Background information
Origin Milan, Italy
Genre(s) Gothic metal, Alternative metal
Years active 1994 – present
Label(s) Century Media
Website www.lacunacoil.it
Members
Cristina Scabbia
Andrea Ferro
Cristiano Migliore
Marco Biazzi
Marco Coti Zelati
Cristiano Mozzati
Former members
Raffaele Zagaria
Claudio Leo
Leonardo Forti
Lacuna Coil is a gothic metal band from Milan, Italy formed in 1994.[1][2] Formerly known as Sleep of Right and Ethereal, the band was inspired by the combination of gothic imagery and music, and the members have been known, musically, for composing midtempo songs consisting of guitar lines overlaid with prominent keyboard work, and contrasting dual female/male vocal harmonies to help create a melodic detached sound, heavily emphasized on their 2002 breakthrough album Comalies.
Much of the band's recent material, however, sees a more down-tuned style, featuring a more distinct bass line and a higher mixing of the guitars within the songs. According to the band, they are and have been influenced by Paradise Lost, Tiamat, Anathema, Septic Flesh, Black Sabbath, Type O Negative, Imago Mortis, Depeche Mode, In Flames and Amorphis amongst others[citation needed]. The band's 2006 release, Karmacode peaked at number 28 on the Billboard 200. They have played among the world's biggest heavy metal festivals on the main stage including Ozzfest, Bloodstock Open Air, Wacken Open Air, and played with Megadeth on their Gigantour tour in November 2007.
Beginning - Comalies
Andrea Ferro and Marco Zelati formed Sleep of Right, but soon changed their name to Ethereal, and signed to Century Media at the end of 1997. Finding that the name Ethereal was already taken, they changed their name to Lacuna Coil, which means empty spiral.[3]
Lacuna Coil performing at the Heineken Jamming Festival 2006.
Lacuna Coil performing at the Heineken Jamming Festival 2006.
The band consisted at that point of co-vocalists Cristina Scabbia and Andrea Ferro with bassist/keyboardist Marco Coti Zelati. The band recorded a self-titled EP released in 1998, and went on tour supporting label-mates Moonspell. The band was accompanied for this tour by guitarist Cristiano Migliore and drummer Cristiano Mozzati.
Following a second European tour, the band recorded their debut full-length album, In a Reverie, and added second guitarist Marco Biazzi. The band supported the album with another European tour, co-headlining with Skyclad.
Following another EP, Half-Life in 2000, and an album entitled Unleashed Memories in 2001, the band released Comalies in 2002. The album received acclaim and rave reviews from certain corners of the metal world.[4][5][6][7] Uranium gave the band some of their earliest US exposure, and over a year later, the first single from Comalies, "Heaven's a Lie," began to receive radio and media attention and pulled the band into the mainstream. The second single, "Swamped," was played in heavy rotation and used in the video game Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, and also appeared on the soundtrack for the movie Resident Evil: Apocalypse. Music videos were filmed for both songs and broadcast on MTV2's Headbanger's Ball, which also had the band perform a live, acoustic rendition of "Heaven's a Lie."
Cristina Scabbia singing for Lacuna Coil in Oxford
By 2004, Comalies had become the best-selling CD in Century Media's history. The band appeared at Ozzfest in between headlining club tours in America and Europe.
Karmacode - Present
In an effort to best take advantage of Lacuna Coil's ascendant popularity, the band and label postponed the release of their highly-anticipated follow up to Comalies, Karmacode, to early 2006. According to the band's website, this made it possible for more time to be spent on production while also avoiding the crowded summer 2005 release schedule for metal albums. On December 23, 2005 the band announced via their official web site that all recording, mixing, and mastering had been finished and that Karmacode was complete. It was then announced that Karmacode would be released in the USA on April 4, 2006. "Our Truth" was the first single (and video) and is featured on the soundtrack of the movie Underworld: Evolution January 10, 2006. The video also had rotation on MTV.
During their 2005 European Tour, Lacuna Coil performed two new songs (working titles "A2" and "Antonio") at selected concerts. "Our Truth" was referred to at the time as "Antonio", while the song "A2" was renamed to "Fragile", and is the opening track on Karmacode.
Karmacode debuted at #28 on the Billboard Charts. It received critical acclaim from music critics and magazines. Corresponding with the release of the new album, Lacuna Coil went on tour with Rob Zombie throughout North America in early 2006 also making an appearance at Ozzfest 2006 on the main stage. The band also played at the 2006 Download Festival, a three-day festival in England's Donington Park which was headlined by Metallica, Tool, and Guns N' Roses. They also played one night in the UK at Sheffield Corporation on October 17, 2006. December, Lacuna Coil teamed up with In Flames, The Sword and Seemless for a US Tour, as well as The Blackest of the Black 2006 Tour with headlining act Danzig, and bands like Asesino, Belphegor, and The Haunted.
In March 2007, Lacuna Coil joined Stone Sour and Shadows Fall on the Jägermeister Music Tour. In May, they toured the US with Within Temptation and The Gathering on the The Hottest Chicks in Metal Tour 2007.
Departing from the original tour dates, Lacuna Coil made a stop in Raleigh, North Carolina in early April to play with area bands Wounded Soul, Blatant Disarray, and Shadows Fall. They again departed from the tour schedule in Albuquerque, New Mexico in late April and played at the Sunshine Theater there with Stolen Babies, Beneath the Sky, and Shadows Fall.
In October of 2007 Lacuna Coil played for the first time in their career in Japan during the Loudpark Festival 07 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama City. In November 2007 they joined with Megadeth, Devildriver, Static-X and Bring Me The Horizon for the Australian Gigantour.
Their song "Closer" is featured as a bonus song in the video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.
Lacuna Coil are currently working on their follow-up to Karmacode. Kerrang! has stated that the new album is due for release in September 2008. [8]
The band is currently planning to release a DVD that will be a retrospective of all things from the band’s “Karmacode” album cycle. The DVD project is tentatively scheduled to be released later this year.[9]
Their 2008 headlining tour of Australia was canceled for reasons out of their control but stated that they will return in 2009 for the Soundwave Festival.[10]
Their song "Our Truth" will also be featured in the upcoming video game Rock Band 2 as a master track.[11]
In Metal Hammer's July issue, Cristina Scabbia said that eight songs off of the forthcoming album were complete, but that they had no release date for the album. Scabbia noted that they were most likely going to release it in early 2009 because of the time it would take to both complete it and promote it.[citation needed]
Band members
* Cristina Scabbia - vocals
* Andrea Ferro - vocals
* Cristiano "Pizza" Migliore - guitar
* Marco "Maus" Biazzi - guitar
* Marco Coti Zelati - bass, keyboards
* Cristiano "Criz" Mozzati - drums, percussion
Former members
* Raffaele Zagaria - Guitar (Cayne)
* Claudio Leo - Guitar (Cayne)
* Leonardo Forti - Drums and percussion
Live members
* Steve Minelli - Guitar (March/April 1998) (ex-Node, ex-Death SS)
* Alice Chiarelli - Keyboards (March/April 1998) (Alice in Darkland)
Discography
Main article: Lacuna Coil discography
Studio albums
* In a Reverie (1999)
* Unleashed Memories (2001)
* Comalies (2002)
* Karmacode (2006)
* 5th Studio Album (To be released in late 2008 or early 2009)
EPs
* Ethereal (demo) (1996)
* Lacuna Coil (1998)
* Halflife (2000)
Compilations
* The EPs (2005)
o A collection of the Lacuna Coil EP and Halflife EP
