Lacuna Coil
Comalies XX

I admit that it wasn’t easy to review this album, partly because I’m extremely biased, partly because it’s the different twin of its iconic successful predecessor.

In this 2022, my passion for Lacuna Coil and their most famous and celebrated album “Comalies” turns twenty. While few may care about the longevity of my love for the Milanese band, I can say that the album I’m about to review has made quite a stir, not just for the weight of its sound.

The year was 1994, when Marco Coti Zelati, Andrea Ferro, and Raffaele Zagaria created Sleep of Right, which became Ethereal with the addition of Cristina Scabbia, Claudio Leo, and Leonardo Foti. Lacuna Coil (empty spiral) was the name that the band chose after learning that the previous name was already in use in Greece. Success came thanks to their first demos, which caught the attention of several record companies, Century Media Records being the most convincing (it still produces the band today), immediately proposing an imminent tour in the land of Uncle Sam. The release of the first EP, the self-titled “Lacuna Coil,” led the band to their first official album, “In a Reverie,” dated 1999. Success grew further with the second EP “Halflife,” prequel to the second album “Unleashed Memories,” dated 2001, giving new life to the already accumulated acclaim. Comalies was released the following year. The hard rock sounds mixed with symphonic melodies made it a very particular album from the start, appreciated by critics. “Heaven’s a Lie,” among the singles extracted, can still be counted today among Lacuna Coil’s most iconic pieces, always performed live and particularly loved by the public. With this release, the band managed to make their way into overseas charts, also obtaining the 178th place on the Billboard and receiving an invitation two years later, in 2004, to perform at Ozzfest.

Comalies is a sumptuous celebration of these twenty years, spent among successes, personal difficulties, and changes in the original lineup. Today, the band features the three founding members, Cristina Scabbia (frontwoman), Marco “Maki” Coti Zelati (bass), and Andrea Ferro (male vocals), joined by Diego Cavallotti (guitar) and Richard Meiz (drums). The album is a dark reinterpretation of the thirteen original tracks. The added value for the album and the band (for the past six years) is Andrea Ferro's vocal evolution. With the eighth studio album “Delirium,” Andrea introduced (initially almost experimentally) scream and growl, proving from the start, also thanks to live performances, to possess a previously unexpressed talent. At the time of the original Comalies, the male vocalist's cords delivered exclusive melodic singing, without particular “rips” or aggressive episodes. In this remake, the music completely changes, and the second voice completely gets a makeover. A black and marked makeover.

It starts, as per the original tracklist, with “Swamped” (in my opinion, the least successful reinterpretation). Andrea Ferro's voice immediately scratches, letting us know that the music has changed. But it does so almost forcibly, seeming at times out of place. The melody is not particularly altered, except for the rhythm, more pressing thanks to Richard Meiz's drumming, which makes Cristina's voice gallop. Conversely, Heaven's a Lie proves to have undergone the opposite treatment. The first notes, embellished with strings, explode in the more sophisticated chorus compared to the original. The male voice growls in a very deep guttural growl, with Cristina reiterating the leitmotif in a choral way. “Daylight Dancer” follows the same line, and the chorus is revisited, giving more prominence to the two voices, while “Humane” and “Self Deception” retain much of the musical framework of the early 2000s, preserving Andrea's melodic voice and proposing dreamy notes made of strings, typical of the band’s primordial sounds. Even “Aeon,” the acoustic interlude piece, undergoes a total restyling. The vocals, which accompany the brief lyrics, are enriched by the synthesizer.

With “Tight Rope,” in my opinion, the best piece of the original album and the best reinterpretation of this remake, we start a crescendo that will accompany us to the end. Cristina’s singing is stripped of the claustrophobic effect that characterizes the entire original version. Not that the first “Tight Rope” was qualitatively inferior, mind you, but this new version makes it current, powerful, and ultimately impeccable.

“The Ghost Woman and the Hunter” remains the usual moving episode, still spine-chilling today. Riffs are added, such as in Diego Cavallotti's solo, which leads us towards the end.

In “Unspoken,” we find a different use of the synthesizer compared to the original and much more aggressiveness, with many riffs and an even more persuasive growl. Meiz's drumsticks, Maki's bass strings, and Diego's guitar accompany the two voices robustly. Pure power, which makes the two pieces seem like different twins.

What unites “Entwined,” “The Prophet Said,” and “Angel’s Punishment,” is the total change in vocal intonation (including Andrea's growl) and an enhancement of the melody accompanying both vocalists. “Angel’s Punishment” (the title is eloquent) is accompanied, both at the beginning and during the song, by interludes containing original quotes from newscasts dating back to the pandemic period.

“Comalies,” the title track, worthily concludes the narrative. Although in my opinion, it doesn’t retain the same charm as the original, it’s an incredibly moving reinterpretation. Cristina’s singing is in both Italian and English, a duality that ranks the song among the band’s most iconic and representative.

I couldn’t wait for this “Comalies XX” to be released, expectations were very high, and as always, they were met. It was a gamble, an operation as dangerous as it was bold, but as has happened for the past six years, Lacuna Coil proves not to miss a beat. Cristina, Marco, and Andrea are like fine wine. Their music and image continue to improve with time, and the new lineup, today, seems like a perfect machine. No offense to past band members, who were themselves an added value, but with Diego Cavallotti and Richard Meiz, the perfect synergy is evident.

Take my advice, listen to both “Comalies” and its newborn twin. You can easily compare the two since this release physically includes both albums.

A dedicated Coiler recommends it. And that should be enough.