Band:	Lacuna Coil
Album:	In A Reverie
Style:	Gothic metal
Release date:	February 22, 1999
Guest review by:	Ernis

01. Circle
02. Stately Lover
03. Honeymoon Suite
04. My Wings
05. To Myself I Turned
06. Cold
07. Reverie
08. Veins Of Glass
09. Falling Again
10. No Need To Explain [Japanese bonus]
11. Falling [Japanese bonus]

Everyone knows the pretty Italian act Lacuna Coil. For sure, there is no question they are one of the most prominent figures of the good old Gothic style not just in Italy but worldwide in general. Here's "In A Reverie", their first full-length try. You can already tell from the title that the album is going to be a dreamy one, carried forward in a modest pace without excessive force nor anger in it.

In A Reverie is a delightful album. Its instrumental side is really calm, the guitar usage is smooth and never dominates the vocals which are in charge of most of the melodic movement. Nevertheless, you can listen to the beautiful guitar melodies, the interesting instrumental passages and follow the work of guitarists as they support the singing of the vocalists. The guitar passages bear the main characteristics of standard Gothic style but Lacuna Coil has added their own soft way to it. The riffs and string plucking are as if coated in warm cotton, there is a mellow harp-like sound in their work which makes it special.

The vocals are strong and beautiful. I am not pointing out Andrea Ferro that much, although he does an excellent job and has an important role in performing. His voice is not really excelling among other male vocals of the genre and is mostly supporting the main tasty piece of the music, namely Cristina Scabbia's voice. This beautiful woman bears strong, clear and whenever needed and also a soft voice which takes all the attention when listening to Lacuna Coil. She gives life to the melodies in her own way, comparably well to her fine colleague Anneke van Giersbergen from The Gathering. It is important that a singer is able to be expressive and Cristina does it brilliantly.

The only minus of the album may be the more or less slow pace and a mild repetitiveness in songs. Otherwise everything is well done. The strongest songs are for instance "Circle" with an extremely interesting and brilliant melodic passage in the end half of the song, the expressive "To Myself I Turned" and the passionate end song of the album, "Falling Again". In A Reverie is a good debut full-length album from a then promising Gothic group who remains amongst the finest ones around today. Lacuna Coil's In A Reverie stands proudly among other works of other bands of the genre as a successful and well-done Gothic album.