During the last couple of releases, Lacuna Coil has changed their sound more towards heavier material, never letting go of the symphonic aspect of their songs. With the release of Black Anima, this trend continues.
On the opening track, “Anima Nera”, we hear lead singer Cristina Scabbia as we have never heard her before. The track was originally meant to be an instrumental, yet her singing gives it an extra dimension and the track gives a bit of an eerie vibe.
Next up we have “Sword of Anger” and man, talk about anger. Andrea Ferro screams “We are the anima” with anger and passion like we’ve never heard before. There is so much more power and aggression is his grunts and this can be said throughout the whole record. Naturally we can still hear his clean vocals, but his grunts and screams sure have come a long way and really fit the songs.
In “Reckless” we can hear other aspects of the band. Next to a very groovy and dark bass line, we hear a decent solo. It’s a short track though and over before you know it. There is also a music video for “Reckless” and the same can be said about “Layers of Time”, the next track on the record.
“Apocalypse” turns down the notch a little bit and even has some “woo-hoo” sing along bits right from the get-go. It lowers the fast-paced aggressive tone of the beginning of the record and reminds me a bit of the early days of Lacuna Coil. The same can be said about the beautiful “Venefictum”. It’s a complete song with a great melody.
Black Anima is the first album which has the new drummer Richard Meiz on track. Sadly, the drums are never really embraced in the mix. It’s there, but never really clear towards the front which is a shame, because there is a lot happening there.
After “Venefictum” it feels as if the record tones down a bit. It feels a bit slower and more focused on melody instead of power. Which means “Black Anima” is a diverse album. There are tracks for fans of the old work of Lacuna Coil as well as tracks that will draw new fans. To me, it’s one of the best Lacuna Coil records since Comalies, and that says a lot!
Label – Century Media Records
Release – October 11th 2019
Rating: 8,5/10
Review by: Michael
Tracklist:
1. Anima Nera
2. Sword of Anger
3. Reckless
4. Layers of Time
5. Apocalypse
6. Now or Never
7. Under the Surface
8. Venefictum
9. The End Is All I Can See
10. Save Me
11. Black Anima
12. Black Feathers (bonus)
13. Through the Flames (bonus)
14. Black Dried Up Heart (bonus)
