummelling metal blasts achieved via dual guitars, drums and bass, and the dual vocal harmonics of Cristina Scabbia and Andrea Ferro; Lacuna Coil pioneered an oft-imitated musical style and adeptly has managed to keep the reigns on their sound over six studio recordings.

There are some nice guitar riffs to be found on Dark Adrenaline. Check out the duelling riffs by Cristiano Migliore and Marco Biazzi on 'Against You' and 'The Army Inside' during the midway point of both of these songs, and tell me the band hasn't upped the ante on album number six! The digitized intro to 'Upsidedown' pays off nicely once the guitars and vocals kick in, making it one of the finest songs on Dark Adrenaline, even though it's one of the shortest tracks on the album.

There are two effective ballads on the new album, 'End of Time' and 'My Spirit' that could very easily have come off like filler in the hands of a less accomplished band. While I tend to go to the latter track as the stronger song, 'End of Time' plays like a rock radio track and should hopefully find its way into the ears of many fans if the song gets pushed forward as a single.

Even the REM cover of 'Losing My Religion' is handled in an original fashion here, with portions of the song performed in different keys, giving the material a darker edge than it had in it's original form, while allowing the song to soar in a very different direction by way of the Coil's signature harmonic metal sounds.

As a body of work, Dark Adrenaline ranks amongst Lacuna Coil's finest efforts. There are enough of the bands earlier sounds present on the album to keep their long-time fans happy, mixed with just enough new exploration and soundscapes to perhaps entice the ears of a new audience.

Make sure to catch the band performing with Megadeth on the Gigantour tour in January and February of this year. Gigantour is at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton on February 8th, 2012. Dark Adrenaline is in stores next week, on January 24th - and is available in numerous pre-order configurations on the bands website.

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