Heavenly Music And That's No Lie. (Comalies - Lacuna Coil)

Member Name: Autarkis

Product:	Comalies - Lacuna Coil
Date:	14/05/09 (140 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Two of the best voices in the gothic rock genre.

Disadvantages: My CD is nearly worn out from being overplayed.

Lacuna Coil is an Italian gothic metal band that formed in 1994. They have a very unique sound and are different from any other doom/Gothic metal band. This album will appeal to many no matter what style of rock music you prefer.

An Italian friend of mine introduced me to the band a couple of years ago, our music tastes are slightly different and I wasn't sure what to expect on first listening to the track "Heaven's a lie" I was blown away. I just had to get this album and it has been played many times since, and I have become a huge fan of their work ever since. I can enjoy this album no matter what kind of mood I'm in, it leaves me feeling relaxed and it uplifts my mood. The music goes through me.

This is their third album in their catalogue, I think that all of the albums are outstanding and I particularly like this one.

Comailes was released in 2002 and has been a huge success; "Swamped" was used in the video game Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines and it also appeared on the Resident Evil soundtrack.

The band consists of:

Cristina Scabbia - Female Lead Vocals
Andrea Ferro - Male Vocals
Cristiano Migliore- Guitar
Marco Biazzi -Guitar
Cristiano Mozzati - Drums/Percussion
Marco Coti Zelati - Bass/Keyboards/Synths

Following the style of other doom metal bands there are male and female vocals that contrast to give them a different sound, unlike other doom metal bands the male vocals are clear with no heavy 'grunts' or 'growls' which sounds perfect over the beautiful Christina Scabbia's hauntingly stunning voice. They have to be the best combination of male/female vocals I have heard, their voices really compliment each other. The heavy and light vocals with overlaid guitar work and piano give the album a melodic sound.

Track Listing

-Swamped-

The album starts off with "Swamped" this is one of their more popular songs, it has powerful guitar work with Andrea's voice being prominent and Christina's voice lingers in the background. This has to be one of my favourite tracks. It is beautifully done.

-Heaven's A Lie-

This is the first track on the album to really feature Christina's voice in the lead, and what a track it is. The song starts off with a lone keyboard section which kicks into the full band pouring out some seriously heavy sounds. Andrea comes in on the verses to really beef up the overall sound of the song. As a trivial fact the band actually released two videos to this song.

-Daylight Dancer-

Andrea takes the lead again through the main part of this song with Christina providing backing vocals during the chorus sections. This song has an overall more up-tempo sound to it than the previous with some superb drum work throughout. This song has a more dark and gothic feel to it.

-Humane-

This song clearly shows where part of the bands main influence for song style comes from as it has a very similar feel to the gothic rock band "Paradise Lost". The song has a harrowing sound to it and works as a great contrast to the previous song. Though slower than most of the other tracks on the album this song still shows plenty of raw emotion and power throughout it.

-Self Deception-

The tempo of the album picks straight back up with this song as the guitar really chugs along through the intro and verse sections of the song. Christina and Andrea both take equal parts as far as the singing is concerned throughout the song.

-Aeon-

This song has quite a long intro section in comparison to the rest of the album which generally charge head long at you. The song starts with an acoustic guitar and the focus is on Cristina's voice throughout the track. A much calmer song than anything else on the album it has a sound very similar to the old "Black Sabbath" track "Planet Caravan" with just a simple guitar riff being played over and over again with just Christina's voice floating over the top.

-Tight Rope-

The previous song leads directly into this track and the rest of the band come in all amps blazing. As with so many songs from the gothic rock genre it's not all about speed but having a raw and emotional song and this song certainly provides that with abundance.

-The Ghost Woman & The Hunter-

Christina once more takes the lead vocals with Andrea only really providing a very subtle background to her fantastic voice. Even if you are not a fan of this type of music her vocal work in this song rivals that of many good singers out there on the popular music scene if not beat them hands down.

-Unspoken-

The band carry on through this song with the same strength as has been shown so far despite it being a good song this is personally my least favourite on the album. However once again the vocal work of both Christina and Andrea really shines through in this song.

-Entwined-

If "Paradise Lost" had a female vocalist this is exactly how they would sound as the band really show just how much they have been influenced by the founding group of the gothic rock genre. Andrea provides a nice deep undertone to Christina during the chorus sections.

-The Prophet Said-

After a number of songs with Christina being at the forefront it's now time for Andrea to return to the lead vocal. His tone and strength of voice really takes the chorus part into a much darker state when compared to the chorus when Christina joins back in, this is what the band is all about having that massive contrast between the earthy tones of Andrea and the almost ethereal sound of Christina.

-Angel's Punishment-

The verse to this song is very different to anything else on the album as instead of either Christina or Andrea singing it is simply Christina speaking the verse line, but then the chorus kicks in as if the verse was nowhere near enough as the band turn everything up to 11 and really let fly. Andrea's voice is much darker giving this track a heavy feel to it.

-Comalies- Bonus Track.

The title track on the album again the band takes on a very classic gothic rock approach to the intro and chorus with only the verse lines being sung in only the way that this band has truly achieved with any great deal of success.

-Lost Lullaby- Bonus Track.

The last track on the album and fantastic way to round the album off as the style of the song draws from every part of the bands talents with excellent vocals, brilliant guitar and some well played drums. As with so many of the tracks on this album the lyrics are beautifully sung and very haunting.

Personal Recommendations:

As far as favourites on this album are concerned I like a good majority of the tracks on here but if I had to narrow it down to just three it would be;

"Heavens A Lie" Mainly because it was the first song to introduce me to this great band.

"Swamped" Not only does this song have a great sound to it but it also shows perfectly just how well Christina's and Andrea's vocals compliment each other.

"Daylight Dancer" As the song takes the influences of the band "Paradise Lost" and takes it to a whole new level.

I would highly recommend this album to anyone into the rock scene old or new especially to those of you who like my boyfriend will only listen to the older rock bands and even he will listen to this album and not complain. A fantastic album that I can listen to again and again.




You can have a listen here:
http://www.last.fm/music/Lacuna+Coil/Comalies

Visit their website here:
http://www.lacunacoil.it/


Published on other review sites under the same author name.

Summary: One of finest Gothic Rock Albums out on the Market.