Recording and releasing a cover of the biggest song ever written by an iconic band who helped to define an entire genre is a bold move. Sure, having your name associated with a world famous banger is a solid look, but get it wrong and you'll be rejected by the fanbase of the very artist you're attempting to honour - and, quite frankly, you'll look like a bunch of absolute wallies.
But it was a risk that Italian goth metallers Lacuna Coil were willing to take when they made the decision to cover Enjoy The Silence, the haunting, irresistible trademark anthem of beloved British synthpop megaweights, Depeche Mode.
"The idea of covering Enjoy The Silence started from me!" beamed Lacuna Coil singer Cristina Scabbia when discussing the track with Metal Hammer in 2024. "I love Depeche Mode."
Article continues belowIt was 2005, and the Italians were putting together songs for what would become their fourth studio album, Karmacode. A crucial release, it was to be the follow-up to their 2002 breakthrough record, Comalies. That album had seen them tour the world with major artists, secure a coveted spot on Ozzy Osbourne's touring mega-festival Ozzfest and get US radio airplay - a rarity for European metal bands in that era.
"We are a band that can't repeat the same record over and over," co-vocalist Andrea Ferro later told Metal Hammer. "There was a bit of pressure [to follow up Comalies], but you just can't control that. We tried to push it out; we wanted to raise our voice, what we are and where we wanted to go."
The idea came started from me! I love Depeche Mode
Cristina Scabbia
While they'd amassed a decent amount of original material, Lacuna Coil thought it'd be a nice touch to pay tribute to one of the bands that had inspired them the most, and decided to add a cover song to the record. Led by Cristina, they settled on Enjoy The Silence and knocked out a fresh version of the track. Before it could officially be added to the album, though, one key member needed convincing.
"I remember that Marco [Coti Zelati], our bass player who writes the majority of the music, wasn't really agreeing," Cristina revealed. "He was just like, 'I don't know if it's a good idea or not.' But then he turned it, in a way, that it almost became one of our songs, because the style was really Lacuna Coil. So we all started to like the whole project."
With a heavier, more overtly gothic take on the classic track now in their back pocket, Lacuna Coil decided they wanted to release it as a single. But they required one more seal of approval to do so - from Depeche Mode themselves. Luckily, they'd been working with someone who had the right connections to find out - Ronald Prent, the Grammy-nominated Dutch producer who'd worked with Depeche Mode on the original version of Enjoy The Silence.
"You can cover any song you like, but in order to do an official video, you need the permission of the band who actually created the song," Cristina explained. "It turned out so good that the actual band liked it! They gave us permission to do a video for it."
It wasn't just Depeche Mode and Lacuna Coil themselves who liked the cover. Released as the second single from Karmacode on July 11 2006, Enjoy The Silence was greeted warmly by both Lacuna Coil fans and Depeche Mode fans who stumbled across it. It made the top 30 of the singles charts in Spain and the band's native Italy, and only missed out on the prestigious UK top 40 by one spot. It also broke Lacuna Coil outside of the metal bubble for the first time, getting them increased airplay on platforms like MTV.
“It’s the song that I think brought us outside the metal scene,” Andrea confirmed. “We were known, at that point, in the metal scene, but Enjoy The Silence is the song everybody knows, even if they’re not particularly into metal or don't listen to rock music.”
It’s the song that I think brought us outside the metal scene
Andrea Ferro
Years later, Depeche Mode singer Dave Gahan would finally publicly acknowledge the cover and his band's appreciation of it, saying in 2009: “Their interpretation left me genuinely impressed. It encapsulated the distinctive vibe I always hoped someone would bring to it.”
Those words clearly meant something to Cristina and Andrea: in 2024, they revealed that they still hadn't met Depeche Mode themselves, but were keen to thank them for their approval and their inspiration. The track's legacy remains: as of 2026, it is still their most comfortably streamed song, proving that sometimes, taking a risk and putting your own spin on a sacred classic can pay off.
"We're so proud," beamed Cristina to Hammer. "It's one of our most popular songs."
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