Insanities can manifest themselves in many different forms. From the everyday hustle and bustle of life to more impactful situations which can have a knock on effect to create entities the likes of depression. It can be a malleable and incredibly hard foe to tackle which is ever present throughout life whatever form it might be. Taking madness as their muse Lacuna Coil play with the idea on their brand new record Delirium.
[tracklist]
- The House of Shame
- Broken Things
- Delirium
- Blood, Tears, Dust
- Downfall
- Take Me Home
- You Love Me ‘Cause I Hate You
- Ghost In The Mist
- My Demons
- Claustrophobia
- Ultima Ratio
[/tracklist][details]
[length]45:00[/length]
[record_label]Century Media Records[/record_label]
[release_date]May 27th 2016[/release_date]
[/details]
The mission statement Lacuna Coil put forward for the new record could be seen as unpredictable. Wanting to evoke a reaction towards their music “The House Of Shame” instantly creates a cataclysm within the bands sound making it their heaviest song to date and an excellent surprise to those who are unawares. Bringing more of a sense of classic Lacuna Coil in the album’s title track moving away from the harsher vocals leading into Scabbia’s siren like ethereal chants of “Delirium” beckoning the listener into their madness. Somewhat of a paradox after the departure of longtime guitarist, ironically Delirium features more guitar solos than any previous material. Enlisting the help of Alter Bridge main man Myles Kennedy on “Take Me Home” the man although known for his vocal prowess delivers a more than satisfactory shredding solo.
Beginning a more electronic curve “Blood, Tears, Dust” soon returns into ironclad riffing with excellent hooks from both Scabbia and Ferro featuring yet another inspired solo making for an interesting point of difference. Though the cinematic symphonic tendencies seen from the band’s past are revitalised in “Downfall” despite their ominous lyrical matter the two singers have a perfect coexistence complimenting the other perfectly building tension with subtle building dynamics on guitars drifting into some Townsendian sections. Various other appearances throughout the record give way to some tasteful and well placed solos and despite its somewhat cheesy name “You Love Me ‘Cause I Hate You” packs more than enough of a sonic punch. Handling production duties themselves the band have been able to take a step back to analyse the song itself making for the simple changes to really affect the listener.
Brilliant well placed hooks in “Broken Things” paint a suitably bleak yet intriguing vista with a bedrock of clean guitars behind it. Lacuna Coil might not always get the vote from those in the more extreme spectrum if the Metal scale but with Delirium the band have proven regardless of their current situation in lacking a guitarist that the band are still just as well put together as they always have been. Capitalising on a somewhat unfortunate event the band have come out swinging with some of the material being their heaviest yet. Making for an album that is strikingly different yet fits perfectly within the band’s catalogue. No doubt a curveball for some but for those who are into the more mainstream of avenues this will appeal to no end.
[verdict]Yes[/verdict]
[why]Appealing to large audiences Delirium will sit perfectly with most Metal fans. Well crafted, identifiable whilst being exploratory and sometimes even downright surprising Lacuna Coil have proven they can function even better under their own terms. [/why]
If you like what you read / heard then you can pick up the brand new album here!
