It’s kinda hard to believe that Lacuna Coil have been part of the great metal firmament for a quarter of a century now, partly because the band have maintained a healthy appreciation for playful reinvention over the course of their career without ever betraying their roots. If, however, the well-received Delirum represented a turn towards the heavier, it still only hinted at the ferocity with which Lacuna Coil would approach Black Anima, the band’s darkest, heaviest album to date and one that sounds remarkably fresh despite all the familiar Lacuna Coil elements remaining intact.
Right from the off, Black Anima delights in surprising the listener. Anima Nera, which serves as a prologue to the album, emerges in a swirl of electronica, Cristina sounding uncannily like Kate Bush as she employs the sweetest tones despite the dark nature of the lyrics. It builds to a mantra, sung in the band’s native Italian, that provides a neat segue to the shocking Sword of Anger, a track that is quite simply one of the heaviest pieces that Lacuna Coil have ever tracked. Between Andrea’s shattering vocal performance and Diego’s seething guitars, Sword of Anger detonates with unexpected vehemence, although a melodic lead ensures that the band never lose sight of the all-important melody that lies at the heart of everything they do. As sweeping as anything from the still-excellent Comalies, yet with a metallic sense of purpose that is inescapably thrilling, Sword of Anger sets the pace for the record and the band do not disappoint. Next up, Reckless sees Marco having fun with atypical bass sounds and stuttering electronica to deliver a track that maintains the metallic weight of its predecessor, but with a greater sense of light and shade, not to mention a chorus that once again sees Cristina pushing herself to deliver an array of vocal tones. It may well be the best she has ever sung and her performance here, and across the album, is nothing short of awe inspiring. With its clock samples and crunchy guitars, Layers of time sees another masterful performance from Andrea, who matches Cristina every step of the way in terms of delivery, the band delivering a suitably brutal performance behind them. The interplay between the two vocalists, always important to providing Lacuna Coil with a unique identity, is simply superlative here and it makes for a powerful, memorable track. Despite its dark title, Apocalypse is a surprisingly airy and melodic track that would make for a strong single with its “woah-woah” vocalisations and dynamic verse-chorus-verse structure. In contrast, now or never soon belies its sampled string intro to emerge as a brutally heavy counterpoint to apocalypse, the band’s delivery verging on the deathly and, although a typically melodic chorus lies at its seething heart, the emphasis is very much on a nervy rage that is only enhanced when Cristina matches Andrea for unbridled aggression.
Opening up the album’s second half, the down tuned might of under the surface soon shifts from its mid-paced intro to encompass elements of thrash in its viciously elastic riff. Accessible, thanks to Cristina’s smooth tones, and packed with dark adrenalin (sorry!), it promises to be a live killer. A sense of the epic is evoked on Veneficium, as layered vocals stack up in a manner that sees Lacuna Coil slip closer to the sound of Within Temptation than at any other tie in their career. It provides a neat contrast to the heavier material that abounds, emphasising the band’s gothic elements and allowing Cristina to vary her vocal style still further. At the other end of the spectrum, The end is all I can see underscores the Depeche Mode influence that the band once acknowledged with their cover of enjoy the silence. The plaintive title of Save Me, is matched by a track that embraces pop and metal in equal measure (in a manner reminiscent of Devin Townsend’s addicted!), Richard’s taut beat keeping everything moving forward at a brisk pace before the band bring things to an end withthe eerie electronica of Black Anima (epilogue)
A more varied album than the opening salvo would suggest, Black Anima is, nonetheless, remarkably concise, the band dispatching its eleven tracks in forty-five minutes. The carefully constructed dynamic sees the time fly and, with its subtle prologue and epilogue, the album is both coherent and powerful. With the entire band delivering incredibly disciplined performances, it remains the case that this album belongs to Andrea and Cristina, both of whom hit a career peak here, their vocals by turns varied and powerful. Exciting, dramatic and unafraid to push boundaries, Black Anima is a brilliant reassertion of Lacuna Coil’s strengths and is recommended to long-term fans and newcomers alike. 8.5
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