Since forming in 1994 in Milan, Lacuna Coil have become one of Italy’s most celebrated rock exports, their signature gothic metal stylings outlasting the rise and falls of grunge, nu metal, emo and just about everything else.
New studio album Sleepless Empire, the band’s tenth, finds the five-piece on sparkling form, and frontwoman Cristina Scabbia remains a cornerstone of the modern metal scene, be it through her work with the band or her prolific status as a gamer and streaming personality.
What was it like for an Italian metal band trying to make a name for themselves in the 90s?
Back then the metal scene was very awkward and small. Italy is not very open to rock and metal as a genre. When we started there was no internet, no smartphones, no Spotify or Apple Music, there was no way to connect it to the rest of the world. It was expensive to tour, but it was the only chance to bring your music around the world.
Your song Heaven’s A Lie was a real breakthrough moment in the 2000s.
It took a while, because the record, Comalies, came out in 2002. Two years after that we played Ozzfest for the first time, and we were completely different from the other bands there. In a few days we had more than one hundred radio stations that were playing Heaven’s A Lie! MTV2 asked us to provide a video. And we noticed that when we came back to Europe, people were looking at us with a different eye.
Your cover of Depeche Mode’s Enjoy The Silence is widely considered one of the best metal covers. Is that something you’re particularly proud of?
I was very happy, because I was the one who suggested it, because I love Depeche Mode and the original is such a beautiful song. After we released it we asked Depeche Mode for permission to do a video, and they said yes. I think it’s our most listened-to song on Spotify.
The new album, Sleepless Empire, digs into the impact of social media. How has social media changed the band’s relationship with their fans?
We’ve always been in touch with our communities. The advent of technology - things like Twitch, videocalls - gave me the opportunity to be even more close [to fans]. It’s also an exercise as an entertainer to understand that there is a multitude of people out there with different thoughts, different lives, different mentalities.
So social media isn’t all bad, then?
In changing times there are good things whether we like it or not we can’t really stop progress. I love technology; I love the fact that I can talk to you right now through a screen because we can’t meet in person. I’m a gamer, so I have to be pro-technology. What I don’t like about technology is when it takes away time from the real world.
Unlike many metal bands, Lacuna Coil seem to be getting heavier with age. Where’s that coming from?
It was always there. If you listen to the first demo, Andrea [Ferro, co-vocalist] was already growling. It’s not new. We like the heavier stuff, and it’s also projected on a live environment; we like to rock out, and heavier songs are giving us the type of excitement that we need.
Sleepless Empire is out now via Century Media.
