Album review: LACUNA COIL – Broken Crown Halo

Lacuna Coil - Broken Crown Halo

Century Media [Release date 01.04.14]

I’d like to say I liked this new album from Italian metallers Lacuna Coil.

It’s got a huglly powerful sound, an exciting production, the songs are good and Cristina Scabbia’s vocals are pretty damn fine. But Broken Crown Halo is one of those albums that suffers from what, for me, is a complete ‘turn off’ – the regular punctuation by growling Orc-like male ‘vocals’ from co-frontman Andrea Ferro.

I wouldn’t mind, but when he’s not auditioning for a part in the next of the Lord Of The Rings film he’s actually a pretty decent vocalist with a sound that falls somewhere between Chad Kroeger and Linkin Park’s Chester Berrington.

Tellingly, the band’s last album Dark Adrenaline (2012) shipped more than one million units in North America alone and Broken Crown Halo – recorded, produced and mixed in their Milan hometown by producer Jay Baumgardner (P.O.D., Sevendust, Evanescence, Papa Roach) and engineer Kyle Hoffman [P.O.D., Bush, Zebrahead] – is another assault on that market that I would hazard will establish their foothold even further.

For fans of the genre Broken Crown Halo is likely to be a contender for album of the year. But for those of a more delicate disposition, the somewhat passé growls could be a step to far. ***1/2

Review by Pete Whalley

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