LACUNA COIL

Shallow Life

Century Media/ CD 2009

First of all I must admit that I've never followed too carefully the career of those Italian stars of female-fronted pop-metal. In fact after their debut EP caught my attention back in 1998 my contact with LACUNA COIL was really accidental. Of course I'm aware that in the meantime Milan based band became really huge name on rock/metal scene. Especially in US where the success of their previous work "Karmacode" - they've even reached #28 on The Billboard Top 200 - opened the way to record their next effort in sunny LA.

To be honest I didn’t have any special expectations connected with “SL’. So after all without any prejudices I was ready to check if that hand-grenade shaped perfume from album's cover is an original luxury product or just a low class imitation. First impression is quite natural. New songs are definitely radio friendly and pop oriented. I'm sure that we may expect that at least few singles will be released. The first one "Spellbound" - which announces the release of new LC work - could be easily replaced by songs like beautiful and melancholic "Wide Awake" or "Not Enough". Those guys know how to write catchy songs which won’t hurt ears of those who are not into metal scene at all.

Metal elements in LC music are reduced to very few distorted guitar riffs - probably the most interesting is the opener from "Survive" - which usually are backed with some electronic - and sometimes arabic - ornaments. Modern rock and pop elements dominate throughout the whole album. It's hard not to believe that rebellious emo teenagers were chosen by label's marketing managers as the target of those 12 songs. Gothic or metal heritage are hidden deep in the shadow of melodic choruses like those from "I Won't Tell You". “I’m Not Afraid” or "Maze".

Band members say that new songs are more direct and more simple. I think that's a real test for a composer to write a simple song which is not boring or trivial. And unfortunately some of new songs are quite forgettable and fall slightly into the abyss of mediocrity. Even nice Cristina's vocal work – I still can’t come to like Andreas average voice - do not cover the shallowness of some of LC new hits or rather misses – “I Like It” and “Underdog” are one of the examples - in those particular cases. Luckily we have also some really well aimed shots. So those Italians don’t have to be afraid of commercial failure. This album surely will hit the charts in the most strategic markets.

What about sound? Frankly speaking I don't think that "Shallow Life" will set any new standards in the heavy sound department. Why? Simply because it's not heavy. Although it's necessary to say that Don Gilmore - previously known form his work with PEARL JAM and DURAN DURAN among others did a good job. This music sounds really vital, there's a lot of fresh air and space in it. But damn me, there's really nothing about metal sound at all.

It’s definitely not a groundbreaking album. But it’s well done and catchy. Even if there’s very little metal ingredients in it, it’s possible to enjoy that stuff as a background to your daily home duties like clearing up your room.

8/12