Review Summary: Korn ft. Cristina Scabbia
As of late, things have been pretty chaotic in the Lacuna Coil camp. After releasing a string of unadventurous albums for the past decade, both guitarists, Marco Biassi and Cristiano Migliore decide to leave the band along with drummer Cristiano Mozzati- all before recording sessions even started for the follow up for 2014’s “Broken Crown Halo”. Therefore the title of “Delirium” (a clinical syndrome of madness and confusion) really summarises the band’s recent past perfectly. Flanked by the statements that joint vocalists, Cristina Scabbia and Andrea Ferro, have said about the album being “a new book for Lacuna Coil”, “Delirium” was bound for high anticipation…
…And high anticipation is the main reason why it’s so disappointing. With each announcement of a new Lacuna Coil record, we all cross our fingers and hope that it’s a return to their gothic roots rather than a succession of nu-metal influenced music that has taken precedence since 2006’s “Karmacode”. Unfortunately, “Delirium” literally sounds like female-fronted Korn record. Respectfully, Marco Coti Zelati takes the burdens of recording guitars and producing the album as well as undertaking his own bass duties however you cannot avoid noticing the lack of imagination that the riffs echo throughout the album. 90% of the guitar content sounds duplicative of the same dark and rolling riffs to the point of it sounding monotonous, with the exception of the welcome airiness in ‘Downfall’.
“Does he sing much and has he improved at all?” are probably going to be two of the main questions that surrounds male vocalist, Andrea Ferro. The answer to the former is yes, his vocal contribution is still of an equal measure to Cristina’s input and he often leads the songs over his partner. As for the latter-no he has not improved. Contrary to the album’s concept of insanity, Ferro’s participation to the band is still as dangerous as a child popping bubble wrap and his lyrics are as edgy as a satsuma. For example, ‘Take Me Home’ features childlike lyrics like “I’ll take you for a ride/tick-tock time/ it will be so fine” while the chorus in ‘Broken Things’ (“One, Two, Tree/ The count of your lies/ I can see right through your eyes”) really expresses such graceful poetry. Eat your heart out Mikael Akerfeldt. As a listener, a moment of hilarity is discovered during the genuinely great ‘Downfall’ when Ferro unenthusiastically croaks out “to taaaalk…” and “straaange…” from lurking about in the eclipsing shadow of Cristina Scabbia.
The largest saving grace for Lacuna Coil’s eighth album, rather predictably, comes in the shape of Cristina Scabbia. Her luminous singing pierces through every drab riff with enticing intentions during songs such as ‘The House of Shame’ and ‘Claustrophobia’. “Delirium” is also an announcement that she is beginning to subtly adjust her vocal styles. Though irritatingly repetitive, her range in the title track is pushed even higher than before and she also twists her anthemic tones into slight sneers on ‘Ghost in the Mist’. An iota of musicianship also proves to us that Lacuna Coil aren’t always on automatic mode during “Delirium”- especially the refreshing guitar solo on ‘Downfall’ by guest musician, Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge.
You don’t really learn much other than what you already know about Lacuna Coil after listening to “Delirium”. The new band members don’t really change the fact that the band still opts to continue their nu metal approach; Cristina is still the main vocalist-even though she’s technically not-and pretty much any Lacuna Coil fan will say that “Comalies” is still the best album.
