Lacuna Coil Tackle The Beauty Myth

10/26/09 3:33pm

by Keith Carman (CHARTattack)

Fans of Lacuna Coil will surely know that their fifth effort, Shallow Life, marks many changes in the Italian gothic metal outfit's approach.

The record was released by Century Media earlier this year and is loosely conceptual, based on what singer Cristina Scabbia says represents, "how superficial things are in life. How everything is based on looks and how beautiful and fit you have to be all the time because if not, you're a 'loser.'

"Basically this gave us inspiration for every song."

Whatever the muse, Shallow Life has easily become their most successful effort to date, selling over 200,000 copies worldwide in a day and age where bands with twice their longevity struggle to reach double-digits. Scabbia, however, feels Shallow Life's profile is boosted due to the band's overall professional approach rather than merely subject matter.

"It captures us growing up as people and having new experiences," she says. "We wanted to move to a new level; try something different and new. There was no sense to copy what we've done in the past and we wanted to prove something to ourselves."

The first step in achieving this progression was to relocate out of their comfort zone. Shallow Life is the first Lacuna Coil effort recorded in North America. Since the band were intent on shaking themselves up, they also opted not to bring long-time producer Waldemar Sorychta along for the ride, opting instead to see how Don Gilmore (Linkin Park, Dashboard Confessional, Avril Lavigne) would affect their sound.

Scabbia says the band — completed by vocalist Andrea Ferro, guitarists Cristiano "Pizza" Migliore and Marco "Maus" Biazzi, bassist Marco Coti Zelati and drummer Cristiano "Criz" Mozzati — were amazed with the results and says they think Gilmore's abilities opened an entirely new world for the band.

"That atmosphere was different so it inspired a fresh creativity. When you work with someone for too long, there's nothing more to say. You know everything they have to teach you.

"Don helped form the songs, cut out parts that were too long and useless and helped shape the lyrics. They're more direct and in-your-face than what we wrote in the past."

She's also quick to point out that Gilmore was not the only creative motivator, noting the band were intent on tending to the creative process with greater enthusiasm this time around.

"We decided to perform in the practice room together to hear how the songs will be live. We've never done that in the past," she reveals. "Mostly we work at home and share our music through files. We'll email them back-and-forth; maybe do a bit of pre-production before rehearsing a bit but that's it.

"This time we all got together to make sure everything fit perfectly before recording. I think that's why Shallow Life stands out so well."

Here Lacuna Coil's upcoming tour dates:

Oct. 27 Calgary, AB @ MacEwan Hall Ballroom at University Of Calgary
Oct. 28 Edmonton, AB @ Edmonton Events Centre
Oct. 30 Winnipeg, MB @ The Garrick Centre at The Marlborough
Oct. 31 Minneapolis, MN @ Epic
Nov. 2 Little Rock, AR @ The Village
Nov. 3 Knoxville, TN @ Valarium
Nov. 5 Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Culture Room
Nov. 6 Gainsville, FL @ The Venue
Nov. 7 Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
Nov. 8 Lake Buena Vista, FL @ House Of Blues Orlando
Nov. 9 Charleston, SC @ Music Farm
Nov. 11 Baltimore, MD @ Rams Head Live
Nov. 12 Lancaster, PA @ Chamelon Club
Nov. 13 Sayreville, NJ @ Starland
Nov. 14 Hartford, CT @ Webster Theatre
Nov. 16 Montreal, QC @ Le Medley
Nov. 17 Toronto, ON @ Sound Academy
Nov. 18 Ottawa, ON @ Mavericks
Nov. 19 Quebec City, QC @ L'Imperial De Quebec
Nov. 20 Trois-Rivieres, QC @ Le Complex
Jan. 29 Dublin, Ireland @ Dublin Academy
Jan. 31 Manchester, England @ Manchester Academy
Feb. 1 Birmingham, England @ O2 Academy Birmingham
Feb. 2 Glasgow, Scotland @ The ABC
Feb. 4 Bristol, England @ O2 Academy Bristol
Feb. 5 London, England @ O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
Feb. 7 Eindhoven, Netherlands @ Efenaar
Feb. 8 Paris, France @ Le Bataclan
Feb. 9 Borgerhout, Belgium @ Trix Hall
Feb. 20 Berlin, Germany @ Columbia Club
Feb. 21 Hamburg, Germany @ Knust
Feb. 22 Aschaffenburg, Germany @ Colos-Saal
Feb. 24 Cologne, Germany @ Essigfabrik
Feb. 25 Karlsruhe, Germany @ Substage
Feb. 26 Munich, Germany @ Backstage Halle
Feb. 28 Vienna, Austria @ Arena Wien
March 1 Zurich, Switzerland @ Dynamo
March 2 Milan, Italy @ Alcatraz
March 4 Bologna, Italy @ Estragon
March 5 Rome, Italy @ Atlantico
March 6 Treviso, Italy @ New Age