Lacuna Coil - Broken Crown Halo review
| Band: | Lacuna Coil |
| Album: | Broken Crown Halo |
| Style: | Alternative metal |
| Release date: | March 31, 2014 |
| A review by: | D.T. Metal |
01. Nothing Stands In Our Way
02. Zombies
03. Hostage To The Light
04. Victims
05. Die & Rise
06. I Forgive (But I Won't Forget Your Name)
07. Cybersleep
08. Infection
09. I Burn In You
10. In The End I Feel Alive
11. One Cold Day
Where to begin with this review? Let's first evaluate the feelings you had for Dark Adrenaline. If you liked it, then examine what your expectations are for another Lacuna Coil album. If you projected the band would follow their trend, then this is exactly what you will get; Broken Crown Halo is an accessible modern metal album employing the formula "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".
With that being said, and once you come to terms with that the gothic genre tag really hasn't applied to Lacuna Coil over the last couple of years, you probably will enjoy this album; I do.
Broken Crown Halo's sound is a natural progression from their prior release. While the overall vibe of the new album followed its predecessor's blueprint, it also brought back some of the darker (gothic) elements. This sure will please some of the old-timers, but musically Lacuna Coil didn't reach too far back and the new album will speak to a wider audience once again.
The album starts off with the catchy tune "Nothing Stands In Our Way", which could easily describe the direction the band took with this release. At this point in their career Lacuna Coil doesn't have to conform to set standards, but are free to explore and follow their own path. Hopefully "Victims", which for me is one of the highlights on Broken Crown Halo, is the route the band will choose from hence forth. Not only does Cristina sing in her usual high feminine voice, but she also pulls off a somewhat Stevie Nicks (Fleetwood Mac) impersonation, while Andrea almost screams his vocal parts; very cool song.
Another highlight on the album would be "Zombies" with its much appreciated guitar solo. Or "Die & Rise" for this matter, where Cristina sing parts of the song in her native language, albeit Korn would also be proud of that intro riff. No big surprise here, the downtuned distortion practice is nothing new for Lacuna Coil, but it seems there is more of it this time around.
While the band was never known for their "beauty-and-the-beast" vocal passages, the scattered death metal low growls of Andrea are a welcome sound throughout the album. Vocal wise, nothing really has to be explained about the dynamics between him and Cristina; they click on all levels and it sounds great as usual.
Not necessarily fillers, but the middle section of the album could be a bit stronger in my opinion, but then they come back with "I Burn In You" which features some familiar Egyptian characteristics. The album ends with the rather dark, but also very emotional and moving ballad, "One Cold Day". I am glad this song was put at the end of Broken Crown Halo since anywhere else it would have disrupted the flow of this, yet again, very well produced album.
So, as stated in the beginning, depending on your expectations of Lacuna Coil anno 2014, you will either chalk them off as another band which went "radio friendly", or you will love their new album.
 | Written on 27.03.2014 by Former boss lady. Now just a professional concertgoer... dangerously armed with a camera! |
Comments
Comments: 12
Visited by: 296 users
| R Lewis Posts: 936  |
I kinda have the feeling this will receive a lower rating than 7.6 
---- We could be so much more than we are. Stop.
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| D.T. Metal Staff Posts: 4193  |
Written by R Lewis on 27.03.2014 at 17:27 not from the Evanescence crowd 
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| AnGina-- Dark Phoenix Posts: 3555  |
To me Broken Crown Halo sounds like Lacuna Coil is set to develop a new fanbase. Looking ar the fact they have gained a lot of fame and world-wide success, that is the natural progression. But I personally was quite disappointed by this release. I liked bits and pieces of Dark Adrenaline, especially tracks such as GIve Me Something More and End Of Time and I expected something similar. But none of the songs stands out from Broken Crown Halo to me. To me the album just feels kinda shattered, like it's going to the wrong direction, when I grab onto a tune it develops some sort of twist that I can't seem to embrace. I do like Andrea growling on this record, I missed that overall in the LC discography and Cristina, well, she's keeps getting better and better. But that's just not enough for me. I'm not whining, because I am willingly giving this album a few more tries to see if it will crawl under my skin. But with all the fuss and expectations going around this album, I can't say anything more that it dissapointed me. I guess I should've expected less.
---- You think darkness is your ally? You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it. Molded by it. I didn't see the light until I was a man. But it was nothing to me but blinding.
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| hellsmiles Posts: 207  |
I enjoyed the first song that they released on SoundCloud, sounded to me a lot heavier than Dark Adrenaline but the same kind of...formula they've fallen into I suppose. It will probably be about 7.5 - 8 for me, so just about the same as you. Great review.
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| D.T. Metal Staff Posts: 4193 |
Written by AnGina-- on 27.03.2014 at 20:52 It took a couple spins for me. but like I said, if you go into it with the expectations of what LC wants to accomplish, overall the album isn't that bad. But yes, there are quite a few turns and twists on the album that are unexpected.
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| pagb666 Posts: 34 |
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| Rasa Posts: 93  |
Much better than expected! I don't know what kind of album everyone expects them to release but I really enjoy it. Even Andrea doesn't sound so annoying here. And I Burn In You is something truly interesting! A solid 8 from me.
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| Ruchesko Posts: 435  |
Written by AnGina-- on 27.03.2014 at 20:52 I would say you're well within your rights to be disappointed. They just seem to be fresh out of new ideas musically. Maybe that will change with the new guitarist, but I'm holding out for a Cristina solo album, and if that'll only happen after an LC breakup, so be it. Like you say, she's only getting better.
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| Passenger Lost To Apathy Posts: 1464  |
Lacuna Coil has been a Gothic/Nu Metal band for a long time now and I love them... but this album is terrible. It's as arid as the Sahara desert, zero good riffs, zero good choruses, absolutely the blandest performances by both vocalists... It's like a long B-side to Dark Adrenaline that should've never left the rehearsal room. The album ends after the 1st song.
---- You don't make up for your sins in church. You do it in the streets. You do it at home. The rest is bullshit and you know it ~ Mean Streets
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| mustardtits Posts: 1 |
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| SoUnDs LiKe PoP Posts: 1060 |
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| AnGina-- Dark Phoenix Posts: 3555 |
Written by Ruchesko on 31.03.2014 at 02:56 I've never thought of that, but now you've mentioned it, it does make sense. It seems as LC is holding Cristina back, so a solo album or a new band would be something perfect for Cristina. Her curriculum vitae as being a guest vocalist has been largely enriched by her out-of-band performances and a solo career would probably be beneficial for her. I agree, if LC would disband right now, I wouldn't feel any loss.
---- You think darkness is your ally? You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it. Molded by it. I didn't see the light until I was a man. But it was nothing to me but blinding.
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