Lacuna Coil

Broken Crown Halo

Century Media

Street: 04.01

Lacuna Coil = After Forever + Within Temptation + Delain

The road to rock stardom seemed to be all but paved for Lacuna Coil after their third album Comalies’ success was seeming to come at the band from every angle. But the conversion from gothic metal/nu-metal to pretty much the alt-rock album that was Shallow Life proved a major dud for the band and that success stalled. Will Broken Crown Halo help the Italian band get back on their game? With a major upcoming tour and a so-so successful return to some glory on the band’s last album, Dark Adrenaline, that momentum is gaining. The new record is a solid effort for the band’s brand—it’s not a return to Comalies, but it has hints of that record. BCH has a combo of the emotional crooning and heavy, melodic riffs of Comalies mixed with the more commercial attitude of Karmacode. All in all, it’s a good formula—it actually plays off as a better album than Karmacode, so if you’ve followed the band from the early days, I completely guarantee (assuming, mind you) that Broken Crown Halo is Lacuna Coil’s best album since Comalies. Heavy, melodic, memorable—it’s what the band wanted to be, and it’s what they’ve achieved. –Bryer Wharton