Album Review: Lacuna Coil - "Black Anima"

Some of the reason it has taken us so long to pen an editorial review of Lacuna Coil’s “Black Anima” is because the album represents a large, moving target.  This is Lacuna Coil old and new and then new again, complete with the rare mid-career photographic image change.

Is it even accurate to call it mid-career?  That would assume a forty-year lifespan for the band, which certainly isn’t impossible given their current momentum and likely resulting inertia, but the point nevertheless remains – it’s abnormal for an established artist to suddenly and dramatically alter their look.  All the press photos for “Black Anima” feature an unrecognizable assembly of musicians in make up.  Time will tell whether this is a permanent change or just an album-cycle one, but either way, it causes a raising of the eyebrow.

Musically, the usual platitudes were heaped onto the fire of the record's promotion – this album is to be ‘heavier’ and ‘darker,’ than previous efforts, which evokes little but a yawn from listeners at this point, who have been so supersaturated with the terms that the words render no more meaning.

There are touchstones of the band that ring true throughout their fairly impressive legacy which remain intact here; a veritable backbone upon which the album’s experimentation rests (which we’ll dive into momentarily.)  The rubbery reverb of their guitar tone is a longtime friend who automatically feels familiar, as the band settles into their well-honed pace and cadence with tracks  like “Under the Surface.”

Additionally, Lacuna Coil still functions as an expression of the dynamic between binary vocalists Cristina Scabbia and Andrea Ferro, both of whom are every bit as effective both singularly and in tandem as they’ve ever been.  Their vocal hand-offs are powerful and well-woven, neither outshining the other, but rather serving in harmonious compliment (even if the nature of the dichotomy is intentionally inharmonious.)

The band’s previous effort, “Delirium,” shades a lot of the proceedings here.  That album, a worthy achievement released in 2016, restored the band to balance in several ways, not the least of which was the elimination of a slicker, popular sound that some fans had come to resent.  Ferro had spent several years as a talented backup singer, and “Delirium,” from its opening call, brought him back to the fore.

And it is in that continued spirit of growth that “Black Anima” shines best.  Both Scabbia and Ferro, the former in particular, push themselves into new ranges and octaves.  This leads to one of the album’s more transcendentally brilliant moments, when Scabbia nearly loses control in the chorus of “Reckless.”  There is a passion here that is tangible, an earnest sense of desperation that gives the composition weight.

Later on we hear “The End is All I Can See,” a Lacuna Coil ballad in the style of “Cybersleep,” remarkable for its comparative placidity and also because it is the rare track where Ferro carries the entirety almost by himself.  Sonically, the song is a distant cousin to some of the lower-dose Fear Factory tunes of that band’s heyday, akin to the sweeping measure of “Resurrection.”

As with many Lacuna Coil albums of the past, one of the truths of “Black Anima” is that it is dotted with momentous singles but cannot carry that momentum through every track.  For every punishing but melodic romp like “Sword of Anger,” there’s a flat “Veneficium,” which shows promise but never completely blossoms.  There are many moments on the record of experimentation that never quite gain traction – even the title track, which bristles with a subtle piano melody played throughout, piques the interest but ultimately leaves with the impression that it could have, and perhaps should have, been more.

Part of the success of “Delirium” and “Karmacode” and “Comalies” and even “Dark Adrenaline” was that the albums showcased a deep emotional connection to either an idea or a theme.  “Black Anima” just doesn’t give off that same feeling, and so the album doesn’t carry as much import or momentum.

That doesn’t make it a bad album, and in fact it is not a bad album – merely a less inspiring one when measured against the back catalogue of a band that has showcased such prowess in the past.

“Black Anima” has some unique moments of growth and evolution, which is incredibly impressive from an artist two decades into the game, and should be celebrated.  The ultimate upshot though may be this: Lacuna Coil has always been a singles band, and listeners should go into “Black Anima” with the knowledge that the record does little to change that.