Album Review: Lacuna Coil - 'Broken Crown Halo'

With around 20 years experience, Lacuna Coil have established themselves as a band with a respectable reputation, releasing solid hits that have put them high up in the female-fronted, goth/metal scene with other groups like Nightwish. When it came to the band’s 2006 release, ‘Karmacode,’ they were hit with criticism for releasing the same kind of album over and over again.

Now they are back with their most recent album, ‘Broken Crown Halo,’ and if their aim was to bring something fresh and exciting, the outfit have unfortunately missed the mark.

Beginning with opener, ‘Nothing Stands In Our Way' there is nothing outstanding or new but we do see a heavier approach to this album than its predecessor. The recipe of stock standard synths, heavier guitars and the mixture of female and male vocals shows what we can expect from the rest of the full-length.

All other musical elements aside, as evident in ‘Zombie,’ the female vocals of Cristina Scabbia are absolutely beautiful. They add a nice melodic layer to 'Broken Crown Halo' but unfortunately the male vocals here cut through what could otherwise be considered a saving factor.

Through the middle, we see Lacuna Coil edging towards this pop metal style that they are known for dabbling in. Infusing pop and metal together can be a difficult task and unfortunately Lacuna Coil haven’t managed to hit the high marks this time. It isn’t terrible but it fails to add any wow factor to the album, it's essentially just a little boring.

Overall, 'Broken Crown Halo' isn’t horrible to listen to and the female vocals here are very skilled. If you're a die hard fan you probably will enjoy this. Unfortunately for everyone else, it looks like Lacuna Coil have taken a walk through the valley of generic gothic metal a few years ago and got stuck in some quicksand for all eternity.

'Broken Crown Halo' isn't unplesant to listen to but it lacks a wow factor. It's an album that is really no different to what they have produced in the past. Lacuna Coil have created some great work in the past but this time around they seem to be stuck in a rut with the same sounds over and over. 

1. Nothing Stands In Our Way
2. Zombies
3. Hostage To The Light
4. Victims
5. Die & Rise
6. I Forgive (But I Won't Forget Your Name)
7. Cybersleep
8. Infection
9. I Burn In You
10. In The End I Feel Alive
11. One Cold Day