Lacuna Coil
Dark Adrenaline
Century Media
23 January 2012

by Von

Dark Adrenaline. It just doesn’t sound right, does it? It sounds a bit like a knock-off deodorant that looks a bit like Lynx, that you might find in Poundland.

Not a good start then.

So, Lacuna Coil are back with another album of gothy, radio friendly-ish metal. It’s really nothing special. It’s exactly the kind of thing you expect to find on the soundtrack to Underworld: Awakening (and it turns out it fucking IS! Honestly, I wrote this before I checked) Sure, it’s glossy and well produced, and if you’re fourteen years old, love vampires, hate your parents, and have purple hair – you’ll really enjoy it.

But for everyone else, it’s just weak. The guitar tone sounds like it was ripped straight from the dark days of Nu-Metal, the songs are samey and bland, keyboards don’t add anything of note, and what made Lacuna Coil and interesting band to begin with – contrasting poppy hooks and pretty singing with fairly decent metal – is nowhere to be found on their new material.

Watch the video to ‘Trip The Darkness’ by Lacuna Coil:

Lyrically I enjoyed it for all the wrong reasons. At its best it sounds like transcripts from videogame cutscenes being sung with mock emotion, and at its worst it reads like a confused BBM conversation between two teens who are having “issues”. A fair few laughs were to be expected:

“I don’t understand why you feel confused / Once again you fail to even realize / The person that you think of me / Doesn’t care”

Eeesh.

Weirdly, the quiet/LOUD dynamic of the Lacuna Coil of old does make a reappearance on their cover of REM’s ‘Losing My Religion’. I though this would be a laugh riot, but is probably the best track on the album. Huh.

2/6

Sounds Like: Teenage vampire angst
Standout Tracks: Losing My Religion